Korean Job Discussion Forums

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

A lot of frustration. Years spent trying to learn a language no one here uses. Rarely seeing or meeting foreigners, not understanding much about other countries. An adult who has never been out of Korea may have a quite limited and inward-looking view of things. Still some such people do learn a good bit of English, somehow. But I'd guess about 90% will still know little despite their years in English classes. Hell it's hard to listen to a language you barely understand. And uncomfortable when someone speaks to you in that language, expecting you to respond somehow. Much easier to ignore it all and stick with the language you already know and use all the time anyway. See that all the time in most hagwons, so after a year most kids will still know very little. They just do what little bit they have to but are rarely actually interested in it. I was the same in school with a little French. Boring.

helly · Joined: 01 Apr 2003 Location: WORLDWIDE

Korea is all about "attainment," not education. The focus isn't on learning anything, simply on getting a degree/qualification/certificate/test score/etc. Many Koreans feel that if they don't have mastery of a subject, then they are on the sidelines (read something similar about Chinese culture yesterday so maybe a bit plagiarized). The emphasis on perfection of English, and particularly on American English, rejects the fact that the language is spoken in many different ways across the globe and is primarily a tool of communication. In a sense, Korean learners of English are fighting a battle that CANNOT be won. That is stress.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Good points helly. "Attainment" probably drives a lot of us. Korea seems eager to become a big player in the world. And it is so competitive here, where getting in the right university and getting a good score on tests means so much. Not surprising then that actually learning can be of less importance. Anyway I thought your comments were right on the mark.

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

...good points indeed. Unfortunately, while they are so pressurised at the high-school level, the standards go slack at university. it's as if you've done your hard work by getting in, and now you can just pick up your degree by turning up for four years. I can't remember how many times I've been instructed by a co-ordinator to raise a students grade because "they need a certain average to graduate" ...