Thursday, July 9, 2009

thoughts on charisma man video?

I see the creators picked up on the "(some) English teachers can't spell" meme I apparently created out of whole cloth.


Okay. It's meant to be humorous, but I think it's a fair question to ask: How does this depiction stack up to reality? Is it fair? Is it grossly inaccurate? Does it make things worse for English teachers? Does this meme attract individuals whom we'd rather not come to Korea? And how would this relate to women who come to Asia to teach? Is there a "charisma woman"? 

(HT to cmm, whom I'm never met, but if I did meet, I hope he says in a baritone voice reminiscent of James Earl Jones, "This... is cmm.") 

UPDATE:
Reading the comments section of this post is three and a half hours of my life I'll never get back. 

4 comments:

  1. Damn - I hate to say it but I think my daughter actually met this guy once for pizza and beer in Bucheon! LOL.

    More seriously, yes, I do think depictions like this do harm to the image of English teachers in Korea, especially since some of it is true. Actual story: In a demo class I saw someone pull this stunt of declaring that 'ain't' is a correct way of spelling if you're a Texan.

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  2. I hate stereotyping and generalizations of all sorts, humorous or not. However, i know that is somehow true ( a social fact), but the magnitude is i think very low

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  3. Very funny... I had a good laugh.

    I don't think we English teachers should worry too much about this kind of thing - the video, not the teacher.

    Nor do I think there's anything to be gained by serioulsy analyzing this video. The nature of humour is to exaggerate and play on stereotypes.

    P.S. Here's a little irony for you, after critcizing "Super Expatriate Man's" spelling abilities, they go on to write: 'expatriot.' Or is that the Canadian spelling?

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  4. Haha! Rings true, even if she did write it about an ex

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