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Cerriowen
Joined: 03 Jun 2006
Location: Pocheon
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 Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject: size-ism |
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I've known a couple of korean teachers who are using size-comparisons for the USA. Or rather... misusing.
The other day a Kteacher was saying to the class "Korea has 8 provinces, but the USA has 50 States... so the USA is bigger".
Now... I don't think that size is a determining factor in anything except... well... size. It doesn't bother me in a "my country is bigger than yours" way. It just ticks me off that they are implying that Korea as about 1/5~1/6th the size of the USA, from a geographical standpoint... particularly when they are using me as a prop for their lesson.
I don't like playing along when they're giving misinformation. But I don't want to step on national pride when I point out that their country is 1/3 the size of my home state.
[Mod Edit]
If they don't want to talk about geography, or country size, then DON'T bring it up. But why misrepresent it to the students?
Grrrrrrr. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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| This week I was doing a lesson on as ... as for comparing things. I wanted to choose a country's size to compare to Korea. I thought I'd play it safe and choose Singapore. |
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hwarangi
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Or the Vatican |
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climber159
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| My coteacher's response to my saying that it takes more than one day to drive across the US was, "Is that because of traffic jam?" |
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Johnny_Bravo
Joined: 27 May 2009
Location: R.O.K.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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ehhhhhh.
in my English Zone room there is a big map of the US.
When asked I told them Korea wouldn't fit into Florida..
and when describing the Great Lakes, told them it's not much bigger than Lake Michigan.
so there's no such delusion, at least at my school. |
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Joe666
Joined: 19 Nov 2008
Location: Jesus it's hot down here!
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Johnny_Bravo:
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| in my English Zone room there is a big map of the US. |
I have an English Zone room too. It must be par for the course in most new schools. A size reference - S.K. is a little bigger than Indiana area wise, but population wise. Yikes!! So yes, S.K. is larger! Population to area ratio. |
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sharkey
Joined: 12 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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| who cares ... this is why there are so many co teacher falling outs... who gives a crap. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Take the DMZ tour. It's one big our-flag-pole-is-bigger-than-yours fest up there. |
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Jane
Joined: 01 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:20 am Post subject: |
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Koreans are obsessed with numbers because their education system is one that is structured on quantitative data and facts. Also, numbers are a good indicator when there is little knowledge of the issue at hand, or should any superficial debate arise: ...mine is bigger than yours...-type argument.
I remember a classmate once exclaiming: " Numbers don't lie, but liars can use numbers." My point is: numbers and quantitative measurements rule in Korea, even if they are poorly measured. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:48 am Post subject: Re: size-ism |
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| Cerriowen wrote: |
I've known a couple of korean teachers who are using size-comparisons for the USA. Or rather... misusing.
The other day a Kteacher was saying to the class "Korea has 8 provinces, but the USA has 50 States... so the USA is bigger".
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hmm, I'd actually be more concerned about the fact that the Korean teacher forgot a province ( Gyeonggi, Gangwon, Chungcheongbuk, Chungcheongnam, Jeollabuk, Jeollanam, Kyoongsangbuk, Kyongsangnam and Jeju)  |
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| I just compare Korea....to one of our lakes. Go Canada! |
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Cerriowen
Joined: 03 Jun 2006
Location: Pocheon
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:10 am Post subject: |
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A lot of koreans think that Jeju is another country now  |
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beercanman
Joined: 16 May 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:22 am Post subject: |
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| Jane wrote: |
| Koreans are obsessed with numbers ... |
I got the impression from an adult class years ago that we foreigners are more obsessed with them. It seems most educated westerners will have a rough idea of populations of important countries and things like that. Maybe that comes from newspapers, or some cultural fascination with statistics? Ask some Koreans adults. See if they even care about these things. You might be surprised. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| sharkey wrote: |
| who cares ... this is why there are so many co teacher falling outs... who gives a crap. |
I have to agree.
When I opened this thread, I'd assumed it was probably about the difficulties of getting larger clothing or shoe sizes here and was kinda gobsmacked to see what the OP was complaining about.
I mean, come on....the K-teacher has mentioned that Korea is a lot smaller than the US. Is it really that much of a big deal that he hasn't gone over the top to make clear enough the sheer extent of its relative smallness? I'm not saying the OP necessarily thinks like this, but there are some people here who seem to want to make a real big point of ramming it down Koreans' throats, in a "hey, your country is not just smaller than mine, it's TINY, and don't you forget it!" kind of way.
If anything, I find Koreans' inaccuracuries in perceiving the relative size of their country are actually the opposite way around; they UNDERestimate its size compared to others. This is probably an understandable mistake given how many much bigger countries they see around them on a Pacific-centred map. When I mention that all of Korea, including the North, is approximately the same size as the UK, many are surprised. Although, to be fair, most still accept what I'm saying as credible information. That wasn't the case whenever I made the same remark in similar circumstances in Japan, even though Japan is considerably larger than the UK. A lot of Japanese would refuse to believe that the UK could possibly be smaller than Japan, and a few even seemed offended by the suggestion. |
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Robot_Teacher
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Robotting Around the World
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| Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| If you look at a globe or world map, you can see and compare the country sizes, but a globe gives us more perspective. Korea is slightly larger than the lower half of the Florida peninsula and slightly larger than Ireland, but size means little when comparing. Globes are not high priority in Korean schools though. I seen one, but it's setting behind the classroom TV. |
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