OP2: A teacher who inspired me

It's true that we've had too many unskillful and incompetent teachers. Moreover I know how many of them actually fail to trigger students' potential. We do need insightful, devoted and qualified teachers who can inspire one's studensts. I just want nothing less progressive and qualified teachers than they should be understanding of education. As with only one inspiring teacher, one's life can be better influenced and changed in a positive way. That's why you also one of the fortunates studensts.

Have a nice weekend!

Namsook

I enjoyed your writing about your super-intelligent foreign teacher.
I was also impressed with your flow writing and its immaculate organization.
You seem to have a great talent in writing.

Hi Min-Jung,

Thanks very much for posting your essay about the teacher that inspired you. It was very interesting to read about Dr. Tihonov, as he sounds like one of the really special gifted people in the world we might someday have the privilege to learn from.

This man was clearly an underrated genius, wasn't he? By the same token, it is also very clear that people like yourself really admired and learned a lot from him, and in later days can still clearly recall him as an inspirational teacher and scholar.

I thought this inserted paragraph of yours was particularly poignant:

He could have been one of the blue-eyed entertainers, who are popular among Koreans because they speak Korean fluently; saying they love Korea, Korean foods and culture, making Koreans feel proud of themselves. However, he was a serious scholar and became well-known among Koreans in his way.

The point you make here is clear evidence to me that you think with a much wider mindset than a lot of Korean people I have met here. It is generally the case that some of the most serious foreign contributors here in Korea are also some of the most unknown - outside their local context, that is. However, I think these people are satisfied with that, and don't feel they need national coverage on the entertainment programs to know they are doing a good job in this context. On the other hand, I actually had the chance to meet in person one of the 'blue-eyed entertainers' you mention at a publisher's dinner. He was a complete fool, rather in love with himself and his popularity, and had a complete dearth of knowledge when it came to real language teaching principles (despite leading several English development programs here on television and even having books published here on the subject); still, he had the gall to pretend he knew everything. I felt pity for him, actually...

Overall, your writing is very strong, and the use of paragraphs creates a clear and pleasant rhythm for the reader. I thought the contextual 'hook' at the start was excellent.

While you do present an absolute plethora of reasons why this man could be considered inspirational, I would have liked to see a slightly more disciplined approach to your organization that also showed very clearly how what he did or was had such a direct inspirational impact on your personally. What was it that you learned from him? What in his behavior or achievements has inspired the way you think and do things now (or would like to do them in future)? You do sort of allude to the inspiration, but it could be clearer for the purposes of this kind of topic.


Below you will find some suggestions for language development:

Ko, Min-Jung wrote:A teacher who inspired me

Somebody may easily recall a teacher who inspired oneself, but it’s a rather difficult for me to pinpoint a teacher not because there are many but because there are few from my school days. I seem to have been constantly dissatisfied with my teachers for different reasons; some behaved in an abusive manner towards students, others were unskilled or incompetent in teaching them. However, there’s an intellectual, respectable professor in every way, who still vividly stays in my mind and I’ll never forget.

He was a Russian professor from Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation of Hankook University of Foreign Studies back in 1999. His name is Vladimir Tihonov; He also named himself No-Ja Park, meaning a kid from Russia. He had a Ph. D. in Korean history in Moscow University and taught us Korean-English translation at my first year.

I still remember the day when he opened the door and stepped in the lecture. He looked like a typical Russian with untidy hair and a mustache that seemed to have been trimmed long time ago. We had no prior information about him at all, so we just regarded him as one of the Russians living in Korea. However, as soon as he began to speak, we had to drop the jaws. Not only did he speak Korean so fluently, but also did he have a through knowledge of everything concerned about Korea form history to culture. The fact that he speaks fluently in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese and he is of the same old with me was not something to be amazed at, as we get to know more about him. His keen insight about Korean society and history made us acknowledge that he is a real genius.

Regrettably, he taught only a year in our graduate school and I was forgetting him little by little. In 2003 when I was living in America, I again met him in a newspaper column. He was writing about Korean social problems every week in a progressive newspaper. He even published a book on Korean society, which is still a bestseller in social science section. Since that time he has published almost 10 books which are still being read by many people. Now he is regarded as one of the progressive intellectuals in Korea and now teaches in Oslo University in Norway- by the way, it’s a shame that no university in Korea has no post for him as a professor and makes him work on Korea outside Korea.-

He could have been one of the blue-eyed entertainers, who are popular among Koreans because they speak Korean fluently; saying they love Korea, Korean foods and culture, making Koreans feel proud of themselves. However, he was a serious scholar and became well-known among Koreans in his way.

I could have learned from him more, had I known about him better and had I been more willing to learn. I regret I was not such a hardworking student at that time. Nevertheless, I feel blessed with the experience that I learned from the teacher whose depth of knowledge is immeasurable and motivates me to keep learning. It would be hard to meet him personally, but he’ll remain as one of the mentors in my life.

Somebody may be able to easily recall a teacher who inspired him or her, but it’s rather difficult for me to pinpoint a teacher; not because there are many, but rather because there are few from my own school days

His name was Vladimir Tihonov; he also named himself No-Ja Park, meaning "a kid from Russia."

Now he is regarded as one of the most progressive intellectuals on Korea and teaches at Oslo University in Norway. I should also mention that I think it is a shame that no university in Korea is willing to offer him a post as a professor, forcing him to work on Korea from outside Korea.

All in all, another excellent contribution to your overall online portfolio of writing. You're doing a fantastic job!

