Culture or something else...

The girls with their beloved Doraemon --with special Halloween moustache.

If ever there was a face of enthusiasm, it was this. You can't tell from the oozing excitement in this picture just how happy these girls are to be at a hagwon after school. Alright, enough beating around the bush, they're a real challenge, at least when their friend is there. These two together are actually a lot of fun. This small class, however, is one of my biggest challenges.

There's a reason why I mention culture, aside from the obvious being that culture impacts everything, and I'm trying to figure out how much that cultural piece influences the attitudes of these girls. When I say that almost every day with these girls is a challenge, I really mean it. I know from personal experience that I do much better with younger children, which is why the kindy kids are the class I work best with. But why culture? Because the way Koreans are raised and the way by which they think plays a big role in my abilities and options with the class.

Culture this, culture that, yes. So what's the hitch? Well, it really seems as though using their imaginations is a bit of a challenge. From my experiences it seems like Koreans are more of a literal people as opposed to the more abstract. It's a good thing I don't have to explain analogies to anyone!

The specific issue I ran into today was with their everyday writing that I give them. The girls love music, K-pop of course, but they also like some international music too since I've been trying to expose them to language by way of a big interest of theirs (including, but not limited to Adele, Justin Beiber, Taylor Swift, Ellie Goulding, Santana (with Rob Thomas, Michelle Branch, etc), One Direction, Carly Mae Jepson, etc.). I will play music videos in class and today they showed interest, but when it's the three of them they're always more interested in their stickers or chatting.

I figured I'd give them something fun, but I ran into the usual roadblock of culture, or is it laziness? It's kind of hard to distinguish the two. Despite explaining what I wanted them to write, they always take it in the most literal sense, instead of pretending and thinking outside the box. Today I wanted them to write about what they would have a music video be about, what and who would be in it, what special props would they use? The first response I received? "I don't want to make a music video" which goes hand in hand with a previous writing task I gave them where I got an initial response of "Halloween costume is expensive. I don't wear Halloween costume". I can sing their praises about telling me straight up what's going on, but it's really hard to develop writing skills and understand common mistakes when getting them to write is like twisting their arms.

I mention the laziness in an offhand manner, knowing that Korean kids have a lot of pressure to achieve exceptional academic success even from a young age. So while they don't want to work at their hagwon learning English after they get done with school, before they go home to their families, it's a necessary evil. If nothing else, they certainly make me value my time with my kindergartners. My kindy kids will finish their worksheets and draw on the back, or they'll fold them into boats or cups or hats, they will pretend they're characters from their favorite shows, and it's really nice to see. I know it will not continue as such as they get older due to the system, but it's nice to see them being kids while they can.