I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce an English class 동호회 which was launched during the 2019 Women’s Ministry. Unlike any other 동호회, I had to recruit an instructor from outside our church. Fortunately, I could convince one of my friend, Nancy, who was willing to teach English to us. In fact, she was also so excited to be invited as an English instructor. And we, Nasum church members, are so blessed to have someone who is passionate and eager to help and teach us with English.  

  In a short biography of Nancy Kwon, she has a Masters Degree in Nursing from UPENN and worked as Deputy Director of Clinical Research Defense &  Veterans for Integrative Pain Management (DVCIPM) for over 10 years before coming to Singapore. She is married to Austrian and has two boys, 15 and 12.

  So far three(3) English classes have been held on Wednesdays. During the first and second day of the class, casual greetings and conversation were discussed such as:

How many kids do you have? How old are they? How long have you been in Singapore? Do you like Singapore? What do you like/dislike about Singapore?

       In response various ways one can say:

       I don’t like it here because I can’t express myself well in English.

       I like it here because of the fresh air.  The air in Korea is very polluted.

Additionally, a few words that we, Korean, have a bit of difficulty in pronouncing them incorrectly were practiced:

BirTHday, 

TwelVE,

THree, 

EleVEN, 

CHildren or kids

  On the third day of the class she focused on words and phrases to use at Parent Teachers Conference (PTC):

Is she/he at grade level with reading, writing and/or math? How do I get my kid ahead of grade level in reading, math or other subjects? Is she/he falling behind in writing or math? What can we do at home to help her/him get ahead? What can you (the teacher) or the school do to help my child get to grade level in reading and writing or math? Is my child happy at school? How can you tell? Is my child socially adjusted?

   Nancy also covered how to email the teacher before and after PTC:

   “I have a burning question!”

   “In order to have a heads up (to get prepared) here are my concerns.”

   “What is the Take Home Message?”

  And as usual she talked about a few interesting words since we are dealing with people from different background, culture, and religion in Singapore:

Nuclear family: mom, father, and kids

Extended family: nuclear family plus grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and so on

Secular: not connected with any religion

Orthodox: a person follows religion very strictly

Public schools in America are secular

I’m not an Orthodox Jew because I like to eat pork.

Do you eat kosher food?

 There are still seven(7) more English classes to go and they meet every Wednesdays at 10:00 am.  If you are interested in learning, please contact   여선교회, 엄은조, M: 8798 2877.