Nurtured by Love by Suzuki

To merely "want" to do something is not enough (87).

One must be able to put things into practice (88).

It is only doing the thing that counts.. I shall acquire the habit of doing what I have in mind to do (88).

Even small tasks should not be neglected, but completed right away (89).

"If you try it, you can do it" (91).

"Unhappy are the thinkers" ... because thought is often just idle thought, and does not include self-correction. What is the use of pouring repentance on repentance? Too much thought makes thought meaningless, and finally we get so we reject thought altogether. Self-examination not accompanied by change isthe same as not putting into action what we think of doing (90). 

The sooner people realize their mistake, the better. The more the situation is changed, the nearer the human race will come to happiness (107).

"Talent is not inborn, it has to be created" (36).

Talent education (Talent Education Research Institute), Shinichi Suzuki

Post preview! Translation of a Korean poem, "님의 침묵"/"Silence of the Beloved"

님의 침묵

한용운 

님은 갔습니다 
아아 사랑하는나의님은 갓슴니다 
푸른 산 빛을깨치고 단풍나무 숲을 향하여 난 
작은 길을 걸어서 차마 떨치고 갔습니다.
황금의 꽃같이 굳고 빛나던 옛 맹세는 차디찬
티끌이 되어서 한숨의 미풍에 날려 갔습니다.

날카로은 첫 키스의 추억은 나의운명의 
지침(指針)을 돌려놓고 뒷걸음처서 사러졌습니다.
나는 향기로운 님의 말소리에 귀먹고 
꽃다운 님의 얼굴에 눈멀었습니다.

사랑도 사람의 일이라 만날 때에 미리 떠날 것을
염려하고경계하지 아니 한 것은 아니지만
이별은 뜻밖의 일이 되고 
놀란 가슴은 새로은 슬븜에 터집니다.

그러나 이별을 쓸데없는 눈물의 원천을 만들고 마는 것은
스스로 사랑을 깨치는 것인 줄 아는 까닭에 
걷잡을 수 없는 슬픔의 힘을 옴겨서 
새 희망의 정수박이에 들이부었습니다.

우리는 만날 때에 떠날 것을 염려하는 것과 같이
떠날 때에 다시 만날 것을 믿습니다.

아아, 님은 갔지마는 
나는 님을 보내지 아니 하였습니다.
제 곡조를 못이기는 사랑의 노래는 
님의 침묵을 휩싸고 돕니다. 

I worked on translating one of my favorite Korean poems, "님의 침묵"/"Silence of the Beloved" with my friend, Aly, who wanted to translate a text in an unfamiliar foreign language into English for her translation workshop assignment. I'll get the fully translated version with all the sounds, nuances, and messages taken into account on my blog as soon as it gets done. 

But here goes a little bit of preview for the post about the translation experience!

The Korean word, 님 (pronounced as nym) in the title and repeated a lots of times throughout the whole poem, was one of very important vocabulary to be dealt with but also quite difficult to be translated into English because this simple single-syllable word, 님, could make scores of implications. It is a word referring to somebody in a superior position or someone whom you love or admire in a very polite way. It also sounds archaic and romantic if you call a person you're in love with by this word, and normally you don't in everyday conversation especially in modern times. We finally made it to give it a possibly closest-meaning English word, the beloved - here it should be also noted that the whole poem speaks of someone/something unspecified but kinda directed at a certain person/object, so allowing the addition of a definite article, the. 

So please stay tuned for another fun post about this translation work that turns out more and more interesting and fascinating. 

*Image source from a Japanese movie, Rainbow Song (虹の女神, Kumazawa, 2006)

**Poem text from a naver cafe site

포브스 미국 대학 순위/한국 황색 저널리즘 Forbes ranks the best US colleges - but misinterpreted by Korean yellow journalism

Forbes has become a new post for ranking the best universities and colleges in the United States, aiming to downplay the traditionally prestigious rankings by U.S. News and World Report. Forbes, unlike U.S. News, makes a compiled list of both universities and liberal arts colleges for the rankings based on the following five criteria collected by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP):

1. Listing of Alumni in the 2008 Who's Who in America (25%)

2. Student Evaluations of Professors from Ratemyprofessors.com (25%)

3. Four- Year Graduation Rates (16 2/3%)

4. Enrollment-adjusted numbers of students and faculty receiving nationally competitive awards (16 2/3%)

5. Average four year accumulated student debt of those borrowing money (16 2/3%)

It was not only stunning but also almost shocking that Swarthmore College was ranked #4, ahead of most of the Ivy League universities except for Princeton (#1) and Harvard (#3) because, you know, Swarthmore has no reputation among Koreans and even some Americans. To address the creditability of Forbes rankings, Forbes is a world-recognized financial and business magazine that has a long history of publishing lists for a diversity of issues ranging from "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" to Richest People of the World. But Forbes hasn't had a foot in the door of ranking the best colleges until this year. Nevertheless, it still can't be bullshit or rubbish because it's Forbes.

