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Man Kills Himself Over Failure to Learn English

 
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Stan Rogers



Joined: 20 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2015 11:40 pm    Post subject: Man Kills Himself Over Failure to Learn English Reply with quote

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/02/02/2015020201591.html

Anybody know this man?
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He decided to kill himself, and his company should have known their employee was unstable. He could have changed jobs.
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Stan Rogers



Joined: 20 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is probably more to it than what is in the article.
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Smithington



Joined: 14 Dec 2011

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Man Kills Himself Over Failure to Learn English Reply with quote

Stan Rogers wrote:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/02/02/2015020201591.html

Anybody know this man?


What makes you think any of us would know some random Korean working in Kuwait?
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joelove



Joined: 12 May 2011

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stan Rogers wrote:
There is probably more to it than what is in the article.


Yeah, has to be. I've heard of frustration with English, but suicide?
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stan Rogers wrote:
There is probably more to it than what is in the article.


Well, it would probably be accurate to say that he commited suicide because of limited career prospects. The limiting factor being his inability to learn English.
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tophatcat



Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Location: under the hat

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yet, some folks will come on this forum claiming Korean adults don't really need conversational English skills. tis tis
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young_clinton



Joined: 09 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He needed counseling. English is a tough language to learn. It sounds to me like he had a good position regardless of his problem learning. What a waste of a life.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kuwaitis have very high standards when it comes to engineering. They have many engineers from Europe (especially England). I remember talking to a Korean engineer who worked in Korea years ago, and he said that the Kuwaitis complained about the quality of their work and compared them to the British engineers; they thought more highly of the latter's work. I am just going based on what he said. It could have been his inability to communicate well in English and pressure from the Kuwaitis, who can be tough customers, from what I know.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Adventurer wrote:
Kuwaitis have very high standards when it comes to engineering. They have many engineers from Europe (especially England). I remember talking to a Korean engineer who worked in Korea years ago, and he said that the Kuwaitis complained about the quality of their work and compared them to the British engineers; they thought more highly of the latter's work. I am just going based on what he said. It could have been his inability to communicate well in English and pressure from the Kuwaitis, who can be tough customers, from what I know.


I have a Saudi friend from uni who has managed Korean engineers from one of the chaebols (so obviously some of the best of the best), and he was consistently frustrated because they simply would not think for themselves. He was the lead on an electrical project and being Western educated would ask for input in a roundtable style, only to be met with blank stares from his Korean underlings. Over nearly two years he came to the conclusion that they simply wouldn't come up with anything on their own. When he told them what to do they did a great job, but he had to do all the heavy lifting himself. This isn't to say that there's inherently a problem with Korean engineers, but it gets back to the same management problems that we've all encountered at one point or another.
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maximmm



Joined: 01 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Man Kills Himself Over Failure to Learn English Reply with quote

Stan Rogers wrote:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/02/02/2015020201591.html

Anybody know this man?


Yeah - he was a drinking buddy of mine. I recall he had major problems pronouncing letter R - and I made fun of that little fact a few times.

Alas, now that I think of it, that could have tipped him over the edge.

Oops. @@
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slothrop



Joined: 03 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

edit

Last edited by slothrop on Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:31 am; edited 1 time in total
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

northway wrote:
Adventurer wrote:
Kuwaitis have very high standards when it comes to engineering. They have many engineers from Europe (especially England). I remember talking to a Korean engineer who worked in Korea years ago, and he said that the Kuwaitis complained about the quality of their work and compared them to the British engineers; they thought more highly of the latter's work. I am just going based on what he said. It could have been his inability to communicate well in English and pressure from the Kuwaitis, who can be tough customers, from what I know.


I have a Saudi friend from uni who has managed Korean engineers from one of the chaebols (so obviously some of the best of the best), and he was consistently frustrated because they simply would not think for themselves. He was the lead on an electrical project and being Western educated would ask for input in a roundtable style, only to be met with blank stares from his Korean underlings. Over nearly two years he came to the conclusion that they simply wouldn't come up with anything on their own. When he told them what to do they did a great job, but he had to do all the heavy lifting himself. This isn't to say that there's inherently a problem with Korean engineers, but it gets back to the same management problems that we've all encountered at one point or another.


Well, wealthy Middle Eastern clientele don't want engineers who need to be directed by others constantly. They want people who can be more independent and deliver on quality work. I don't think he committed suicide simply because his English skills were sub-par. Kuwaitis are exacting and tough customers. You have to be on top of things.
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