Metting the freetalking challenges

Looking over past blogs I notice my neglect in writing about one of the most singular experiences for KNU English professors--freetalking.  Each of us is expected to spend time talking to students in small groups or on one-to-one.  These times can be either very rewarding or most exasperating, usually the latter.  If the students are low level in both listening and speaking, the time of freetalking can seem quite endless even though only 30-60 minutes are allotted.  I usually schedule my low level students for 30 minutes and that is more than enough!

I had a student recently who could not communicate with me, even while using an electronic dictionary--looking up amost every word.   I used hand signals, pictures, gestures, and anything else I could think of, but to no avail.  This student had a "0" level of English.  He is a 3rd year student in one of my classes.  He is a nice boy but cannot speak English, nor understand it.  It is times like that I long for a translator.  Of course, part of the answer is to have him come with another student who has a higher level of English, but his shyness makes that very uncomfortable for him. He has what you might say, "fallen through the cracks (idiom) in the system."

Another student just this week gave Bonnie and me a real workout, but it was fun.  She is my student, and Bonnie happened to be in the office.  The student was trying to tell me that she gets free used coffee grinds (dregs, her dictionary) from the trash in a coffee shop, and she uses them for eliminating smells.  Sounds easy! WRONG!  We spent the better part of 30 minutes trying to get this communicated to us.  She spoke of coffee dregs (?), and, in broken English and gestures, tried to show us pounding the dregs.  It is difficult to write this so you can understand the humor and hard work going on, but once she started on this topic it was difficult to stop.  So we proceeded with her using a dictionary and gestures.

When she finally showed me rubbing dregs (?) on the bottom of her foot, I got it!  It was like playing charades!  When I finally understood what she was communicating, all 3 of us burst out laughing.  I sat back in my chair and said, "I think we are done for the day, we are all exhausted over that one."  (She understands me better than she can speak so she knew what I meant.)  We all had another great laugh.  I told Bonnie we need a video camera on some of this.  It does get funny.

If I gave an award out for the hardest worker and most progressive freetalker, it would go to my final student of the week.  She is my former student and we have now free talked together for a few terms.  She is wanting to work on pronunciations of words and consonants that sound similar to each other like "long" and "wrong," "odor" and "order," "shirt" and "jerk," etc.  I suggested she may get an interesting response if she asked a waiter to "Please take my odor!"

When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade I had a speech therapist once a week to help me with the "th" pronunciation.  I still remember leaving class and going to the stage to spend 30 minuutes (or was it 60?) working on my speech problems.  Ironically, 50 years later I am in Korea being the teacher.  I am no trained expert but I found myself only a few feet away from my student having her closely watch my lip movments and my tongue position (did I use my mouthwash this morning?).  With this kind of student time passes very quickly and 45 minutes is too short.  Over and over again we repeated words and I tried many techniques to get her tongue to stay lazy on the "r" sound in the down position.  "Remember, down on the 'R' and up on the 'L'."  I have her close her eyes and listen to me say "wrong" and "long."  Initially she hears no difference!  Gradually she begins to get it.

This kind of student works very hard and improves much, unlike others who never practice.  She is a real joy and plans to go to America this fall to study.  She will do well (or is it good)?  Good English is even hard for me at times.

My first year of free talking was very frustrating partly because I was new at it, and partly because I had no idea what I was doing.  In time I have learned to enjoy it much more.  I love having the students one-on-one, or in small groups, and building relationships with them.  It is so fun to know them, to speak to them on campus, and even to go to some of their homes and meet their families.  And, freetalking times can open up good opportunities for witnessing.  It is a challenge when a high level Chinese student tells me he does not believe in God because that is what he has been taught for years!  He asked me if that made me angry with him.  I said, "Of course not.  Let's talk about what you have learned about this."  Who knows where that leads?  Only in freetalking can you have that kind of opportunity.  He is coming to our Bible study on Sunday!