Thursday, June 02, 2005

Another Hit

Language junkie, Daniel, has another shot of language amphetamines, this time it was K. Again it came flooding back but was not the tsunami of yesterday. A year of university Korean is not much to really overcome one, so my high was not the high tide that Japanese gave. But the usual people in the class seemed quite dismayed that some foreigner (I was the only "kiwi" there) could stumble in and seem to speak the language better than them.

And I played the villain. Every language teacher hates those horrible Europeans, always so eager to fill the silence when the teacher asks a question. And for a brief time, I was that person. Well, the teacher in question was hardly teaching anyway. More like lurching from topic to topic, and then putting unprepared, untaught students on the spot to answer questions with the whole class listening, without any preparation at all. i.e. setting them up for failure.

So my style was to take the heat off the first perplexed receiver of the obscure question, and then not answer any more (unless I was uncontrollably seized by the moment to blurt out an answer). Overall, I recalled a lot and learnt a little on the way. Even though it was a conversation class, there was little conversation. But some nice people there. I got to practice my Japanese and Chinese while there, which was a pleasant chance seized (love that word) with gusto.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

More like lurching from topic to topic, and then putting unprepared, untaught students on the spot to answer questions with the whole class listening, without any preparation at all. I.E. setting them up for failure.

TKD Masters do the same thing. It's part of the individual humiliation experience...almost a given. --K.

Crypticity said...

Language learning is quite different, regrettably. Shooting apart the confidence to speak another language puts back one's progress back, and may make them just want to give up.

With TKD, perhaps being beaten by the master is part of toughening one up and an expected part i.e. you need to feel that the master is strong and demonstrate.

Language however is based on nuturing confidence and ability. Making it into a belittling experience has no role in language teaching, whereas TKD is inherently "gladiatorial".

Anonymous said...

Language however is based on nuturing confidence and ability. Making it into a belittling experience has no role in language teaching, whereas TKD is inherently "gladiatorial".

All my language instructors have been like my TKD Masters...I think we live on two different planets. perhaps (on my planet) humiliation is how one builds confidence and ability. :) --K.