It's funny because I've actually encountered more of that weird English you hear about in Asia in the 3 weeks I've been at my new school, versus the 5 months I was at ILS, and ILS adhered a lot more to Korean customs than my new school. Aside from my having gotten over my culture shock, Jungchul is a lot more accessible culturally than ILS. By that I mean the other teachers and staff are nice and respectful to everyone, Korean or otherwise, have a sense of humor. Last minute planning still happens, but FAR less often, and isn't just so ingrained to how things are done that it's less stressful for everyone all around. The other little difference is that at ILS we removed our shoes and wore slippers at work, whereas here we just walk around in our shoes. Of course, it appears ILS was just an overall shitty place to work, while Jungchul is definitely not.

But the kids at ILS rarely, if ever,wore t-shirts with English on them (or much writing at all), though when they did it was fine. The books we used were actually school books from the US, so those likewise spared me the fun, albeit harmful* fun for those trying to learn English.

At the new school, we use many books that were written in Korea. In fact, 1/2 of my middle school classes use books that explain language concepts, instructions, etc in Korean, which worried me about teaching since I don't speak Korean (turns out we just play the CDs so they can get their instruction in Korean, then listen to English examples and exercises).

And so, there are definitely some mistakes to be found. Some are very small, like the middle school class today who listened to 2 Americans talking about where to go for pizza, and in the script, it talked about thick and thin bread, instead of crust. I will add that the kids found that particular exercise way too easy, so I blew their minds by explaining something that apparently they didn't get, and didn't know they didn't get: that the girl liked goat cheese on her pizza. The kids were truly shocked, not just that other animals produce milk that people consume, but that they'd make cheese out of it. I then had 8 middle schoolers howling with laughter as I attempted to draw a camel that looked more like a puzzle piece, a sheep, and then worked on their request for me to draw a dog which kept just being a horse. Teacher draw time is a hit for all ages.

And then there are the conversation books that are designed to give kids small conversation practice, like introducing yourself, meeting your friend's mom, going to the store... or asking someone what they think about what you're wearing, which reflects no word usage a native speaker would ever use, albeit due to cultural difference (in Asia, it's perfectly appropriate to tell someone not wearing makeup that they look pale or ugly... telling someone you're ugly can be commonly used particularly if the person doesn't know other words. It's also considered fine to comment on how nice or bad a woman's hair or skin is, for example, pretty much only if you're white & not tan, which means daily, frequent comments on how nice and light your skin/hair is/are. Naturally they'll tell you if you're fat, ask what's wrong with your skin, etc.).This conversation is on agreeing and disagreeing, as well as the phrase, "you're right:"
     A.    Is this right for me?
     B.    Well, I don't think so.
     A     Is it to small?
     B.    That's right.
     A.    Maybe I'm too fat.
     B.    You're right.

And it wasn't until this school that I finally have seen a kid oblivious to the fact that his baseball hat says FUCK in big, capital letters.

There are 2 reasons I can see for this:
1.) The boy who wears it, though he's in a class where they listen to conversations about cancelling reservations, boss and employee conversations, etc, clearly hears Charlie Brown's teacher when I talk, he looks at me so blankly whenever I say anything or ask a question.

2.) It's written in a Gothic font. If I connect my lowercase L to an E, my students freak out and can't figure out what word I've written. So, this particular font, which takes a bit of effort on my part to get, is way out of their league. But my GOD that first week that hat was right in front of me, in the front row, it was nearly impossible not to stare at it and wonder what the hell everyone was thinking.

For more on this, you should google "Asian kids wearing bad English." There was a whole page on kindergartners wearing shirts that say things like... well, why don't I just give you a few examples of the gems you'll find, which are not actually limited to kids way too young to get it: