Korean Job Discussion Forums

[plokiju]

Hello everyone,
I just got to Korea and my boss told me my first name was similar to a Korean word (to admonish) and didn't want the kids to be distracted by it. He told me it would be better if I went by my middle name. It just seems so strange having to respond to a different name. Has this happened to anyone else?

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

[hellofaniceguy]

I'd have told the boss "NO," it's my name. I could care less if it was similar to a Korean word (to admonish). You read my passport before hiring me and knew my name before hand or should of.
What about korean names like Dong, Suk, Suk Hee, Hee Suk, Mi Suk, or some other suck/sook suk, or Bum...well..you get the picture. Let's respect each other's names and cultures and leave it at that. Besides...you're teaching a foreign language and students need to have their eyes open wide and learn about other cultures as well.

[dreamscape]

I can see how that might be more than a little difficult to get used to! Not to mention being pretty far outside typical job requirements. Of course, on the other hand, almost all of my Korean students are forced to go by a different, English name.

[crazylemongirl]

I go by my surname at school. It's very easy for koreans to pronounce since it's sllyables and all the sounds in my name have a direct korean letter.

But I still got asked to adopt a korean name.

[waterbaby]

I was never asked to change my name but I was asked to change nationalities

[HamuHamu]

I have had 3 cases of that at my different hagwans.

One new teacher arrived and it turned out that one of the Korean-English teachers used the same name as her. The Supervisor told her she could not use her own name because that was the name a Korean teacher had "CHOSEN" and so the foreign teacher, who had only ever known the name her parents had given her, had to pick a new name. She said no, that she didn't HAVE a different name, and they (the Korean teacher and Supervisor) could not understand why she wouldn't just PICK one. SHe asked "How long has the Korean teacher used that name?" When they said "3 months...it is too long for her to pick a new English name..." her response was that she had used that name for 24 years, and so she "won" by default of who had the name the longest. After a few days of her refusing to pick a new name, the Supervisor "assigned" one to her, which she refused to answer to. They told the students her name was this new name, but she told them otherwise, and it all got confusing, eventually they told her she would be fired if she didn't accept the new name.....so she did.

[tommynomad]

Hamuhamu, that story is appalling. How, in a country where names are ostensibly so important, can people be so blase about them?
I'd have told them that unless all but one of the "Kim"s at the school is willing to go by a different last name because it's 'taken,' my name stays my name. Tell your friend now that she's agreed to go by another name that she should start calling the boss by a Korean surname other than his own.

Kalkukshi, did they really put the Sweathogs in the bin in an ep of Barney Miller (the 70s' funniest sitcom)? I must have missed that.

[tzechuk]

Quite frankly., if they were threatening to fire a teacher over her name, then the place is not worth working for... If I were that teacher, I would have told them to go ahead and fire me and I would take it up to the labour board for unfair dismissal. Like someone said, they hired her, knew her name, and if they didn't like her name, they could've hired someone else with a different name.

Stick to your own name!!!

[temporos]

[desultude]

Names are almost sacred, in my opinion. I haven't ever changed mine, for any reason. Also, I don't use western names for my students, for the same reason.

Maybe waygook teachers inadvertently created the idea that names were fungible, by insisting on the kids taking English names.

[casey's moon]

I haven't done this at the current place where I work, but I plan to go by my Mrs. Mylastname next time I take a teaching job in Korea. In what country do students call their teachers by their first name anyway? Well, I guess it is appropriate for conversation classes (non-graded) with adult students, but that's about it. My last name is much simpler for Korean students, since it is a Korean name -- and while my first name is easy to pronounce, it is also easy to turn into another word, which is all too hilarious for kindergarten students.

[crazylemongirl]

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

It'll be fun once I'm married to be called Mrs. (Korean husband's family name)....it sure will be fun to trip students out. Maybe I should start wearing my hanbok to class.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]