My friends in Korea and I have frequently commented that Korean students are more disciplined and generally more respectful.

GENERALLY.

Normally, my advanced classes are a breeze.  Some of these students have spent enormous amounts of time overseas either studying abroad, living with family, or traveling.  Some of these students are fluent in English.

However, this fluency in English makes them believe that they do not need English class.  It makes them believe that everything they say and write in English is perfect.  I can assure you, however, it is not.  The fluent students are remarkable and receive constant praise —- because they are in a country where being fluent in English is still relatively uncommon.  Put them in any western/northern European country or even southeast Asian country, and they are not so fluent.  They are far from being native speakers/writers.  Their papers are sometimes the hardest to grade and edit because of the glaring mistakes that come from improper word choice and wannabe complex sentences.  

Today, I had a young man in my class really, really piss me off.  

Their current chapter is about cultural differences, so I decided to re-use a successful lesson I did on the differences between middle school in America and Korea.  Most classes find it fascinating to learn the differences.  I walk them through a typical day in middle school, they write some comparative and contrasting sentences, followed by a newspaper article written by one of their own classmates.  It’s not exactly a thrilling lesson, but it’s relevant, current, and just actually a really decent lesson.

This young man, however, was not impressed.  Maybe it’s the fact that he just came back from a 2-week vacation in America.  Maybe it’s because most people praise his near-native English pronunciation.  Regardless, he raised his hand and asked, “Why do we even have to learn this?”  

And that was the moment that the rest of the class stopped caring.  As they ignored their reading assignment and comprehension questions, I grew frustrated.  About half of the class even attempted to read the article.  Despite various attempts to quiet them and focus them, the class grew noisier and noisier in defiance.  Even the students who sit right in front of my desk blatantly ignored my looks of disappointment and reminders to remain quiet and do their work.

I closed down the computer, collected my things, and sat down at an empty desk. 1 minute before class ended, I got back up and said, “If you guys do not give a shit, then I don’t give a shit.  You will never have a fun lesson again. You’re done. “    

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I was always a participating and sympathetic student.  I can’t even imagine treating my teachers in a disrespectful way.  Let alone blatant defiance.  They might as well have said “fuck you.”

I really wish I would’ve changed to elementary school.