Q: Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Hi! I’m Aurore, from France. I used to work as an intern at PSCORE and recently spent six months teaching English through in-person classes. I’m currently doing my Master’s in International Relations at Sciences Po Grenoble.

Q: How did you first learn about PSCORE’s English program? What interested you in volunteering with us?

As an intern at PSCORE, I was invited to join the English program. Since I was staying in Korea for an extended period and also spoke Korean, I felt I could contribute effectively and was a good fit for the program. Volunteering with PSCORE appealed to me because I’ve always enjoyed teaching, and even though English is not my first language, I believed it would be a meaningful and enriching experience.

Q: What did a typical tutoring session look like for you and your student(s)? 

My sessions were offline, usually with four students (later three during the summer break). Each class was around 30 minutes long, and since the students often came tired from school, keeping their attention was sometimes challenging. I focused mainly on encouraging them to speak about their interests. Typically, I would start with a short vocabulary session introducing useful new words, followed by a small activity.

Their favorite activity was bingo, but we also played games like Kahoot and charades. To keep them motivated, I gave out candies as rewards when they answered correctly or won a game. If there was time left, we would spend it talking together in English or sometimes in Korean. For me, it was important to get to know them better, so I could adapt the lessons to what made them excited about learning English, even if it wasn’t their favorite subject.

Q: Can you share any particularly memorable experiences or moments you had while teaching English at PSCORE?

One particularly memorable moment was related to the candy rewards I gave my students. In the beginning, they didn’t know how to ask for candy in English — they would either ask me in Korean or simply hold out their hands. At first, I was a bit discouraged by this, so I decided to turn it into a lesson about making formal requests. One of the key phrases they learned was, “Can you give me a candy, please?” In the end, that was the sentence they remembered best, because it was directly useful for them. It was a fun reminder of how practical language learning can be when it’s connected to their own motivation.

Q: What was the most rewarding part or takeaway from your tutoring experience with PSCORE?

When I first started teaching, the students were quite cold and distant, even with their previous teacher who had been there for a long time. I could sense that they hadn’t really bonded with her, and I felt bad about that. From the beginning, I made an effort to ask them more about themselves — first in English, and if they didn’t understand, in Korean. I think the fact that I could speak Korean also made them feel more comfortable. Slowly, they began to smile more in class and even asked me questions about myself.

Over time, a genuine bond was created between us. Of course, some students preferred to speak in English while others switched to Korean, but for me, what mattered most was that they felt comfortable communicating. When they started doing this with me, and when I saw them looking genuinely happy to see me every Tuesday, that was the most rewarding part of the whole experience.

Q: Do you have any advice or suggestions for future tutors? 

Of course, you want your students to learn something by the end of each class, but don’t force content on them. That usually only makes them forget the lesson and dislike the subject even more. Instead, focus on building a bond with them. Shape your lessons around what they enjoy and what will be useful for them in daily life. Take the time to really get to know your students — that’s the only way to design lessons they will find meaningful and actually remember.