Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sojourner1]

Today, I had my 9 year olds and when I told them to put away their toys at the beginning of class, two of them said, "phuk you" over and over with their middle fingers up.

I didn't get mad or offended, but was very surprised they knew how to act like this. I immediately thought, "What kind of foreign teacher is teaching them this kind of behavior?"

Yesterday, in another 9 and 10 year old class, they told me to shut my mouth when I told them to be quiet. I thought, "What kind of foreign teacher is telling them to shut their mouths?"

I never would talk this way to kids and can't understand why a teacher would be that low as to do that. In both classes, these kids are attending a number of different hagwons and only come to mine 2 or 3 hours a week. They go to hagwons after public school from 3 to 10 PM while their parents are climbing the career ladder.

I didn't feel offense, but felt a need to correct their behavior. Personally I thought it was cute and funny. On both instances, I took them to vice-director who scares them. On both occassions, they were little angels after a visit to my vice-director. I never expected Korean kids to be so sullen, rotten, and rude like they really are. What do you think?

[trubadour]

I'd be very surprised if a foreign teacher taught them how to do this!!

They don't know you, you tell them to put their toys away, they tell you to...It's the kind of thing that happens in hagwons - they can be funny places. By rights, the kids should be playing with their toys. No teacher taught me how to swear when I was young (though I'd never try it on one!).. What makes you think they learned it from a teacher? Like most things, they most likely learnt it from their peers.

You did the right thing, though. End of story, no biggy.

[passport220]

I don�t know if they necessarily need a foreign teacher to teach them this behavior. They can find a lot of examples in popular culture as well as each public school is going to have its share of students who have lived aboard. This type of language is about the only English I regularly hear my middle age students practicing independently.

[ontheway]

Kids come in with these "new" words from time to time. They pick them up here just like they do at home, from each other. They spread from student to student. Just like at home, they usually have no idea what they are saying the first time they parrot these words.

Your job as a teacher, and essentially, as the English language parent of the kids your are raising in their second language, is to teach them about these new words they have learned from their peers. You need to explain that they are inappropriate, give some hint or explanation about the meaning. What you say and what you explain depends on the age and English level of the students and the words being used.

[Sody]

I've lived in other developing countries other than Korea and have found that Koreans are by far the rudest people I have ever met. That is a generalization of course but it's true on many accounts. Why are they like this? What makes a young student act this way?

I know there are many people who would disagree with what I'm saying but deep down they know it's true. I love/loved all my Korean students and it makes me sad when they act rude like this. It might not have been a teacher who taught them this, like passport220 said, they might have learned it from their peers or other people.

I think if Korea is going to change then they need to collectively start caring about manners and customs that affect and hurt other people and ultimately themselves.

When a rude person rides his scooter on the sidewalk nearly hitting a woman and her baby, the rest of the people need to speak out or call the police instead of just ignore the problem because "there are too many people in this country." Teachers shouldn't just smile and pretend that dongchim is "funny and cute." They need to discipline students who use their middle fingers like this. Don't ignore the person barfing soju all over the streets, look down on that type of behavior. Don't mistreat and rip off foreigners, treat them like you would treat other people. If someone buds into line in front of a child speak out and tell them they are teaching the wrong type of behavior. When a bus driver runs through red lights and drives on the wrong side of the road people need to speak out and tell them it's dangerous or report that kind of behavior as well.

When Korea starts caring about the small things that affect other people then it will become better and you won't have 9 year old students swearing at the teacher in class.

Sody

[Nicco61]

[Qinella]

[tomato]

The middle finger happens to be the Korean sign language sign for "mountain."
http://cein21.net/suhwoa/05/05_21.htm
Whenever a student makes a middle finger salute,
I feign innocence and say, "Oh, so you want to talk about mountains!"
Then I show them the page in the sign language dictionary.
After that, I read them a picture book about mountains which I made.

If the student does it again, I read the picture book again.
If the student does it a third time, I read the picture book a third time.
By this time, the class is tired of seeing the picture book,
so they join forces against that student.

[Hater Depot]

I was walking in the arboretum near Osan College a few months ago when one kid among a group of them saw me and said -- to his friends, not me, but obviously within earshot -- "Hello monkey." That really made my day.

[passport220]

[spliff]

Their parents probably taught them.

[jajdude]

I figure they learn a lot of this from Hollywood movies and have no idea what it really means. On the other hand, Koreans seem to think the middle finger is as offensive as full frontal nudity, and so you see that blocked out sometimes. They really do not understand the language or culture at all, and do not understand, and cannot relate to foreigners. (Yes, not all, but most of them most of the time.)

[pocariboy73]

The other day I was watching three young boys (age approx.12) shooting their BB guns at cars passing by and at people walking down the sidewalk. This was all happening ouside my apartment as I watched them from my 3rd strory window as I was having a smoke.

After 5 minutes of looking on, I decided to tell them in Korean to "Please stop it!". They listened to me as they knew they were doing wrong.

Suddenly, their enraged Father appeared from nowhere and started screaming and swearing at me in Korea, waving the BB gun around in protest, randomly shooting at cars like a madman.

Needless to say, I felt shocked. He gave the gun back to one of the kids and again they started shooting at the cars.

What a great Father!

Kids learn from their parents!

[tomato]

[passport220]