How English Benefits My Work as a TA
Hello. My name is Youjin Kim, and I am from South Korea. Before coming to Chicago, I completed and graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree in Spanish literature in South Korea. I am a PhD student in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies at the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies and working as a graduate teaching assistant.
Now, I am teaching SPAN104 (Spanish course) as a TA and taking graduate classes. TA stands for Graduate students who instruct college students in lectures, discussions, and practices or perform tasks such as evaluating assignments.
In all of SPAN's classes, students can do various interesting real-world tasks in Spanish. SPAN classes may vary depending on level (101, 102, 103, 104), but 95-100% of class time is taught exclusively in Spanish. This means that during class, instructors and students, and students and students communicate in Spanish. Students will perform various real-world tasks in Spanish. For example, in SPAN104, students write a complaint at the end of each unit to solve a problem, design and describe an object, share a bad travel experience, write a script for a movie scene, etc. Additionally, students listen to Spanish songs, read short stories, watch movies, and experience Chicago's Hispanic community through out-of-class projects.
I have taught Spanish as an instructor in South Korea for about five years. However, teaching Spanish at UIC is an entirely different experience than before. It is a new teaching method for me and more interesting than my previous teaching experience. As mentioned above, I learned a lot through this course, comprised of multifaceted educational elements. So, it is crucial in the SPAN course to communicate with students to acquire Spanish as a Second Language and perform real-world tasks in Spanish.
Taking English courses at the Tutorium has benefited my work as a TA in three ways. First, I've learned how to facilitate communication with my students. For example, when students ask questions after class or email me, I can confidently apply the skills I've learned from my classes. Secondly, as a second language student here at the Tutorium, I can understand the perspective of my students studying Spanish as a second language because I experience how it feels to be comfortable in an atmosphere while maintaining my interest in English.
In particular, my instructor provides a comfortable and meaningful atmosphere where all members of our class can actively participate in the class, which also helps a lot with my TA work and my English study. Thirdly, the Tutorium course allows me to understand and be familiar with American culture. The Tutorium course offers students diverse activities to experience and share culture. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the culture and make foreign friends from other classes. In addition to my TA work, the Discussion Skills course I am currently in is of great help to me, who is not used to discussing in English. Through this class, I practice the discussion skills I should know to participate in my major classes.
All students studying English at Tutorium are studying hard. The Tutorium is a place to learn English and an optimal classroom where teachers and students from various cultures interact through exciting activities. But the most crucial thing as a student is not to miss class because the most basic thing is essential. There is now about a month left in the semester. Let us all study English diligently and happily!