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sojusucks

Joined: 31 May 2008
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:31 am Post subject: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universities |
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http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/nschwartzman/ Excerpts below:
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... international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs).
Ms. A said that �I knew that Korean students try to avoid courses which have foreign students, but I was really upset to see many of them trying to move.�
Caught in the war for a good GPA, foreign international students are losing their footing. Universities bring in the foreign students and then expand their English classes, but those foreign students are blatently excluded from regular classes.
... says foreign students are excluded from class events. ... the Korean students have no patience for foreigners who have trouble speaking Korean.� Mr. B attended the events twice, then was never invited back.
Ms. C said that �it seems that Korea university students go out and drink after class events and become friends that way� but female Chinese students mostly do not drink alcohol, so it�s like we have no chance to become friends with Korean students.�
Korean students also have complaints about foreign students who cannot fit in to the classes. ... �frankly, if I go to a class event with foreign students it makes me tired because there are not as many Korean students to talk to as there are in other classes.�
... �to achieve the comfortable atmosphere for foreign students, we all need to work hard� our methods include special events in the city for foreign students, cultural experiences, and staying in touch with them to give advice.� |
Translation: Foreign students are brought into SK universities in order to raise the GPA of the universities. However, Korean students do not want to try to understand the culture of foreign students, and so, they are discriminated against. This is not surprising. We see this all the time when teaching English here.
Also, in western countries, Korean students usually hang out with other Koreans. I hope they don't go there to study English because that is not the method to use to improve one's skills. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 5:00 am Post subject: |
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Ms. C said that �it seems that Korea university students go out and drink after class events and become friends that way� but female Chinese students mostly do not drink alcohol, so it�s like we have no chance to become friends with Korean students.�
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#1. Maybe Ms. C needs to relax and try to adjust to local custom. (And most Korean women don't drink either.)
#2. Maybe Ms. C needs to look into joining one of the many on-campus clubs where she could meet Korean students.
#3. Maybe Ms. C should realize she is the new girl on the block and that anyone who moves to a new location has to be the active one when it comes to finding friends. The locals already have a social group and it is not their responsibility to go out looking for pitiful foreigners to take care of. |
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jrwhite82

Joined: 22 May 2010
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 5:12 am Post subject: |
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I'm sure there is discrimination going on here, I feel that the people who were interviewed need to take some responsibility too.
Like Yata-boy mentioned above. Ms. C needs to branch out too. It seems like she doesn't want to let go of her culture a little bit and meet the other students half way. |
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ZIFA
Joined: 23 Feb 2011 Location: Dici che il fiume..Trova la via al mare
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:35 am Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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sojusucks wrote: |
international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs). . |
I think this is generally true at all universities and with all nationalities. I noticed it with the foreign students at my own university.
At the typical student age of 18-21 most kids are pretty snobby and clicky. |
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Leon
Joined: 31 May 2010
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:49 pm Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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ZIFA wrote: |
sojusucks wrote: |
international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs). . |
I think this is generally true at all universities and with all nationalities. I noticed it with the foreign students at my own university.
At the typical student age of 18-21 most kids are pretty snobby and clicky. |
At my university everybody liked the international kids. The ones with the right accents had lots of luck with the opposite sex (british, spanish, italian, etc.) and were a hit at parties. Maybe it's just growing pains as they have to open up more and more to globalization. |
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Chet Wautlands

Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:56 pm Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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Leon wrote: |
ZIFA wrote: |
sojusucks wrote: |
international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs). . |
I think this is generally true at all universities and with all nationalities. I noticed it with the foreign students at my own university.
At the typical student age of 18-21 most kids are pretty snobby and clicky. |
At my university everybody liked the international kids. The ones with the right accents had lots of luck with the opposite sex (british, spanish, italian, etc.) and were a hit at parties. Maybe it's just growing pains as they have to open up more and more to globalization. |
At my university, all foreign students were loved... if they were from Europe. The Chinese never associated with anyone but the Chinese...
I would be willing to bet these same complaints are not being made by young Europeans studying in Korea. They are most likely quite popular. |
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sojusucks

