IT English Class Party!

Several weeks ago, I decided to have my IT English students over to my apartment for an evening of American food and non-classroom English. The class is small, with only 6 students, so it worked out well.

I made beef stew, Southern style biscuits, grilled cheese and sweet iced tea. The students had never tried any of these foods. When we all walked into my apartment, they all decided that American food didn't smell anything like Korean food. I'm inclined to agree with them ;)

The stew was in the crock pot and didn't need much done to it. My students mixed up the biscuits while I started on the grilled cheese. All in all, they liked the food. All of the biscuits were gone. There was only one bowl of beef stew left for my lunch the next day. There was a little bit of confusion about the tea, because it was black tea instead of green tea, but most of them liked it pretty well. Katie, it should be noted that I made the tea my way rather than your way ;) I didn't want to scare them off.

This is Min. He was always smiling and happy. He is one of those guys who is always nicely dressed and innately knows how to be a gentleman. His English wasn't the highest level in the class, but he always worked really hard and was always brave enough to try to speak. 

This is John. The first time I met John, he spent quite a lot of energy trying to make me understand just how awesome Manchester United was. I definitely understood the words and sentences that he was using, but I don't think he ever quite convinced me that I should stay up until 4 am to watch the soccer games like he did. 

Grace is applying to study at an American university next year. She always had something to say about whatever our topic was. When I first met Grace, I thought that she was going to be one of those sweet and quiet students who pays attention but doesn't really talk. That wasn't quite how things turned out ;)

Janet didn't want to have her picture taken that night. She wasn't the most vocal student, but Janet is a thinker. She works really hard to make sure that she understands the big picture and all of the details. It was always fun to watch Janet read. She would get really into it, and underline and circle and chew on her ink pen. I could tell exactly when she was struggling and exactly when she understood what she was reading.

Min Seok was one of my oldest students. He has already finished his military service and he is actually graduating soon. He is in my intensive class now, and it is his very last college course. I don't know exactly what happened to cause him to make this particular face, but he is a sweet, happy-go-lucky guy most of the time ;)

Last, but not least, this is Oh. He has also finished his military service, will graduate soon, and is in my intensive class. At the beginning of the semester, Oh was the student who seemed the least motivated. But somewhere around the midterm, he started to work really hard and his English improved quite a lot. He is much more willing to speak now, and he wins the award for most improved student in this class.