Archive for the ‘Teaching English in Asia’ Category

Hi Bruce, welcome back to TEFLtastic. It’s a shame we never get anyone from TEFL International contributing to TEFL.net when it isn’t connected to teacher training. Let me know if any of your trainers are interested in writing book reviews or articles for us.

I am certain that can be arranged!

For Part Three, I’d like to do an update on what has changed in TEFL International and in the TEFL world more generally since your last comment in Interview Part Two on 28 July this year. I haven’t been following all the various stories very closely, so apologies if you have to repeat some things you’ve said many times elsewhere but I guess most people reading are in the same situation as me. I’ll ask for your comments on things I’ve heard, and then give you a chance to mention other things. 

OK

There are some reports of trouble with the immigration police connected to a TEFL International course in China- any information or comments?

I heard it all second hand but this is what I know.  In April 2008 the visa laws in China changed leading up to the Olympics.  Some people got caught in the cracks, the Course Administrator really failed (failed might be too strong of a term as it was a difficult if not impossible situation) and the police closed down the school.

I was unhappy with the way the CA handled things and I relieved him of his duties.  I immediately resolved the situation and we began offering legal courses the following month.

I have publicly posted on several websites about this situation and asked that if anyone feels they were cheated in some way that they should contact me directly or contact the BBB.

Can’t you just contact the course participants directly through their contact details and offer everyone a refund or whatever?

The accusation was not about one specific course.  It was a general accusation about our course in Beijing and even our organization in general.  Therefore we made a general offer to any participants that feel they have been cheated.

Has this made you make changes to how you recruit Course Administrators so that you get someone you don’t have to fire next time?

Unfortunately, no.  The CA was a grad and we thought he was good and professional.  Hiring is not, nor has it ever been, an exact science.

In the comments of Interview Part Two I also gave a link to someone saying that they’d paid for a course under another name in Argentina (“My program (GIC Argentina) sends its TEFL students to the TEFL International classes, but they never told me that or where to go or when”) and then were surprised (but remarkably unperturbed) when they got moved over to a TEFL International course. 

I actually have no idea.  Perhaps a local course that was unable to run with one or two trainees decided to send them over to us?

So you give individual centres a lot of freedom to decide this kind of stuff without contacting TEFL International central?

Not really.  I am a bit baffled about this “complaint”.  I would guess that this person jus became confused after looking at 10 different sites with 10 slightly different claims and became confused.  That happens a lot.

Do you not think most of the genuine complaints there have been come down to this?

No.  There have been a few instances when a trainer just does not do his/her job well or circumstances beyond our control cause a problem.

Do you think that would be acceptable if it happened?

Every case is different.  Whenever we have a complaint we deal with every person differently, depending upon how they want to proceed.

Are there any other genuine and bogus complaints since you last commented here that you’d like to mention or explain how you responded?

The only major event in the last year plus has been July Beijing.  Everything has been rather smooth.  A minor hiccup with British Council but that seems to have been resolved.

Can you/ would you like to give details on the British Council thing?

[No answer given]

I’ve also seen your own comments on Ajarn about court cases you’ve been involved in. Can you give us a brief update here?

Not a lot more has happened since my ajarn.com update.  The court cases are going very well from our side and I believe they will completely vindicate me and all the crazy accusations that were made on TEFLWatch and several other sites that used TW as a source.  It will never make all the attacks worthwhile, but there will at least be some justice.

I can’t find the original thread. Can you summarize it here?

Dumb guy who cheated me is thoroughly exposed in court.  He was one of the main posters on ajarn.com attacking me and now he has been exposed as a liar and a thief.  More charges still pending and more people will go to jail in the end.

This is not a fun situation for me.  Far from it.  But after I was blatantly cheated and then publicly humiliated with lies on TW by these guys, I cannot say I am not looking forward to getting a bit of justice.

In a Stickman interview (http://www.stickmanweekly.com/StickMarkII/BruceVeldhuisenLordOfTEFL.htm) you really lay into the people who post on Ajarn, so why would you start your own thread on it?

I posted it on the 2 main sites frequented by expats in Thailand.  One of those sites is ajarn.com.  TW was always predominantly Thai-based and ajarn.com is certainly one of the best ways to contact the Thailand teaching community.

I also read someone suggesting that Dave Hopkins has moved on from TEFL International. If that is true it must be a blow, as your comments seemed to suggest you relied on him a lot to maintain academic standards since you stopped using IATQUO.

Dave is still very much a full-time employee of TEFL International.  I appreciate his skills, dedication and efforts very much.  But he is going to retire eventually. 

