Yes, It's Possible!

By Rodney E. Tyson

<rtyson@road.daejin.ac.kr>

        The essays in this volume were written by students enrolled in one of my advanced composition classes this semester [Fall 2000] at Daejin University. Learning to write well is difficult and time-consuming in any language, of course, but it's especially difficult in a foreign language. It's no mystery, then, why not all students are anxious to take a class like this one. In reflective essays at the end of the semester, some students admitted that they registered for the class despite its rather fearsome reputation, and some even reported that they found the rumors to be true:

I heard a rumor that Mr. Tyson gave us homework every day... So I took a deep breath as I sat down in the 303 classroom.... (Choi Jin Oh)

When I decided to attend [this class], my friend told me, "Are you crazy or brave?" (Im Ji-yeon)

During this semester, this class gave me lots of frustration and suffering.... (Ahn Soo Kyoung)

        When I taught this class for the first time four years ago, only twelve junior English majors were brave enough to register. This year, however, thirty-one students completed the course--twenty-one in the morning section, and ten in the evening section--and there were not only English majors, but also students from Korean Language and Literature, American Studies, and Child Studies. So why did these students choose such a difficult class which is, after all, an elective? Well, I'll let some of the students answer for themselves:
As my English skills improved, so I could feel self-confidence... Though my writing has many mistakes and problems, I can do it. That is what I learned from this class. I can do it! (Choi Jin Oh)

I have learned a much more important thing than any others. It is that I'm always ready to show my composition to other people who want to read and correct it, and willing to seek their useful comments and corrections for my composition with gratitude. (Kim Min Jae)

There were many class activities [that] helped me in English writing, but I think the activity that helped me the most was revising. It really helped me to write correct essays. (Yu Sang-hoon)

Above all, I liked it when I thought about myself while I was writing an essay. Writing an essay in English is the best time I have. (Kim Myung-Im)

At last, as I reflect on the work I have done for this class, I got a great lesson from it. It is... "No pain, no gain." (Ahn Soo Kyoung)

        It seems that although it is difficult, learning to write in English has some rewards for Korean students, too. The results of these thirty-one students' frustration, pain, and suffering (not to mention courage and/or craziness) during the past few months are represented in two collections of what they consider some of their best essays: Mission Impossible? No, Essays Possible! by the morning class, and Turtles Nibbling Dictionaries by the evening class.
        In the first group of personal essays in each collection, students describe the friends, relatives, and other people who have been most influential in their lives. The second assignment was to write a newspaper article, so in the next group of essays, students discuss some of the issues and current events that are particularly relevant to their lives. The last assignment was a research project in which pairs or groups of students chose and reviewed an Internet Web site that they felt would be useful for Korean students learning English. Some of those reviews are included in the third group of essays. Finally, in the last section, there are short biographies of the students.
        We hope you will enjoy these essays, and we look forward to receiving feedback from readers. The students' e-mail addresses are included along with their names. In addition, both of these collections, as well as some others produced by Daejin University students in former years, are available on the World Wide Web:
Mission Impossible? No, Essays Possible! (2000)
http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/students/possible/

Turtles Nibbling Dictionaries (2000)
http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/students/turtles/

Redlips and Popcorn (1999)
http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/students/redlips/

Final Essay #? (1998)
http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/students/finalessay/

Should I Revise One More Time? (1997)
http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/students/revise/

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