Teacher becomes Student in South Korea

Annyeonghaseyo! That is Korean for “Hello!”

Believe it or not, it took me a week to finally pronounce the word correctly. In fact, my class of 7 students helped in my perfecting the pronunciation of annyeonghaseyo! They have also helped with simple phrases and words, such as: Good morning, Thank you, Yes, Where, etc. It has been quite the challenge for me to learn Korean, but I try my best to learn it, as I believe the effort would inspire my students to do the same in learning English. I also believe that by showing my students that mistakes are inevitable when learning a new language, they would feel more comfortable and less intimidated in speaking the language.

Therefore, my first week of teaching was spent creating a safe, comfortable and friendly environment for my students to want to learn, as opposed to something that they must endure and complete for credits. The smiles, laughter and high spirits of my students have made me realize that I have acheieved my goal.

-Desron