[hulbeje]

Hi!

I just started a new class. I have a new student from Korea that is extremely shy. I haven been working with ESL students for 7 years and have worked with many students from Korea before, but I have never seen a student that was quite as shy as she is.

I have no other Korean students in the class right now and I am hesitant to pair myself up with her because she may feel that she has done something wrong to be paired with the teacher. I don't want to pair her with students of her level yet (my class is completely multilevel) because she will not really talk to anyone. But I also don't want to have her paired up with a beginning level student and have her work well below her level and get bored or insulted. I was thinking of talking to her husband and explaining to him that I will pair her up with a beginner temporarily and switch her level whenever she feels more confident, but I'm not sure if that is the right course or not.

Any advice would be really helpful. I'm worried that she will drop out before she has a chance to feel comfortable.

Thanks!!!!

[REVanessa]

Assuming from your post about her having husband, that means she's already adult?

I think that's going to be a little hard since adults are very sensitive about that--but then again no one wants people to laugh at them because of their English level anyway.

I've got a bunch of Korean students, from kids to teenagers. And I think the easiest way to make them comfortable is to show them how 'dumb' we are in speaking Korean. There are many times I fail saying the simplest 'Annyong Haseyo' and they just laugh at my sad effort in saying it.

Try to assure her that it's just okay if one cannot speak English?

Hope it helps!

[Dave-B]

Some people are shy there whole lives. Do you think it is because of her English or her nature?

It may be you never change her shyness, but find other ways to help her learn.

So, do you think it is a language or personality thing?