From the first day I was back early to Swarthmore for the international orientation, we discussed and chatted about the Forbes rankings spread more publicly through one of Swat gradutates' facebook page. Not only were the other Swarthmore students impressed and thrilled by the honorable recognition, but also were Koreans proud to hear the news. And even a couple of Korean students told me that these rankings were also reported in a major Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo. I was personally so glad to hear one of the prestigious journals of Korea cover the article, expecting that it would inform many Koreans ignorant of liberal arts colleges as a whole, let alone Swarthmore College, of the strength and competitiveness of the under-recognized schools. 

However, Korean journals were so biased and unjust as to drive me to write a post about them immediately - what a yellow journalism. All the major newspapers, stubbornly equipped with chronically obsessive consciousness of ostentatious reputation, just wanted to capture only a part of the fact that they want to show to the public. Most of the newspapers including one from Chosun Ilbo gave an exclusive spotlight on the fact that Princeton topped the rank published by Forbes, followed by Cal Tech and Harvard. Though the Forbes rankings could cast a fresh perspective on the best colleges in the U.S. in the Korean publics and especially those considering getting a U.S. college education, Korean journals were preventing the cultivation of the unorthodox attention on the lesser known liberal arts colleges. 

Chosun.com/조선일보: 미(美) 대학 순위 프린스턴 1위

Donga.com/동아일보: 포브스 “올해 美 최고대학은 프린스턴”

Hankyung.com/한국경제신문: "올해 美 최고대학은 프린스턴"[포브스]

Koreadaily.com/USA 중앙일보: 올해 최고 대학은 프린스턴' 포브스 선정

When I searched on Google with key words such as "포브스 대학 순위," They didn't cover at all how less famous liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst got ranked high above many Ivy League universities. By emphasizing that Princeton is the number one university, along with Harvard as one of the top threes, Korean journals mislead the readership to believe more firmly that only the famous schools like Harvard and Princeton are great and worthwhile to go to. In this manner, Korean media don't give just credits and honor for the top-ranked liberal arts colleges - especially Swarthmore, Williams, and Amherst, three of which were also ranked on the top of the list made by U.S. News and World Report - and misguide the prospective Korean students to make not the best choice. 

U.S. News: 2009 Best Liberal Arts Colleges 

Korean journals disavow their media responsibility by turning away from viewing the very broad and true picture of a fact and highlighting only a superficial bit of the whole fact to manipulate the public or reinforce an orthodox belief/myth. This mishap is not new in Korean journalism, though.  The Metropolitician, an enthusiastic American blogger about the inside of Korean culture and nationalism, posted about the DMC press conference where DMC of Run DMC was prompted to give an answer that Korean media wants to hear from an American public figure about the importing of beef. 

Remember, no matter what, we just care for the truth. 

P.S. Also if you're rank-conscious, you should be aware that Swarthmore ranks 6th on the "High school counselor rankings of liberal arts colleges."

High school counselor rankings of liberal arts colleges

P.P.S. I also came across an interesting post about the Forbes college rankings while searching on Google. Georgia Tech, ranked 501th by Forbes, Korean students who go to the school got so angry that they jotted on the website for Georgia Tech Korean Student Association how meaningless the college rankings were.

Pop-up: Publish a dictionary of school/class system (학교 교육 시스템 사전)

When I was home on break in Korea, I watched a TV documentary about a special educational system implemented in Ireland which showed a rapid and significant economic, and national, growth. This documentary, 15-year-old's Class of Your Dream, aired on MBC is designed to be trilogy which deals with topics of eduction: the first is "Just play one year of K-12 (1년쯤 놀아도 괜찮아)," the second "Just at the bottom of class (꼴찌라도 괜찮아)," and the third "Just imagine weird ideas (엉뚱한 상상도 괜찮아)." While just half-mindedly watching the program for a moment, it occurred to me that I publish a dictionary of different types of school/class systems to which any faculty staff as well as students of all grades can refer.

My idea is that the government builds several types of schools which implement different school systems that lots of people are already informed of and that they would like to attend. Then students will pick out one theme school themselves after consulting this dictionary/school guidebooks I will publish. In actuality, I need to publish both dictionary and school guidebook. Dictionary is necessary for educators and government officials to find out how various yet innovative school systems there can be worldwide and sort out a few of them that are most appropriate and appealing to the people of the country. School guidebook is for students and parents to look up which choices they have when they get to decide which school to go in the next level--just like a college guide published by Kaplan or Princeton Review.

To realize my idea, I will need to research as many different schools as possible around the world and classify the themes/systems. For example, in Japan and Korea, as far as I know, they have standardized educational systems that almost all schools in those nations must follow. There are some countries like those two having nationalized systems while there are countries like the United States that do not have a particularly standardized system but varied program according to each state. So it is apparently an indefinite amount of work but still seems to be able to be accomplished.

