Kids Say the Darnedest Things

One of the first things I noticed when I stepped into a classroom in good old Korea, was how much English the kids already knew. There would be some kids that it seemed could barely speak a word and then I'd say, "Show me the homework," and they would yell back, "Show me the money!" Not only is show me the money a pretty trendy thing to say (or at least it was a few years ago), it's also grammatically complex; especially for an eight year old that has a hard time saying "May I go to the bathroom." At first I thought that Jerry McGuire might be a cultural hit over here. A kid would say, "Show me the money!" and I would point and say, "Jerry McGuire!" This would only confuse the child who would then say something like, "No teacher. I'm Sussie." To make a long story short I found out that "Show me the money," is a cheat code for a popular video game over here. The kids seem to have picked up a lot of slangish idioms through American pop culture such as songs, video games and movies. Listed are some phrases that have surprised me:

- Head shot (video game reference)
- Wave your hands in the air!
-Final Round!
-I'm loving it.
-It's in the game.
-Oh my God!
-Oh Shit!

I believe the kids learn these last two from watching uncensored American movies on Korean television. It's a kind of shocking when little Cindy forgets her homework and busts out with "Oh shit." I then have to explain to the child why this is wrong and naturally the other kids get interested.

Kyle: "What did she say?"
Tom: "She said, Oh shit."
Sarah: "Teacher what is Oh shit?"
Me: "It is a very bad word that children should not say."
Jenny: "What is the bad word? Oh shit?"
Paul: "Teacher, what is Oh shit?"

Before I know it the whole class is saying "Oh shit" like they've come down with Tourettes. Still if they want to go to America I can only think that I am teaching them valuable skills, inadvertently or not.

Below are pics from New Years and such. Happy late New Years y'all.