Korean Job Discussion Forums

[taobenli]

Hi, all-

I'm a PhD student in the U.S. focusing on Korea and China. In summer 2005 I came to Korea for the first time and studied at Sogang for 3 months. I've been studying quite a lot since then so if I were to return I would most likely be in level 6. When I first studied there I liked the program a lot, and it didn't break the bank too much to living in a little goshiwon close to Sogang. If I return to Korea this coming summer, however (I say if because I might go to Taiwan to work on Chinese, instead- and this is all dependent on getting summer funding, too), I would like to have a somewhat different experience.

If I were to stay in Seoul I would consider doing Seoul National's language school, just for a change of pace. But I am thinking of getting out of Seoul entirely. If I get funding I would need to be studying pretty intensively at a university language program...but I've started to think it doesn't matter if the program isn't as high-quality as Sogang's. If I get to a smaller city or town where there is a decent university, and where I can speak Korean a lot out of class, I will probably learn more. I am thinking of trying to set up a homestay, too, where I could live cheaply in exchange for Korean food and tutoring kids, maybe (I'm female, by the way). I love kids and am just not that into the bar scene and going out all night, so it could work.

So my questions are:
1) Have any of you studied Korean in a program that is at least 4 hours a day, at a university, and OUTSIDE of Seoul? If so, would you recommend it?

2) What are some universities outside of Seoul that have semi-decent reputations? (I don't care about ranking or anything like that, just whether the language school uses at least SOME progressive and useful teaching methods).

3) What are smaller cities or towns in Korea that have relatively friendly people? (Of course, this question is a little silly, since everywhere there are all kinds of people. I just don't want to sign up to live in a place for a semester that has had an incident with foreigners in the past that has caused a xenophonic outbreak). Some places I am thinking of are: Chungcheon (I know there's a university there), other places in Gangwon province, and more southerly places such as Gwangju, Kyongju, or Jinju (all places I've been and liked, and where there are universities). I would consider Pusan, though I'm concerned by the accent a bit. Ideally places smaller than Pusan would be nice. Is there a university in the vicinity of Yeosu? It was beautiful there.

I heard there is a Buddhist university somewhere in the south. I've thought about studying in Jeju for a summer, but I've heard the universities just aren't very good. Also, for the sake of my research it's better to stick to mainland Korea, probably.

Sorry the post got long, I appreciate any help!

taobenli

[yesnoyesyesno]

not to sound rude but i'd just like to give my small opinion on questions like these, when people ask which program is good for studying languages and so forth. i don't know why people need to go and find places to teach them stuff like this when they can just do it themselves. i've never ever once stepped foot into a formal langauge setting but i can speak many languages. just put your mind on the grind, memorize vocab like nuts and keep an ear out for sentence structure and such when you hear the target langauge and it's impossible to not improve. maybe it is society that dictates that we need some kind of authority figure to help us along the way, and korea's ESL industry is truly a product of that. again, i'm not trying to insult, i'm just noting how i observe it. as for your question, i can't help you find a place where they will teach you korean but i can give you one advice, put your brain to the pages, don't F around and you'll be fluent in korean in one year

[taobenli]

Hmm...any other takers?

Not to sound rude back, but since I will only have 3-4 months in country so I do need a language program. If I was living in Korea continuously for a year and teaching English, I probably would just self-study. But I'm not going to become fluent in a year living in the U.S., especially not while trying to complete PhD coursework. Also, if I get a fellowship to go back to Korea, they're not going to pay me to study by myself!

[taobenli]

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