Any idea how the rumour started?

LOL you must be joking.  In the two years under which I have been under attack, the rumours have either been a very serious twist of the truth or simply a complete fabrication.  There are people who will simply MAKE THINGS UP out of thin air.  And some of these people owned and controlled rather prominent websites.  I could give you dozens and dozens of examples.

Well, Dave WILL retire eventually I have no doubt.  Just a guess but I would think Dave has worked longer for me than for any other employer.  He now works PT at Asian University but he has an agreement with me to work at least through June of 2009.

The site ESL Judge, that you supported the setting up of and was supposed to offer a fairer arbitration process than blogs such as this seems to have disappeared. Any idea what happened?

None.  It’s too bad.  A worthwhile site that tried to assist people in resolving disputes.  I am tempted to try to get it reopened.

Sandy MacManus’s most recent blog has also bitten the dust (with the person who was blackmailing him with revealing his true identity trying to make him think the attacks came from you, amongst others). A cause for joy amongst TEFL course providers such as yourself, or do you think TEFL blacklisters do have a role to play?

I think bloggers have to be fair.  Sandy was not.  One prime example was when someone made a comment he interpreted to be a physical threat.  He immediately accused me and spent quite a bit of time calling me every name in the book.  When it turned out to be just an inside joke from his friend, he never retracted a thing he said or bothered to apologize.  People with that mentality, with such an inability to treat people fairly, should not have blogs. 

I see your point of course, but journalists get paid to do lots of research and have legal departments and editors to make sure they remain fair. If you haven’t got some kind of passion driving you such as a chip on your shoulder, why would you bother running such a site for no pay? The way I see it, if Sandy doesn’t do it no one will. (My own motivation for blogging is a vague hope that people will offer me paid ELT writing work, but TEFL blacklisting bores me so I don’t bother even though I think it could be a worthy cause if done properly).

So what you are saying is its ok to do a half-assed job.  It’s only the internet and we do this for free.  Sorry, that just doesn’t cut it.  The reality is that sandy has the potential to be read by millions of people.  If he is not going to do a professional job of it he should keep his opinions to himself.

Alex, remember that when you have a site like sandy’s you are potentially damaging the livelihood of hundreds of people.  He has certainly damaged my reputation.  And with what information?  Absolute lies copied from TW.  Lies easily proven to be lies.  Did he bother to spend 2 minutes emailing me for my side of the story?  Nope.

I believe in Karma.

Thanks Bruce.

Comments and questions from others welcome, but under the usual rules:

- One comment or question per post

- No posting twice in a row without anyone else posting in between

- Keep to the topics in this interview or in previous comments

- Try to be nice

Bruce will, of course, also be told to keep to those rules. I will also be nagging him to actually do something about real contributions from TI to TEFL.net…

…you ask your landlady where to leave the rubbish and she says “Over there somewhere, I guess”

Actually, usually I think I would prefer the Japanese version where there is a sensible system of rubbish places and days and everyone sticks to it- although possibly without the anal neighbours assuming all deviations from that system are by the local foreigner and so dumping offending trash outside your door. At the moment, though, the almost Mediterranean slapdash Korean style is a refreshing change.  When you read descriptions of Korean etiquette and Confucian values you would think things would be very similar to Japan, but reminding me much more of Turkey at the mo.

Common differences in words that are the similar in Japanese and Korean

-tsu in Japanese is often -r in Korean, especially at the end of a word
chilmun = 質問 - shitsumon = question
yokshiri = 浴室 - yokushitsu = bathroom
susul = 手術 - shujutsu = operation (medical)
chumal = 週末 - shumatsu = weekend

A Japanese –ku has a very quiet vowel sound, and almost sounds like the –k that it is usually written as in Korean
set’akki = 洗濯機 - sentakuki = washing machine
sukpak= 宿泊 - shukuhaku= accommodation
yaksok = 約束- yakusoku = promise/appointment
toch’ak =到着- touchaku = arrival

Korean does not have lengthened vowels (written in Japanese as the vowel repeated, u after an o, or a dash)
kosok bosu = 高速バス - kousoku basu = long distance bus
chusa = 注射 - chuusha = injection
muryo = 無料 - muryou = free (no charge)
magarin = マーガリン - maagarin = margarine (pronounced in Japanese and Korean with a hard g)
chumun = 注文 - chuumon = order (in a restaurant)
chuch’a = 駐車 - chuusha = parking
toch’ak =到着- touchaku = arrival

