Korean Job Discussion Forums

DDDstylee · Joined: 07 Oct 2003 Location: Korea

Read about how Native speakers can be replaced by native "children"
at DDD Life in Korea. www.lifeinkorea.org Who else has had experiences like this?
DDD Life in Korea. "Cute is cool, and so is loud guitar" www.lifeinkorea.org

Butterfly · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Kuwait

Confused Canadian · Joined: 21 Jan 2003

There's a big difference between being taught by children, and USING English-speaking children for your own gains. This is absolutely appalling to me, on a couple of levels. A) That Korean adults think that foreign parents would like to put their children through this, under the guise of a scholarship to Korea. B) That any foreign parents would rent their children out to this kind of slave labor.

If nothing else, I hope that the Labor Board hears about this and puts a stop to it immediately. (Isn't there somebody on this board whose wife works for the Labor Board?)

There's a huge difference between having foreign friends, and paying for foreign "friends". Just when I though hagwon owners couldn't sink any lower..*sigh*

Confused Canadian

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

There's something obscene and desperate about such a plan. The fact is that a high proportion of Korean kids are simply unteachable because the system and culure here lets kids run out of control. They need to take a long hard look at the root causes of low educational performance in this country.....

posco's trumpet · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: Beneath the Underdog

katydid · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...

This by far is the strangest thing I have ever heard. I'm sorry, but if I wan my children to experience ulture, I'm not going to end them to Korea. They would not by any means be trained seals for Korean kids either.
I can not see how fun this could be for the foreigner kids. Kids should be kids and not work for someone else's benefit.

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

Confused Canadian · Joined: 21 Jan 2003

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Sorry to go off on a tangent (I didn't read the op's link yet) but

Dr. Buck · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Land of the Morning Clam

Weird story indeed.
One related note: This spring-summer I recall an advertisement in the Korea Herald placed by one of the ESL franchise chains. It's specific purpose was to recruit foriegn kids.
And also, on some other Korean ESL website (maybe spectrum), I remember seeing similar postings asking foriegn parents to send their kids to some dodgy sounding summer camp. Maybe they are still in the depths of the job posting archives somewhere.

gajackson1 · Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:36 pm Post subject:

boy, if this doesn't sound like a David Kang joint, I don't know what does!!!

I will say that it - as well as several other 'business models' I have heard of recently - does sound financially lucrative.

If anyone has a lot of scratch to throw around, and wants an idea, just let me know!

As for the 'adjumma spies,' at least that part I can verify - that sort of thing happens all of the time in schools. Funny stuff.

Finally, inherited 60 fishing boats?!?!? Man, there is a lifetime ticket to Vietnam!!!! Shocked

Regards,

Glen

William Beckerson · Guest

And now you guys know why so many people still want to be communists.

Gord · Joined: 25 Feb 2003

Just so I understand, it's cool when this happens under the label of "exchange student" and no money changes hands, but it's uncool when money is suddenly involved that benefits the student travelling abroad?

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

Wrong answer, Gord. I don't see any mention of the foreign kids studying, or being taught anything, or for that matter anything being provided for these children other than cash for their parents.

Exchange students attend classes and study in foreign countries. No one is expecting them to teach anything.

These kids are performing a service for cash, and they are children. That's pretty much the definition of child labor.

ulsanchris · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: take a wild guess

For one thing the principles behind the two things are different. WIth exchange students there is the desire on both sides for cross cultural exchanges and the posiblity of the exchange student to learn another language. the underlying motive for such exchanges are not monetary.
With this there seems to be no desire for a cross cultural exchange. Here the exchange student isn't learning a new language or improving on one, but is required to teach one. THe underlying motive is for one party to make money. THe party making the money seems to be deceptive. Trying to fool gulliable parents into sending there kids over here.
Also there are no details on what kind of schooling these kids are supposed to get. if they do get to go to regular school they would probably have to go to these hogwans to "play" with korean kids. This whole thing sounds very dodgy.