Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

For a developed nation, Korea lags behind other developed nations with regard to the number of people who read books, magazines, newpapers etc....

A good barometer to find out if people enjoy reading is to observe natives on the subway, trains and buses. In countries like the U.K., Canada, the U.S. and Australia, close to 90% of the people are reading something when they commute to work or travel somewhere. In countries like the UK and the U.S. there are always dozens of places at every station to buy books, magazines and journals. In Korea - you might see a tiny box at a subway station which sells (not very well) a dozen or so newspapers - rather pathetic - for a so called 'developed', 'educated country'.

From my observations of Korean people, you almost never see Koreans reading on the subway, trains or buses. I am not even talking about 'highbrow' literature here - just reading in general. Just look at the Koreans on the subway in Seoul - the young are on their cell phones sending inane messages to their friends, and the ajoshis and ajummas are just sitting there staring blankly into space. The business men in their suits - they just sit there too....no copies of the 'Financial Times' or the equivalent for those guys.

To prove this point - you will notice the severe lack of bookshops and newsagents in Korea. In short - reading is not popular with most Koreans.

My feeling is that Koreans, in general, are not keen on reading because of the education system in the country where reading material is largely associated with mind numbing memorization for examinations. That means that reading is seen more as a 'punishment' or a 'process' to go through, rather than something to be enjoyed.

This means that reading in general is approached only with 'extrinsic' rather than 'intrinsic' motivation. If you have had the chance to go into a Korean home - you will usually be surprised by the fact that no books, newspapers or magazines are present. You might have the odd Bible lying around - that is the extent of printed matter in most Korean homes!

Go to Japan - huge difference - Japanese read a lot more compared with Koreans. That might explain, in part, why communicating with Japanese with those who have some English skills, is a lot more interesting compared with the average 'Hanguk saram.' This is not meant as a critique, but rather an observation.

A nation which does not enjoy reading (Koreans in general) is a nation which is missing out on original thought, creativity, inspiration, ideas, etc.....and don't let Koreans tell you that books are 'expensive' - they waste millions of won in Pubs, Restaurants and other elective free time pursuits.

Go to any PC Bang (Internet) cafe in Korea - you almost never see anyone surfing the internet to read newspapers or to do research online - it is just stupid games, and violent ones at that.

Not surprising, then, that foreigners feel, that socializing with Koreans is generally an unrewarding task, keeping in mind that topics of discussion are extremely limited, and topics that do come up with Koreans tend to revolve around stereotypical ideas that the Koreans have about given topics.

I work as a Teacher Trainer at a College which comes under the Korean Ministry of Education, and the trainees (teacher trainees) told me that they almost never read books. When I enquired as to why they never read - they replied that they don't 'have time.' However the trainees then revealed that many of them spend up to 2-4 hours per day, playing games or chatting with friends via MSN and other technologies.

Sad - very little thinking outside the box.

Comments, opinions?

Ghost in Korea

[dutchy pink]

I would generally disagree with that. What you said is a very big generalization and I will respond in kind with generalizations.

From what I know of you from your posts, You ride the subway in Seoul on Saturday mornings to go to class. Subways on Saturdays at 9 am in most countries won't reveal many readers. 90 % of the time when I am on a subway at 9am on Saturday I am not reading. Every other time I am.
40 "normal" subway rides per 1 saturday morning ride, if my math serves me right, that is about 2.5% of the time I don't read on the subway. If you ride on the subway predominately at these times, yes, that is a valid conclusion.
But, those other 40 times I do ride on the subway, I find a lot of people reading.
At every subway station there is a newsstand, and to boot, they give out free newspapers at most stations.
I have found, despite the quality of reading material, I won't comment on that since I haven't and can't read a korean newspaper, free or otherwise, Koreans read way more on the trains than New Yorkers or Tokyo folks.
perhaps it is your timing?

[Ilsanman]

I would disagree with you, as I noticed Londoners read a lot more than Koreans do. I see some ajosshis reading newspapers, but not thoroughly.

Also, in London, there is certainly a WH Smith at most major train stations, and advertisements for the latest novels all over the place.

I don't know the stats, but I would guess that Londonders read more than Koreans. But that's only comparing with 1 city.

[ghost]

[endo]

You know who doesn't read?

Arabs. Seriously the Arabs just don't read books.


Greece has had mosre English books translated into their own language than the whole of the Arab world.




Anyways, I disagree with the OP. I must be taking a different subway, but I see plenty of Koreans reading. And there are also plenty of places to purchase reading material around subway stations.

[jajdude]

I see lots reading too, leisure reading of novels or whatever, not just academic stuff. Yet, sometimes you got to wonder, how can seemingly well-read people seem rather clueless about some things that seem basic or obvious to most of us?

[Dysupes]

I totally disagree as well. Have you ever noticed the abundance of book/video rental places? Ummm, the books are really books and lots of people do read them. It's true that a lot of them are comic books but still, that is reading. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've passed teens and adults walking down the street with their noses in books. On top of that, most of my Korean friends love to discuss books and seem to read just like everyone else.

[laogaiguk]

First, I am assuming the OP has a bachelor degree in something.

The mere fact that you state your OP as fact is scary, and says a lot about the current levels of graduates of post-secondary education. Your cause/effect arguments are missing several steps in between. And a sample size of what one person has witnessed or heard of in several countries is laughable at best. Even if you had lived in several places in each country for long enough, it wouldn't matter.

The only sad thing is the current state of our university system back home. I am still seriously hoping this is a troll... Could you at least attempt to back this up with any sort of well done survey with a decent sample size???

[jaganath69]

[seoulshock]

What a joke...

I went to one of the top high schools in Southern California and in my senior English class of about 40 students, I was one of maybe four or five people who could actually read at a normal pace and pronounce words properly!

Americans don't read for sh*t... because they *can't* read.

I remember at a direct marketing association meeting, when they were talking about sending direct mail, to make sure you write at a middle-school level ... because that's what most Americans read at.

[doggyji]

[jajdude]

[KOREAN_MAN]

I dunno how you can disagree with the OP. Studies prove that Koreans read less often than people of other developed nations. That's a fact. I even saw an ad on the subway saying "Please Read!" For such a "smart" country, I'm not sure why people don't read so much. Maybe because of the Internet? I do most of my reading on the net myself on Wiki and with ebooks. Then again, that couldn't be it. I see very few Koreans trying to get into an intellectual discussion. They almost seem to consider it as verbal abuse.

[browneyedgirl]

Americans don't read much--or not the ones I live around.

I was reading a book before one of my classes (college) and some girls freaked out. They asked me if I was reading it for a class, and when I said that it was just something I wanted to read they thought I was crazy. Then it turned into a giant conversation over how none of them had ever read a book that wasn't required reading...ever. In their entire life.

[VanIslander]

I personally know a lot of Koreans who have read The DaVinci Code.

I agree with the general idea that reading for pleasure isn't so rampant here, reading for education being the main reason.

But there are quite a few bookshops around, and even in smaller towns one sees Koreans looking through the shelves.

I could tell you the woes of a bookseller in my Canadian home city who laments "People don't read anymore" and partially blames the Internet.