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We all
remember running on four hours of sleep when we were students. Many of
us still have to do so on occasion in our present circumstances. But
how many of us can say it is our norm? Welcome to John Song's world.
John is a husband, father of three, full-time pastor, dean of a
rapidly growing language school, a part-time instructor at CSUN and here
at GCC, and that's just for starters. Where did this 37-year-old ball
of energy get his start?
Born in Seoul to parents employed by the U.S. military, John is
the oldest of three children. Seeking a place to live where the
children were less likely to endure the horrors of war, John's parents
plunked the family down in Indiana in 1975. Struggling to learn English
the hard way was to inform John's teaching style later in life.
His grandfather had earned a Ph.D. in the U.S., attending
Columbia and Northwestern, and the family's hopes that the children
might likewise attain academic achievement were eventually realized.
After relocating to Texas in 1979, John went on to earn a theology
degree, while his brother wound up as a radiology professor at the
University of Pennsylvania and his sister became an attorney. Due to
his years in Texas, John now loves pistol and rifle shooting, can
perfectly imitate the famous twang, and still gets turned on by women
driving pickup trucks.
An opportunity to return to Korea for a pastoral internship in
1988 changed his life forever. There he learned first-hand what being a
pastor was like, met his future wife, and again had to acquire a foreign
language under pressure—Korean! Having lost most of his ability in the
language of his birth, he had to relearn it. Despite teaching methods
that he found unhelpful, he returned to the U.S. a year later fluent in
spoken Korean, although still lacking in grammatical knowledge.
John moved to California for graduate school in 1990. In 1994,
he was asked to teach a "just for fun" conversational Korean class at
L.A.'s Korean Cultural Center. Koreatown was starting its boom, but
only a half-dozen students showed up for the class. Not knowing quite
how to proceed, he asked each of them what they wanted to learn, and
tailored the sessions to their specific needs. He quickly realized that
they too would have to put in the time to learn grammar to reach their
goals, as he had recently done on his own.
With support from the South Korean embassy, John and the center
created a program that has since grown by leaps and bounds. There are
now six levels of classes serving about 1,000 students per year. The
nominal fee each pays is more than returned in free textbooks and Korean
snacks. The program has just expanded to a site in Arizona, and has
received inquiries about starting up on the East Coast. As South
Korea's economic development comes to rival that of other
post-industrial nations, the demand to learn its language is soaring. A
national cinema that is becoming increasingly respected in other
countries hasn't hurt demand either.
Not content with being Johnny Appleseed, he also began teaching
Korean at CSUN in 1997, and here at Glendale in 1999. From personal
experience, I can say that John's philosophy of teaching is popular.
He knows when to tease students, and when to support them. In fact, he
takes pride in being willing to help former students, whether they want
to talk about the problems in their lives or just need a free meal with
their old prof.
He also is advisor to Campus Crusade for Christ groups on both
campuses. This feeds his love of interaction with students outside of
class, and dovetails well with his work as the senior English-language
pastor at his Pomona church (did I mention he commutes in from a home in
Fontana to do all of this? starting to understand the small amount of
sleep?). The 1,500 church members are almost all of Korean descent, but
as this wave of immigrants assimilates, John foresees a need for more
English language services and greater integration with the
neighborhood's other residents, who are primarily Latino.
While he usually works in the church office each morning, he
tries to work from home whenever his kids are on vacation from school.
He says he always wants to be there for them and that they are his top
priority. With what little free time this leaves him, he likes to give
his firearm collection a workout, play a little racquetball, and go for
weekly rock climbs. He loves to take along other church members when
climbing in order to bond with them and train them in leadership skills.
When asked about his work here at GCC, John has nothing but
praise for the support he has received from Jean Perry, Teresa Cortey,
and the other members of the Language Arts division. In addition to the
conversational Korean class we offer on Saturdays and the traditional
Korean 101/102 series, they have encouraged him to pioneer a "Korean for
Korean Speakers" course, similar to courses we offer for Armenian and
Spanish speakers. He likes the idea of not having to simultaneously get
the non-speakers to learn while getting those who already know the
spoken language to unlearn bad habits.
If this profile has piqued your interest, don't expect him to
read a note you leave in his box—he's too busy for that. But do take
the time to introduce yourself. If you can do it in a Texas twang, he
might even take you out to dinner!
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