This is a hilarious story that shows how pop culture can influence people better than real people.
While teaching Class 1-11 at my high school in Korea in 2009, I decided to play some music while they were doing an individual activity. I start off each class with a lecture and then some kind of activity where they have to do something on their own so they won't have to be bored all the time. I would usually play music from my iTunes library, music they never heard of, just to set the mood while they were working.
Earlier that week, during a free period at the office, I looked up YouTube videos of Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. I am a casual fan of the boy wonder from Portugal, and I enjoy watching his footwork on the ball. This one compilation video of his football acrobatics was accompanied by a really nice R&B song that was quite catchy. I didn't know who it was at the time, being that I don't really listen to pop music in the States.
Commenters on the video were asking what the song was for some of them too did not know. Then the ominous came in the form of "Chris Brown, With You." Chris Brown is the infamous pop star who abused his girlfriend Rihanna, another famous pop star in the States. He received a lot of flack and charges for it.
Now, to anyone who reads my blog or has read this blog, I have portrayed what its like to work in the public school system of South Korea. It is a system of intense, rigorous study yet with no practical real life applications. So English is an off-target program where they have the goal to learn English but they miss the shot by a mile. Most of my kids study intensely daily, but have hardly any chance to speak, therefore, a good majority do not speak it well. Many kids know grammar well, but sentences are often broken. I'm not blaming them, I blame the system.
So how did Chris Brown teach English better than I did that day? During individual work time, I played his song in the middle of class. I had two girls in that class whose English really wasn't that good. One girl in particular never participated and she always looked off towards the East Sea in boredom. She even wrote one time in her notebook that my "Soni's class is not fun." Hey, she's honest. Speaking English to the both of them was like speaking English to fish..."huh?" Okay, I'm exaggerating, because one of the girls was decent, but the East Sea-staring off to space girl had hardly no English.
Yet, when Chris Brown started singing...I heard more voices.
It was the two of them. Not only singing the choruses, but ALL the verses by heart. Flawless. I asked them if they knew who this was..."Yeah teacher! Chris Brown!" And they sung the entire song by heart.
Chris Brown bested me that day. Teaching English by pop songs is a good method. But Chris Brown? Give me a break. I would never teach them to abuse others.
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