Korean Job Discussion Forums

[keithinkorea]

Breen's book is excellent. I'm waiting for his KJI book to come out in paperback as I'm a bit of a cheapskate! 'Roadmap to Korean' is pretty good and I'm sure it will help me in my Korean language skill, plus there are some amusing annecdotes.

I got a book called 'How Koreans Talk' and as it hasn't been mentioned yet I'll give it a thumbs up. It's basically a book of common and not so common Korean expressions, ever wondered where 'babo' comes from? Read this book.

Generally good suggestions folks and as I hadn't heard of all of them I'll be sure to check them out next time I'm in Kyobo.

[JacktheCat]

If you want to understand what exactly your students are shouting at you, or that drunk Korean guy is mumbling, check this book out.

Very, very handy guide to Korean swear words and slang. Just be careful who you say these things to.



This is the new edition that came out last month. I need to get a copy. Anyone know a good place to find it?

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[Sucker]

The book store in COEX always has "making out in Chinese" and "making out in Japanese", but i've never seen the Korean version there.

[rudyflyer]

The Breen book is fantastic. I also suggest:

North Korea through the Looking Glass by Oh: Availible through the Brookings Institute Press, fantastic book on North Korea

Korea Inc.: seen it at Kyobo, great book on the rise and fall of the chaebols

Avoiding the Acopcalypse by Marcus Noland: Heavy on econ charts etc but a great insight on both the south and north korean economies

[the saint]

Funny, I picked up two of the OPs recommendations in my first week in Korea and finished them after about a month. I found Breen's book a touch acidic at times and his writing left a bit to be desired in places. The Korea Unmasked book is a very good "toilet" read and great to flip through ESPECIALLY if, like me, you came here from either Japan or China as he goes to some lengths to provide explanation as to why Korea is unique compared to these two. This says enough in itself really. AFter reading them though, I came to wonder if the next two years of my contract in Korea will be as fraught and stressful as the books make out living with Koreans is.

So far it has been

[captain kirk]

Michael Breen's 'The Koreans'. Got it at Kyobo for 37,000 in hardcover then took the airport bus to Inchon and read it in a hut in Thailand. I really hated Korea at that time, swearing never to go back, and the book helped me to understand why Korea seems so...Korean. I love Korea, mmm mmm mmm.

[JacktheCat]

[just because]

Looks like the next book I'm reading is this one by Michael Breen. The more I hear about it, the more it is grabbing me.

[Gladiator]

American/Korean contrasts by Susan Oak and Virginia Martin (Hollym).

Very succint and non-judgemental comparison of the cultures and worldviews. I would definitely recommend it to newcomers.

[OiGirl]

The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok
I Am the Clay by Chaim Potok

Two different accounts of the Korean war that helped to fill in all the gaps for me. And anything by Potok is worth reading. Repeatedly.

[Swiss James]

I've read a couple of books on Korea, not the ones listed, and I don't have them with me!- One was definitely called "Culture Shock!" and another something like "Notes On Korea".

I definitely recommend reading something along these lines to anyone here, and definitely to those people who get incredibly frustrated, as a lot of people on this board seem to.
I found that finding out a bit about the culture and then adopting the attitude that I can't change anything so it's best to live with it, has been great for my kibun (hope I'm using that properly), and relationships with korean in and out of work.

[lush72]

I found "Pathological Lying, Accusation, And Swindling -- A Study In Forensic Psychology" by William Healy, A.B., M.D., and Mary Tenney Healy, B.L. really helped me prepare for working here. I am not kidding.

[Dr. Buck]

Lush72--sort of similiar with me. I have this book on negotiation theory and its helped me immensely. It helps you identify all the ways you can be manipulated and how to play defense. Korea is a proving ground for those kind of skills. So many twisted and ugly contract/workplace scenerios could be avoided if teacher schooled up on this stuff. That led me to many other books on that subject and related subjects.

The Breen book is good.
The Bruce Cumming's book Korea's Place in the Sun is god for history.
How Koreans Talk is interesting and amusing.

[chiaa]

Culture Shock-Korea has to be one of the worst books I have read on Korea. It is in a bad need of updating. Looking through it, I can imagine that if I was back home that I would picture Koreans living in grass huts with dirt floors and people begging to be my driver or housekeeper.

I just did a quickie search on it and it seems to be no longer in print. There is a new one coming out in Novemeber, from the same publisher named Culture Smart! Korea. ISBN 1558687912

I hope this one is better than the last.


http://www.whatthebook.com

[Holden]

Not a book, but a website really had a lot of stories that made me interested in the experience. There's a long story on there I followed about the guy's first trip to Korea on Kojay do.

www.korealife.blogspot.com