34 Language Teaching
“Teaching for a Better World”
Advancing the Field of English Education
Gwangju News, April 2022
gwangjunewsgic.com
TEACHING & LEARNING
An Inter view with Lindsay Herron
If you are a language teacher in the Gwangju area or a member of Korea TESOL (KOTESOL), the nationwide teachers’ association, you have quite likely heard of Lindsay Herron. She has spent well over a decade teaching in Korea and almost as long involved in KOTESOL. Lindsay is presently the president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Chapter of KOTESOL, a past national president of KOTESOL, and the chair of this spring’s KOTESOL International Conference. Lindsay graciously agreed to the following interview to talk about teaching, the local KOTESOL chapter, the upcoming conference, and a bit about herself. — Ed.
K
OTESOL: Hi, Lindsay. Thank you for this interview that you are doing for the Gwangju News. To start things off, would you give us a bit of background information – things like what you did before coming to Korea, what brought you here, and what has kept you here? Lindsay: Before I came to Korea, I worked in publishing in New York City, which was amazing. My entire life-path changed one Memorial Day weekend, though, when a friend invited me to join her for a Tsui Hark retrospective at the Anthology Film ▲ Lindsay Herron Archives. I didn’t actually know what a “Tsui Hark” was, but I went with her anyway. I quickly discovered he was a superb Hong Kong film director, and the six films we watched that weekend were absolutely mesmerizing! They reignited my love of film, and I started learning as much as I could about Asian cinema, including attending screenings of Korean films throughout the city. I started taking Korean language lessons after work, just for fun; and by 2003, I’d decided to quit my publishing job to pursue a master’s in cinema
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studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. At the time, there were many books available in English about most national cinemas in Asia, but I could only find three on Korean cinema, an appalling gap I resolved to fill. I decided to move to Korea for a year or two, master the language and culture, return to the U.S. to pursue a doctorate in film studies, and eventually become one of the foremost North American experts on Korean cinema. Pretty solid plan, right? What actually happened, though, was I got accepted to the Fulbright Korea ETA program; got assigned to a boys’ high school in Seogwipo, Jeju-do; and immediately fell deeply, irrevocably in love with teaching and my students the moment I walked into the classroom. I’ve been in Korea ever since, dedicating myself to teaching (and learning about teaching) with the same enthusiasm I used to devote to cinema studies. Ironically, I haven’t seen many Korean movies since I moved here, though I did get to meet one of my favorite actors, Yu Ohseong, in person, and I sat directly behind another one, Ahn Sung-ki, at a film festival awards ceremony during my first year here! KOTESOL: You are quite active in KOTESOL (Korea TESOL) and have been for some time; indeed, you are currently the president of the Gwangju-Jeonnam
2022-03-24 �� 9:37:26