So I will describe each different system - I'm not decided about whether to enumerate it alphabetically or in some other clustered way - in terms of special, novel aspects of the system. As if I advertise each educational system, I'll just show the special things at first: e.g., having one year a break period from academics without any exam in freshman year/4th grade in junior-high school (Irish educational system has a six-year junior-high school after elementary school.). After shedding a light on an outstanding feature of a system, I will describe how it is feasible and actually being carried out by illustrating a real model school. I will pronounce what this system is exactly and what a model school is doing in detail continued from the special feature at the first. I will also tell drawbacks concretely as well. Then I will include comments and reviews from actual teachers and students at the model school and invite education experts to evaluate/comment on it. At the end of each system description, I will put contact information of a model school so that anyone interested can ask and get answered from promptly.

*Pictures from iMBC

Almost there/압구정 학원 강사로 일한다는 것...

What have I earned or realized after working at a private institute as an English teacher for four months?

Interesting students with whom I had a fun time teaching, a real social atmosphere at the work field, workplace politics along with ways to survive the office-politics, or epiphany that studying the easiest of all jobs in the world?

1) Interesting, fun students

I had this one friendly, cute-looking students, Jason, 12, who called me a "baby." He responded to my nagging and scolding almost all the time with "Sorry, babe" and "Yep, babe," which not only annoyed but also stunned me into silence because he was too cute for me to punish for such a nasty calling. His little brother, Justin, was impressive as well. They both had been in California for a year and returned to Korea several months ago, so they are fairly fluent in English. Justin, whom I happened to teach English speaking once as a substitute teacher, was adorable: when I had a chance to take a look at his writing paper in another class, I could see his answer to a question, "What will you be in 20 years?" He wrote, "I will become a Samsung boss.... [and] the world will be upgraded...." I couldn't help but laughing at his witty, but weighty response because I just had an instant feeling that he might become "a Samsung boss" or someone comparable to such a successful person in the future. This 10-year-old boy is thinking so highly of himself and making an exceedingly huge aspiration for his future. Then, why don't I? As I age older, I get to meet a lot more preeminent people in each field and confront a gorgeous, never-imagined, high-class life. But my dream was just as small as before: "I want to become an diplomat," "I'll become a CEO," "I seriously want to become a hotelier," and now "I want to be a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs." I need to seriously think about what I deserve to be and what I can do in the future.

2) Having a job and working

When grown-ups used to grumble over how hard it is working at a company or in any field, I just didn't make a big deal about it. Everyone gets a job at some point and labors until he or she retires, which is one of natural cycles. But once I've got a real job at a company with other co-workers and a boss, I found it so stressful working at a job. One day, I was so sick in the morning and vomitted a couple of times feeling dizzy all the morning that I called the boss and said I was not feeling well so I had to take a day off. But her response was immediately "Send someone else to replace you or we have no room or free time to make up your classes." What on earth is she? Is she a callous monster? Would she have been so picky and impassive and told me I should work if I were her daughter and excused that I couldn't make it today because I was so ill? She didn't even wonder, not to mention get worried, how seriously I was ill. She could have called someone else she knows or asked for other teachers to substitute me for just one day because I know there ARE teachers who don't have class, so can make up for me. What's more, she didn't look sympathetic and concerned about my health until I got to work and said I was okay and would work that day. Such a hypocrite!

3) Workplace politics

I always have to be careful about reading my boss's face and not to make a mistake about the stuff I've been assigned or making fuss about the working conditions. In addition, I can't believe any of my peer workers: People smile at me and pay me encouragement, but they defame me behind my back. Maybe the best way to get through this harsh jungle-like environment is just to pretend that I think they are all pleasant and know nothing about rumors going in and out. Besides, what's more irritating is that I have to do all the task assigned from my senior co-workers obediently, including annoying manual labor like cleaning the shelves or typing, even if I know that she herself is supposed to do that.

4) Epiphany

So, the last but not least I've gain from this four-month working experience is epiphany that studying is the easiest job of all kinds. I can study whenever I want and not study whenever I don't want without pressure that I have to study Monday through Friday from one to seven p.m.. I can skip just one day when I'm sick. I don't have to care about how to please my boss all the more.

Teaching at a private institute doesn't feel that much fruitful considering my time and efforts consumed here because I didn't get well-paid. But perhaps, on the contrary, I think I've matured and learned a bit about life and work even before I am supposed to know about those. I learned how to control my temper, be an efficient worker, and read other peers' or boss's face. I also faced a lot of different people, whether students or peer workers, and had enough time to think and fret about not only Korean education but also seriously my future and relationships with people.

I'm almost there.

This four-month experience did, does and will pay off in my life. And that's the last word I hope to say in the end.