Joined: 31 May 2008
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:58 pm Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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Chet Wautlands wrote: |
Leon wrote: |
ZIFA wrote: |
sojusucks wrote: |
international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs). . |
I think this is generally true at all universities and with all nationalities. I noticed it with the foreign students at my own university.
At the typical student age of 18-21 most kids are pretty snobby and clicky. |
At my university everybody liked the international kids. The ones with the right accents had lots of luck with the opposite sex (british, spanish, italian, etc.) and were a hit at parties. Maybe it's just growing pains as they have to open up more and more to globalization. |
At my university, all foreign students were loved... if they were from Europe. The Chinese never associated with anyone but the Chinese...
I would be willing to bet these same complaints are not being made by young Europeans studying in Korea. They are most likely quite popular. |
I think a huge part of this is that most Korean students, even after studying years of English, are not comfortable enough with their English abilitiesea to converse in the current international language. I learned this after living in Korea for only a short while. I also discovered that older women were patient enough to try to understand my Korean at the time while the younger people and older men would just walk away.
I guess it is just easier to be around those that speak the same language and share the same culture. That sounds boring to me though. I love to travel and learn new things. |
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goreality
Joined: 09 Jul 2009
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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I also find it interesting that here, like in other countries the suitability of foreign students often comes down to their ethnicity and cultural agreeably.
Perhaps a more interesting point that wasn't made in this article but mentioned by some student friends of mine is that classes at some popular Korean universities that are supposed to be taught in English (advertised) aren't, just so the universities can proudly exclaim that a larger portion of their classes are held in English. |
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carleverson
Joined: 04 Dec 2009
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:15 pm Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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sojusucks wrote: |
http://asiancorrespondent.com/author/nschwartzman/ Excerpts below:
Quote: |
... international students in Korean universities are frequently ostracized, and the headline says they are treated as wangdda (cast-outs).
Ms. A said that �I knew that Korean students try to avoid courses which have foreign students, but I was really upset to see many of them trying to move.�
Caught in the war for a good GPA, foreign international students are losing their footing. Universities bring in the foreign students and then expand their English classes, but those foreign students are blatently excluded from regular classes.
... says foreign students are excluded from class events. ... the Korean students have no patience for foreigners who have trouble speaking Korean.� Mr. B attended the events twice, then was never invited back.
Ms. C said that �it seems that Korea university students go out and drink after class events and become friends that way� but female Chinese students mostly do not drink alcohol, so it�s like we have no chance to become friends with Korean students.�
Korean students also have complaints about foreign students who cannot fit in to the classes. ... �frankly, if I go to a class event with foreign students it makes me tired because there are not as many Korean students to talk to as there are in other classes.�
... �to achieve the comfortable atmosphere for foreign students, we all need to work hard� our methods include special events in the city for foreign students, cultural experiences, and staying in touch with them to give advice.� |
Translation: Foreign students are brought into SK universities in order to raise the GPA of the universities. |
Not really. The foreign students are there because the universities see them as a lucrative revenue $tream. |
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lalartu
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:04 am Post subject: |
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my school ostracized foreign students for years.
as did the Australian school where I went for exchange.
1 - only some classes are available
2 - most of the time locals don't give a damn about you and will only talk to you for the sakes of novelty
3 - you're stuck hanging out with other international students in the "international club" where nobody else ever goes.
ps I didnt even know my university had so many international students until I actually went to the International student association and chatted with them. they're basically just hanging out by themselves.
so i dont think korea is any different here.... |
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Panda

Joined: 25 Oct 2008
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:43 am Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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carleverson wrote: |
Translation: Foreign students are brought into SK universities in order to raise the GPA of the universities.
Not really. The foreign students are there because the universities see them as a lucrative revenue $tream. |
Some universities charge foreign students less than they do to Korean students (One of the reasons Korean university students protested last month), it's true they recruit more foreigners in order to raise the GPA
But to those second or third line universities, money is probably the real reason for having more foreigners in their campuses, because they can't recruit enough Korean students. ( I said so because a friend of mine who is a professor in a local university once asked me to help introduce more Chinese students for him) |
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carleverson
Joined: 04 Dec 2009
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:06 am Post subject: Re: Discrimination towards foreign students at SK universiti |
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Panda wrote: |
carleverson wrote: |
Translation: Foreign students are brought into SK universities in order to raise the GPA of the universities.
Not really. The foreign students are there because the universities see them as a lucrative revenue $tream. |
Some universities charge foreign students less than they do to Korean students (One of the reasons Korean university students protested last month), it's true they recruit more foreigners in order to raise the GPA
But to those second or third line universities, money is probably the real reason for having more foreigners in their campuses, because they can't recruit enough Korean students. ( I said so because a friend of mine who is a professor in a local university once asked me to help introduce more Chinese students for him) |
The Korean government subsidizes the difference in tuition. |
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StudentInKorea
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:44 pm Post subject: |
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lalartu wrote: |
my school ostracized foreign students for years.
as did the Australian school where I went for exchange.
1 - only some classes are available
2 - most of the time locals don't give a damn about you and will only talk to you for the sakes of novelty
3 - you're stuck hanging out with other international students in the "international club" where nobody else ever goes.
ps I didnt even know my university had so many international students until I actually went to the International student association and chatted with them. they're basically just hanging out by themselves.
so i dont think korea is any different here.... |
From my experience, this is quite true both in Korea and Europe. As in everywhere else in Korea, it is easy to make friends with the novelty effect, but it is hard to be accepted to a group and it is easy to be ignored when it comes to projects and academic group work. I know many foreign students in Korea, and a LOT of them has problems cooperating with their lab mates. |
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FMPJ
Joined: 03 Jun 2008
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:29 am Post subject: |
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Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
(And most Korean women don't drink either.) |
HA! Good one |
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Koreadays
Joined: 20 May 2008
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:31 am Post subject: |
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international problem. |
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