I had to review the pronunciation of “delicious” with my fifth graders. I feel like I teach them phonics and then they work really hard to unlearn it, so we embark on a neverending cycle of practicing and then forgetting short vowels. Is it because once a week with me isn’t enough? Or do the other English teachers in their academic life, whether public school or hagwon, have a strong accent? So we reviewed “delicious” which the kids tend to pronounce evenly spaced and with even syllables, very uncommon for English as it is a stress-timed language. Korean is a syllable-timed language, which is why sometimes Korean speakers might sound…

I arrived to my thankfully not fly-infested nor flooded apartment after 2.5 weeks away somewhere around three in the morning. I hadn’t slept for 36 hours and it didn’t look like I’d be sleeping much more– I had to teach debate a mere six hours later. I unpacked my entire suitcase, I am that person, and then tried on a bunch of unrelated fitness outfits that were a little tighter after the post American vacation weight gain. I think I slept a full two hours and then rolled out of bed to run to the elementary school to pick up all the debate materials I had forgotten. Despite my body…

A quartet from 4-3 knocked and stood awkwardly in the office doorway. “Are you here for the interview?” Wendy asked, probably having received a heads up from their handsome (at least above the mask) homeroom teacher. They nodded but didn’t move until Wendy beckoned them over to interview her first. Sidebar, I absolutely live these kinds of projects for kids. They have to practice initiative to find all the teachers nestled in their own offices and then practice speaking with adults. The journalist leading the pack with her clipboard was the same who wrote me a letter for teacher’s day and also insisted that I learn local dialect. It’s how…