mineopoly 3Speak Podcast: Recent Episodes

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=mineopoly/xuklcnhk

Awkward Textbooks Sometimes I'm surprised at how awkward the expressions in the Korean textbook can be.

Our key expression for grade 6 Lesson 10 is:

Do you know anything about ________? The textbook uses this expression as a way to talk about Korean culture and introduce Korean culture to foreigners. I think the expression is best as an expression of inquiry. So the first thing I did in class was show students the scene of Harry Potter writing in Tom Riddle's diary:

Do you know anything about the chamber of secrets?

I showed the clip from the "yarn" website where short movie expressions are repeated for practice again and again. Repetition is necessary to catch the pattern of the language. Without repetition students will think they know it but when it comes time to speak they will say, "Do you know about anything chamber of sectrets?"

https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/c31034f7-bd3b-4370-aa2c-71e2f66f0c15

Students might say, "Do you know about anything Pumpkin Pie?" instead of "Do you know anything about Pumpkin pie?" They just need practice to get used to the expression. The book doesn't make it easier for them.

What is this expression really used for? The dialog in the book uses the expression to introduce food and culture to a foreigner. It kind of looks like they are bragging about what they knew. As far as I can remember "Do you know anything about....? is a question of inquiry when a person wants to find more information about something they know a little about. It is not a question to introduce one's culture.

I would hope no one goes around asking foreigners, "Do you know anything about my culture?" But the thing is I have seen this textbook expression used in strange way. When a food is introduced a Korean will ask, "Do you know kimchi?" This is a direct translation of a Korean question but somehow doesn't work in English. They are curious and want to know if their guest knows anything about the food they are serving. Then they go on to explain about it.

I can't imagine myself telling a Korean guest at my table, "Do you know sweet corn"? It is a traditional midwestern food. Or, "Do you know anything about American football?" It is an American sport.

The question "Do you know anything about ____?" implies that the person asking the question knows something about it but would like to know more. It's not a question to show off how much you know about your nation's culture.

Time to make my own dialog The textbook dialog didn't make any sense so I made my own today with my puppets, Kimchi Sam and Doogie. Here Doogie is playing the role of a Korean and Kimchi Sam is playing the role of an American visiting Korea. They maintain the key expressions while adding some humor and context.

Kimchi Sam: What's this?

Doogie: It's buldakbokkeum.

Kimchi Sam: Do you know anything about Buldakbikkeum?

Doogie: Yes, I know about it. It's spicy Korean food. Try some.

Kimchi Sam: Wow spicy.

Kimchi Sam: What's that sound over there?

Doogie: That's pansori.

Kimchi Sam: Do you know anything about pansori?

Doogie: Yes, I know about it. It's Korean traditional singing.

Kimchi Sam: Wow. Good.

Kimchi Same: 네가 무엇을 먹을래? (What will you eat?)

Doogie: What's that?

Kimchi Sam: It's an American football. Do you know anything about American football?

Doogie: No. I have no idea.

Kimchi Sam: Watch out! Touch Down!!

The kids loved the video and memorized the lines after just two views. Some students knew all the lines by heart and we didn't even practice. It takes a little time to think about what the context of a lesson is, but when you got it then the students can catch it too.

This was the first puppet video I made with the puppets behind the wall. The puppets were always with me. I used our movable white board as a puppet stag and tried to do the dialog with the puppets behind the white board. The problem is this white board is old and is falling apart.

I didn't know that the stage would fall down in the last act. This fit in well with the football sequence and instead of editing out my reaction I kept it in. There was no way I could have acted that surprised. It was real.

I also found a video I made a couple years ago with the same key expression. This was my first attempt at stop motion animation.

I hope you learned a little about Korea and a little about teaching today.^^

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=mineopoly/fvthedoj
This is a song to follow the ESL Lesson in the Korean third grade curriculum. The song is titled: "Let's Sing and Dance."

The expressions used in the song are: "Let's Sing. Let's Dance. Let's Walk. Let's Jump. Let's Run. Let's Swim.

I usually don't post in 3 Speak but my son said this is a good video. Mostly he just likes his dad.

You might thing the giphy pictures are distracting but the kids like them and they are motivated to participate.

My goal is to get them dancing and following all the motions together. I'm not sure if it is possible, but at least I can try.

Take a listen and let me know what you think.

I'm not so sure how this will look on 3Speak so I am posting a link to the youtube video for anyone that is interested.

The backing track in this video is from Roy Fulton. The video was made from Inshot and is intended for educational purposes only.

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https://3speak.tv/watch?v=mineopoly/ezlfnqna
On a nature walk with my son we discover a whole world of ants that we never saw before. There are so many similarities between these ants and the people we see everyday commuting along to work. One of the big differences is these ants never worry about their job security. They just march in a line following the leader.

The bees are a little different. They also fly in a patter from flower to flower. They also have a queen and provide for the nest. The difference is that the bee goes by itself for most of the way. Although bees communicate and follow the patterns of other bees we didn't see the bee line up and march. Mostly it was busy flying around and would return to the hive when it was well and ready. The bee seems to have freedom and the by going from flower to flower the bee is doing an important job in nature through pollination. It's not by accident lilacs ended up in a garden I didn't plant.

The world is full of surprises. This is the first time I used @threespeak to speak about some basic concepts of our human life and existence.

You will notice my son's voice in here too. He didn't mind that his dad went rambling about insects. Instead he said, "Thank you for teaching me."