Korean uses the pronunciation from Chinese for a single word when in Japanese that pronunciation is only used in compounds
hae = 日 - hi = sun (in Japanese, usually 太陽 - “taiyo”)
mal = 馬 - ma = horse (as a separate word rather than as part of a compound, the Japanese usually say “uma”)
yaku = 薬 - yaku = drugs/ medicines (except when used in compounds, Japanese usually pronounce that kanji “kusuri”)
san = 山 - san = mountain (as in Fuji-san, as a single word in Japanese it is pronounced “yama”)

Korean does not have sha, shu and sho sounds (only shi)
suri = 修理 - shuuri = repairs
kasu = 歌手 - kashu = singer
sajin = 写真 - shashin = photo
soryu = 書類 - shorui = documents

An initial h- or f- sound in Japanese is often p- or b- in Korean (even though Korean has initial h words)
ban = 半 - han = half
piso = 秘書 - hisho = secretary
pibu = 皮膚 - hifu = skin
p’yojune = 標準 - hyoujun = standard
pando = 半島 - hantou = peninsular (literally- half island)
podo = 歩道 - hodou = footpath
t’aep’ung = 台風 - taihuu = typhoon

t and d are often switched
toro = 道路 - douro = road
sokto = 速度 - sokudo = speed

b and p are often switched
shinbu = 新婦 - shinpu = bride

Korean is one of the languages that has always seemed so alien and has had so little impact on my life till now (apart from the most important word- “kimchi”), that I’ve had a complete mental block on even your basic “anyong haeseyo”s. Luckily, being in Japan has not only added several important words to my Korean vocabulary (bulgogi, kalbi, namul- all foods, I’m afraid) but has also made learning Korean very slightly easier. This is not because I have personally proved the historical link between the roots of the Japanese and Korean languages (I’ve finally learnt enough about linguistics to understand that I know nothing about historical linguistics), but mainly because they have both spent the last 1500 years or so importing Chinese words with the passion of present day Americans importing Chinese toys. Add in some Japlish influence on Konglish and some grammatical similarities due to something or another that I don’t understand, and there is at least enough to stop me panicking for now. It has also given me something to collect that doesn’t take up any room in my luggage:

Vocabulary similarities between Japanese and Korean Part One
Months are named “one moon”, “two moons” etc. (irwol, iwol/ ichigatsu, ni gatsu etc)

The Chinese symbols and therefore meanings of the days of the week are the same, being 日／月／火／水／木／金／土曜日 - sun/ moon/ flame/ water/ tree/ gold/ earth day. The pronunciations of Wednesday (suyoil/ suiyoubi), Thursday (mogyoil/ mokuyoubi), Friday (kumyoil/ kimyoubi) and Saturday (t’oyoil/ doyoubi) are also similar.

Many words made from English roots but not used in English are similar, e.g. wonrum = ワンルームマンション - wanruum manshon = studio apartment (from “one room”), rinsu = リンス - rinsu = conditioner (from “rinse”), otobai = オートバイ- outobai = motorbike (apparently from auto + bike), nait’u = ナイト - naito = nightclub (in Japan, of a dodgy kind). There are also hundreds of shared words borrowed directly from English, and a few from other European languages like pang = pan (Portuguese- pao = bread) and misa (Latin- misa = Catholic mass)- Looooads more on this coming up I’m sure, maybe even a whole collection!

In both languages, there are totally different words for cooked and uncooked rice and for salt and salty.

Jar and bottle is the same word (byong/ bin)

Vocabulary that is exactly the same in Japanese and Korean (more…)

Heartbreak:

“One teacher reported that she had been the least nervous of all the people on her course - attributing this to the fact she already knew what it felt like to be deeply hurt…”

The Experience of Language Teaching page 40

I can see her passing on that tip now- “So, a couple of months before your TEFL course, make sure you pick a real bastard to go out with and then introduce him to your slapper sister…”

(more…)

If you really want to get to know a town, there is no substitute for walking randomly and getting lost, and putting in that effort will help you train yourself to find your way around other towns too.If you rely too much on a map or following others all the time you might never get to really know your way around. However, even people who think they know everything about a town could probably learn something from a map, and for people who don’t really aim at having a thorough knowledge a map is of course essential- providing they know how to use one, of course. If not, whether training on how to use a map is worth it or not also depends on how long they have got, but also on how having to learn how to use a map can kill the fun of being a new place even more than being forced to use one.

All these things depend a lot on personality and previous experience, however. Some people will always get more confused by seeing a map, and others are always better off seeing one from the start.

And the metaphor is: (more…)

I write my “15 ways…” articles and teaching ideas in the spirit that even if what I put in there is painfully obvious, sometimes seeing something written down can help clarify an idea that was floating round somewhere at the back of your brain. A case in point is this description of two kinds of teachers who I’ve never consciously thought about, read about, written about or written for but have probably come across while only half realising it:

“There are two kinds of teachers here in Korea that really make me wince. One is the native-speaker who has been here for six or nine months, acknowledges that he was lost for three months but now ‘has it all figured out’

No help, no study, no reading, no questions to other teachers, he just somehow found a way to get through his classes without bosses, parents or students complaining..

He no longer feels uncomfortable in class, so he no longer feels the need to grow, change, develop or learn. Maybe he’s hit on one or two good activities, but I sort of doubt it.

The other kind is the Korean teacher who has studied modern teaching ideas and techniques, who does know what exciting things she could and should be doing in class, but who doesn’t do those things because she is afraid her boss or the other teachers or the parents won’t like them…”

Phil Owen, Korea TESOL President in The Korea Times, Thursday 16 October 2008

And after all the teaching and reading about teaching and writing about teaching and studying about teaching over the last 13 years, reading something that was only half remembered or half conscious is about the best you can hope for most of the time. It’s certainly the best you can hope from Complex Systems in Applied Linguistics, a brand new title from OUP. In summary, it says something like “a complex system is a mathematical concept that is different from just a complicated system and often involves techniques like computer modelling. However, because most of you studied English Lit at uni, we are going to deal with this subject without using a single mathematical formula and instead look at complex systems as some kind of metaphor of language, SLA and teaching. This basically means that we have to stop pretending that these things are easy to predict”

Or as a very short summary “complex systems are complex, but we think they are interesting and you will too (hopefully, because we’ve spent an awful long time researching them!)”

Not sure I ever thought any of those things were easy to predict, and am totally certain that more computer modelling and less metaphor is what has made complex systems interesting and useful, but did prompt a few minutes of musing and a tiny bit of “Oh yer, hadn’t thought about that recently”. Here’s hoping that Language Learner Strategies, which arrived in the same package from OUP, turns out to actually have something new to me in it. I’m on page 25, and it’s looking more hopeful so far.

Getting more or less back on topic, here are some other TEFL related bits and pieces in the same edition of The Korea Times:

“As ETS is a non-profit organisation, we don’t care about an alternative test organizer”

Well if you really don’t mind people doing other people’s tests, ETS, might I suggest you recommend BULATS and IELTS to all your candidates and stick to doing GRE?

And a fundamental misunderstanding of action research:

“This lead to my action research… I applied my research to develop the Pronunciation Rhythm Control Method (PRCM), which has proven to dramatically improve English speaking and listening skills for both students and teachers”

The whole point of Action Research is that it is to develop and adapt methodologies for use in a practical teaching situation, and coming up with a Method with a big M demands entirely another approach- one that the so-fine-you-could-easily-miss-it distinction between ‘has proven’ and ‘has been proven’ suggests this person has not gone through. Doesn’t mean I’m not open to her ideas, though, and I will be seeking out a workshop on PRCM if I can.

*I was going to call this post “The best you can expect in TEFL”, but this message I saw on a T shirt in Seoul today seemed to say it much more poetically…

androgogy- teaching like a girly man

behaviourism- the theory that making your students pretend they have stiff upper lips will make them act and speak like Englishmen, and wearing a crown in class will make them speak Queen’s English

co-hyponym - Getting students to hypnotize each other to help with vocabulary learning

communicative weight- the difficulty of where to look when talking to the obese

feminist pedagogy- (more…)

50% (more…)

I have to fly away from my Yahoo BB internet connection now, and I may be some time. So while I am gone from cyberspace, you all have a chance to read the over 200 articles I’ve written elsewhere- starting with this month’s supply:

15 easy ways to bring change into the classroom

15 ways of dealing with students who pause before they speak

15 ways of dealing with pre-experience Business English and ESP students

15 ways to boost your teaching and lesson planning creativity

15 places to start getting published

15 ways to correct spoken errors

15 ways to bring lucky chances into your classroom and lesson planning

Done already? Well, I’m sure you’ve all been good and read the entire list of articles etc in the September list further down this page already, so the extra homework for the keen this month will be having a look at:

TEFLtastic articles (reorganised a bit to have more links to articles elsewhere on the same topics)

and

TEFLtastic worksheets (ditto)