See you in class soon,

~ Jason


***

Thank you very much for your insightful feedback.
After finiishing this essay, I was exactly feeling like you, that I had to be more specifiec about what aspect of his teaching had influenced me. I was just so tire of wriing 4 essays, including other professors' homework, and didn't dare to add more and put more effort. It's completely my fault, but I appreciate for your advice. I'll keep in mind and try to be more focused next time.

Jason Renshaw wrote:Hi Min-Jung,

Thanks very much for posting your essay about the teacher that inspired you. It was very interesting to read about Dr. Tihonov, as he sounds like one of the really special gifted people in the world we might someday have the privilege to learn from.

This man was clearly an underrated genius, wasn't he? By the same token, it is also very clear that people like yourself really admired and learned a lot from him, and in later days can still clearly recall him as an inspirational teacher and scholar.

I thought this inserted paragraph of yours was particularly poignant:

He could have been one of the blue-eyed entertainers, who are popular among Koreans because they speak Korean fluently; saying they love Korea, Korean foods and culture, making Koreans feel proud of themselves. However, he was a serious scholar and became well-known among Koreans in his way.

The point you make here is clear evidence to me that you think with a much wider mindset than a lot of Korean people I have met here. It is generally the case that some of the most serious foreign contributors here in Korea are also some of the most unknown - outside their local context, that is. However, I think these people are satisfied with that, and don't feel they need national coverage on the entertainment programs to know they are doing a good job in this context. On the other hand, I actually had the chance to meet in person one of the 'blue-eyed entertainers' you mention at a publisher's dinner. He was a complete fool, rather in love with himself and his popularity, and had a complete dearth of knowledge when it came to real language teaching principles (despite leading several English development programs here on television and even having books published here on the subject); still, he had the gall to pretend he knew everything. I felt pity for him, actually...

Overall, your writing is very strong, and the use of paragraphs creates a clear and pleasant rhythm for the reader. I thought the contextual 'hook' at the start was excellent.

While you do present an absolute plethora of reasons why this man could be considered inspirational, I would have liked to see a slightly more disciplined approach to your organization that also showed very clearly how what he did or was had such a direct inspirational impact on your personally. What was it that you learned from him? What in his behavior or achievements has inspired the way you think and do things now (or would like to do them in future)? You do sort of allude to the inspiration, but it could be clearer for the purposes of this kind of topic.


Below you will find some suggestions for language development:

Ko, Min-Jung wrote:A teacher who inspired me

Somebody may easily recall a teacher who inspired oneself, but it’s a rather difficult for me to pinpoint a teacher not because there are many but because there are few from my school days. I seem to have been constantly dissatisfied with my teachers for different reasons; some behaved in an abusive manner towards students, others were unskilled or incompetent in teaching them. However, there’s an intellectual, respectable professor in every way, who still vividly stays in my mind and I’ll never forget.

He was a Russian professor from Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation of Hankook University of Foreign Studies back in 1999. His name is Vladimir Tihonov; He also named himself No-Ja Park, meaning a kid from Russia. He had a Ph. D. in Korean history in Moscow University and taught us Korean-English translation at my first year.

I still remember the day when he opened the door and stepped in the lecture. He looked like a typical Russian with untidy hair and a mustache that seemed to have been trimmed long time ago. We had no prior information about him at all, so we just regarded him as one of the Russians living in Korea. However, as soon as he began to speak, we had to drop the jaws. Not only did he speak Korean so fluently, but also did he have a through knowledge of everything concerned about Korea form history to culture. The fact that he speaks fluently in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese and he is of the same old with me was not something to be amazed at, as we get to know more about him. His keen insight about Korean society and history made us acknowledge that he is a real genius.

Regrettably, he taught only a year in our graduate school and I was forgetting him little by little. In 2003 when I was living in America, I again met him in a newspaper column. He was writing about Korean social problems every week in a progressive newspaper. He even published a book on Korean society, which is still a bestseller in social science section. Since that time he has published almost 10 books which are still being read by many people. Now he is regarded as one of the progressive intellectuals in Korea and now teaches in Oslo University in Norway- by the way, it’s a shame that no university in Korea has no post for him as a professor and makes him work on Korea outside Korea.-

He could have been one of the blue-eyed entertainers, who are popular among Koreans because they speak Korean fluently; saying they love Korea, Korean foods and culture, making Koreans feel proud of themselves. However, he was a serious scholar and became well-known among Koreans in his way.

I could have learned from him more, had I known about him better and had I been more willing to learn. I regret I was not such a hardworking student at that time. Nevertheless, I feel blessed with the experience that I learned from the teacher whose depth of knowledge is immeasurable and motivates me to keep learning. It would be hard to meet him personally, but he’ll remain as one of the mentors in my life.

Somebody may be able to easily recall a teacher who inspired him or her, but it’s rather difficult for me to pinpoint a teacher; not because there are many, but rather because there are few from my own school days

His name was Vladimir Tihonov; he also named himself No-Ja Park, meaning "a kid from Russia."

Now he is regarded as one of the most progressive intellectuals on Korea and teaches at Oslo University in Norway. I should also mention that I think it is a shame that no university in Korea is willing to offer him a post as a professor, forcing him to work on Korea from outside Korea.

All in all, another excellent contribution to your overall online portfolio of writing. You're doing a fantastic job!

See you in class soon,

~ Jason


***

It was very lucky to meet such a genius teacher!
I wonder how he speaks Korean fluently.
One of my foreign teachers didn't speak any Korean.
Teachers have to know what they teach thoroughly. So did your teacher.