Richard -- Tutoring #10

For this lesson, I used one of the lesson plans I created for class, which I thought was a good one, and it would bring about lots and lots of conversation.

Kyung is best when he's talking. I feel like he learns more because he imitates my gestures, which I think are helpful for him.

For example, when I talk, I move my hands a lot.... and I speak slowly for him, so I really do drag out the arm-waving-motion a bit too much. If I were pronouncing a certain word like 'walk,' I would do this weird thing with my face and hands. My mouth would drop almost the length of the Great Wall of China, my hands with it... and he would imitate it! I love that!!! He's always so engaged.

Anyway, since this was supposed to be a speaking lesson, it would need to generate communication, right? Well, I thought Kyung was mature enough for this lesson, and with that said, we spoke about positive and negative stereotypes of Americans.

I started the lesson by writing out the word 'STEREOTYPE' on the whiteboard. Kyung knew what it meant, so I was grateful I didn't have to explain it to him. I think explaining that word would have been very difficult.... because I would just open a whole lot of doors with signs on which the word "FAUX PAUS" was written. I couldn't screw that up! But Kyung knew what the word meant, so I was glad.

I asked him what the general consensus of what America really is to Korean citizens. Both positive and negative. I'm glad Kyung was so open with sharing me these sorts of things. Anyway, of the postive things he hears about Americans, Kyung said that a lot of Korean people love Americans for being expressive in regards to music and dance. After all, this is Korea we're talking about, where breakdancing is such a hit!

Of the negative things, Kyung said that a lot of Koreans think Ameircans are lazy and indivualists.

I didn't not know if the latter term was something that carried such a negative quality, but sure enough, he reassured me that Koreans don't really adhere to the notion of individualism! Even this surprised me, but I assume it's this way because it gives the impression that Americans care for no one else but themselves.

Kyung also said that a lot of Koreans think Americans are too family-oriented; Americans don't really hang out with friends is what he told me. I kind of agree with this actually. I'm pretty laid back and at times, I just want friends to leave me alone on some days. When it comes to family, it doesn't matter at all. I haven't really thought about why it is liked this.

Anyway, this lesson continued for some time. I would say something like "American education," and Kyung would jump right in; "Republicans and Democrats." And Kyung would jump in on that one, too.

He asked me what the Americans think about Koreans. To be honest, I couldn't really think of anything. I grew up thinking that every Asian person was Chinese, so I told him this:

"Kyung, lots of people here think that everyone who looks Asian is automatically Chinese." Kyung laughed at this and he told me that people mistake him for Chinese all the time.

Then again, since I've known Korea as a country for quite some time (I took Tai Kwon Do lessons as a teenager), I told him that I thought Tai Kwon Do was an artistic expression for Koreans; they don't learn Tai Kwon Do because they want to fight. Kyung told me that Tai Kwon Do isn't really seen much in his country, and this surprised me a bit. Apparently, Tai Kwon Do has become very Americanized.

We also talked about the food in each of our countries, and I told him that sushi was very difficult for me to eat, although I do love it now! It's an acquired taste!

I told him about my first experience with kimchi, and he offered to take me to a restaurant with his wife for the real stuff. Apparently, the kimchi I had wasn't spicy enough. :-/

Well, if Kyung invites me to dinner, I assume he likes how open I am with him about American culture, so I must be doing a good job tutoring him.

Until next time...