Its Greek to me

Oh boy. How many of you can explain how the electoral college works? Believe me, it is not easy to explain. Now, try explaining it to a 13 year old Korean student who barely speaks English. I just spent the last 15 minutes trying to explain this wacky phenomenon to one of my students today. He understood that in the election of 1824, Jackson won the most popular votes, but he could not understand why John Quincy Adams became President. I kept trying to explain that he got less electoral votes, but regular English speaking 7th graders (and adults for that matter) barely understand this concept. He kept saying, "why?! more vote for Jackson!" and I kept saying. "Yes, but that doesn't choose the President, the electoral votes do" I kept thinking to myself how funny it is to explain the electoral college to a foreigner who thinks it is a silly idea. Because lets be honest...its a silly idea. A very exhausting 15 minutes, but I like that he cared so much.