One of the 1st weeks teaching in Korea and I'm in a Grade 4 lesson. I'm teaching them some new words, and up pops a classic word which separates British and American English...vase.
For anyone who doesn't know, Ronald McDonald would say Vayz and Queen Lizzie would say Vahz.
It's no secret that in Korea, people are more accustomed to an American accent than a British. So without wanting to confuse their 9 year old Kimchi loving minds, I said Vayz.
Since then I've adjusted the way I say many words. I say soccer instead of football, I say Mom instead of Mum, eraser instead of rubber, trash instead of rubbish. I was writing favourite on the board the other day, and I rubbed it out and wrote favorite instead.
I told some British friends about it at the weekend and they were shocked at my treachery to a language "that is ours!" How do you claim to own a language? It's like a dog saying "Well, we invented barking. So if you humans want to woof, you're going to have to pay us in scooby snacks."
As of yet, I haven't pointed out to my students that there are other pronunciations for some words. I've simply said it the American way. These kids have enough vocabulary shoved into their tiny little Kimchi loving heads without having to learn different ways of saying it. After all, I have a much better command of the English language and it's not hard for me to switch between Limey and Yanky Doodle English.
But yesterday my co-teacher gave me a ppt about Thanksgiving and asked me to read it to the kids. The last slide said "Thanksgiving is celebrated every November." I was quick in pointing out that it is celebrated in October in Canada.
I then felt like a bit of a hypocrite and like I haven't been teaching them British things for fear of sounding like a Brit with a chip on his shoulder.
How do you do it? I'm interested to know. Is Kev la a sell out? Should I speak British English and nothing else? Or would that also make me a sell out for not speaking Scouse? Or am I doing the right thing? I'm interested to know how the rest of you feel.
Kev La
I totally think you should teach British English. If it confuses the kids too much, you wouldn't have to teach it exlusivly, but I think it's important for them to know different pronunciations, terms, slang, etc. As a speaker of American English, I wish I knew more British words, for my own personal development and to teach to my kids!
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