A charming summary...and a valuable lesson.

One of the most important lessons I've learned from teaching the Koree-wahs is always to keep in mind that they are, in fact, children.  Who are learning a foreign language.  One which is very, very different from their own.  For example: Korean doesn't have any plurals, nor does it have articles (articles are "a," "an," and "the," by the way, for the less grammatically nerdy people).  Understandably, forming a sentence with correct syntax, content, and pronunciation takes a bit of brainpower.

Given those circumstances, I'm learning how to speak simply, give one direction at a time, and not expect eloquent prose out of them.  Buuuuut....I wasn't always so keenly aware of the challenges my students face.  To wit: on my fifth day of teaching, I asked them to write summaries of the book we had just read, but I didn't give them much direction.  (Well....I wrote out instructions, but now I realize that they might as well have been in Elizabethan English.)

The summaries were full of errors.  FULL of them.  A good portion of that was my fault; I know now that asking them to free-write full paragraphs was too ambitious for their level.  But one summary in particular was such a good effort and so ridiculously charming that I just had to share it with you all.

The title of this book is "The Big Balloon Race."

The Author's name is "Eleanor Coerr."

The setting is outside.

The character a Carlotta, Ariel, Bernard the Brave, Mr. Myers and a mayor.

One day I was the big balloon Race.

On that Race carlotta and Mr. Myers are went on the Race.

But carlotta's daughter Ariel sleep at the air balloon.

So she go to Race too.

Carlotta and Ariel arrived.

When they arrived where the race is starting, there was many crowd.

Soon the race start.

Ariel and carlotta Solved many problem.

So they won the race.

I think carlottar and Ariel are brave.

And the thing is, Carlotta and Ariel DID solve many problems!  (Granted, they were plural problems, but...baby steps.)  They dodged a bumpy raincloud, a church steeple, a town, and a farm.  And this little girl pulled all that together into one sentence--and she said it in a way that I hadn't taught her.  Well done, Grasshopper!  Way to be in the right ballpark despite your teacher's inexperience and vague directions.   :c)