Lesson resources수업에 쓰는 자료
ESL discussion topics29
See all 29 →Today's news, turned into a lesson — with a student handout and teacher notes.
- Adult
Korean Offices Are Calling Workers Back, and Your Adult Class Already Picked a Side
Since 2023, major Korean employers including Samsung and SK hynix have scaled back or ended pandemic-era remote work, ordering staff back to the office full time — and most working adults in your class have an opinion on whether that was the right call.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Korea's Push to Raise the Retirement Age to 65 Divides the Room
Korea is debating whether to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 65 to match the rising national pension age, and the split between younger and older workers gives an adult class a debate they can argue from their own paycheck.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Banning After-Hours Work Messages: A Debate Your Adult Class Already Lives
South Korea's National Assembly has proposed a "right to disconnect" law banning bosses from texting staff after hours several times since 2016, most recently in 2023. None of the versions has passed yet, which is exactly why it's worth debating.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
The 'Graduation Gift' Plastic Surgery Trend Splits Korean High School Classrooms
Getting double-eyelid or nose surgery as a high school graduation present is common enough in Korea that most of your students know someone who has done it, or is planning to, and they genuinely disagree about whether that's fine.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Korea's Four-Day Workweek Pilots Give Your Adult Class a Debate They're Already Living
A handful of Korean companies, including Woowa Brothers and Kakao Games, have trialed four-day or 4.5-day workweeks since around 2019, and adult students bring real workplace stakes to the debate over whether it should spread nationwide.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea Cut High School Grades From Nine Levels to Five, and Your Students Have Feelings About It
Starting with students who entered high school in March 2025, Korea's internal grading system (내신 — naesin) moved from nine relative tiers to five, easing some of the ranking pressure but reopening arguments about fairness, effort, and whether it actually changes anything for college admissions.
Student sheet + teacher notes
Grammar for Korean speakers14
See all 14 →The mistakes Korean students actually make — articles, tense, countability — and drills that fix them.
- Middle school
Make, Let, and Have: The Causative Verb Korean Speakers Mix Up
Korean expresses force, permission, and arrangement with one causative pattern, 시키다 (sikida) or -게 하다 (-ge hada), so students map all three onto a single English verb, usually "make," producing sentences like "My mother made me clean my room" when they mean "had" or "let."
Student sheet + teacher notes I Very Like It: The Adverb Mistake Korean English Speakers Make
Korean speakers often say "I very like it" because Korean intensifiers like 너무 (neomu) or 정말 (jeongmal) attach directly to verbs, something English never allows. English needs "really," "very much," or a different adjective-based structure instead.
Student sheet + teacher notes- Middle school
Say Versus Tell: The Verb Swap Every Korean Speaker Makes
Korean speakers say "he told to me" and "she said me" because one Korean verb, 말하다 (malhada), covers both English verbs. Say never takes a direct object for the listener; tell almost always does, with no "to."
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Why "Yes, I Don't" Makes Sense in Korean but Not in English
Korean speakers answer negative questions by agreeing with the question itself, not the fact behind it, so "Don't you like coffee?" gets answered "Yes" even when the honest answer in English would be "No, I don't."
Student sheet + teacher notes Why Korean Students Drop 'It' and 'There' From English Sentences
Korean students drop "it" and "there" because Korean sentences don't need a dummy subject to be grammatical — the real subject can sit anywhere or disappear entirely, so direct translation produces sentences like "Is raining" or "Has many students."
Student sheet + teacher notes- Elementary
Why Korean Students Say "He" When They Mean "She"
Korean speakers mix up he and she in English because spoken Korean almost never uses a pronoun at all — subjects get dropped once the listener knows who's being discussed, so the habit of gender-marking every third-person reference never forms.
Student sheet + teacher notes
Classroom games16
See all 16 →No-prep games that work in a Korean hagwon classroom — 8 to 15 students, one whiteboard.
Bet the Board: The Whiteboard Wager Game That Scales From Beginner to Advanced Class
Bet the Board is a whiteboard-only game where teams wager points on their own answers before revealing them, forcing quiet students to commit and strong students to think twice — it works with 8 to 15 students at any level with zero prep.
Student sheet + teacher notesMystery Word: The Whiteboard Guessing Game That Scales From Colors to Abstract Nouns
Mystery Word is a no-prop, no-printing whiteboard game where students ask yes-or-no questions to guess a secret word, and it scales from single nouns for beginners to abstract concepts for advanced adult classes with zero extra prep.
Teacher notesSteal the Square Beats Plain Tic-Tac-Toe in a Korean Hagwon Classroom
Steal the Square is a whiteboard grid game where teams answer target-language questions to claim squares, and a wrong answer lets the other team steal it — it needs only a whiteboard, works for 8 to 15 students, and scales from single words to full sentences.
Student sheet + teacher notesBoard Tennis: The Whiteboard Rally Game That Scales From One Word to Full Sentences
Board Tennis splits the class into two teams who take turns writing on either side of a line drawn down the whiteboard, each answer required to build on the last one, and a team loses the point the moment they stall, repeat, or break the rule.
Student sheet + teacher notesThe Opinion Line: A No-Prep Whiteboard Game That Scales From Kindergarten to Adult Class
The Opinion Line is a whiteboard game where students physically stand along an imaginary scale to show agreement with a statement, then defend their spot in English — no photocopies, no cards, just a marker and floor space.
Student sheet + teacher notesNine Boxes: The Whiteboard Grid Game That Runs Itself in a Korean Hagwon
Nine Boxes is a no-prep whiteboard game where students pick a numbered box, answer a question tied to that number, and try to claim three in a row. It scales from single-word answers to full sentences with nothing more than a marker and a grid.
Student sheet + teacher notes