One of my regrets and frustrations about the fact that my Korean keeps failing to improve is that it limits my ability to interact with the parents of my students. This issue is sometimes “a feature, not a bug” – for example, it exempts me from the extensive telephone-calling obligation that the Korean-speaking teachers have. Nevertheless, I’d be happy to have more interaction with parents.
I got a taste last night, however, and it was pleasing (it wouldn’t always be pleasing, I’m sure, if it was “always on”). I’ve been trying a new thing: sending out video of my students’ month-end speech tests. I shoot video of the class making their little speeches, post it to youtube as “unlisted” which keeps it more-or-less private, and then use kakao, a ubiquitous Korean chat app, on my new phone, to send out links to the parents. So far, I’ve sent out video for 3 classes and it’s mostly like sending out spam into the ether with no answer or feedback. But last night one parent finally answered, and I felt a little bit happy with the result. The mom wrote:
네, 선생님. 잘보았습니다~ 덕분에 메리가 영어실력이 많이 향상외였네요. 즐거운 주말되세요.
My effort at understanding this: “Yes, teacher. Looks good~ thanks to [you] Mary’s English skills have improved a lot. Have a good weekend.” – Mary being the English nickname of the student in question.
That’s pretty awesome feedback to get. And if I was braver and more proficient in Korean, I could get more. Probably, I’d get some complaints, too. But well… it might be worth it.
