Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Summer Wine]

I recieved this question and debate from a 6 yrs old today.

"Teacher, why do I have to learn english? I am a korean boy and live in Korea, I speak korean, I don't speak english. (all said in english) You are from NZ, so you speak english, I don't need english, I am korean boy"

(paraphrased a little as it took 5 minutes, but not by much).

I wish his parents or the Korean teachers would explain the reasons.

[The evil penguin]

[margaret]

What I say to similar questions is that their parents are paying me big money to teach them English so they can go to a better school and get a better job so they can make more money and not work as hard as their parents.
I say I make them work so I don't feel guilty for taking their parents money for nothing.
Margaret

[mindmetoo]

I remember one boy writing an essay about bombing America and Japan and taking over the world and forcing everyone to learn Korean. Remember, they are children. Many Canadian children don't understand why we need to learn math beyond two apples plus two apples equals four apples...

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Well you see little Jamine / Suk-yu / Bobby / Cartman / Bart / Superman / Satan, there are many reasons why a six-year-old should be stuck in a classroom learning English from a monolingual Kiwi at 6pm.

First, mummy can say that she sends her boy to Dinglandclub Hogwan. What would she tell all the other middle-class mummies if she didn't? It would be like sending you to school barefoot.

Secondly, mummy doesn't want to do housework / shopping / go to the gym / watch soap operas with you around all afternoon. Dragging you to the supermarket, department store, and restaurant from 9-12pm is bad enough. Since the idea of day-care seems non-existent in this country I get to pretend I'm teaching you English.

Thirdly, you need an edge in this country. Nevermind that you'll forget most of what you learn and won't have time to study and reinforce what you've learned when you get to high school in advnance of that all-important matriculation examination; little boys should be spending all their free time being told what to do and becoming incorrigibly resentful towards those on the bottom of the educational totem pole.

Fourthly, you should learn to interact with foreigners from an early age. Thus, you can figure out that we're powerless, clueless idiots to be mocked and ignored, and occasionally very feared when we snap and become abusive in response. It's useful to figure out how far you can go in deriding, swearing at, spitting at, throwing things at, and hitting the average foreigner before you socilit a sufficiently fearful response. This will prepare you for when you're an older, single, virginal loser and see a K-girl with some western guy on the subway.

Finally, you should learn that mummy is all-powerful. She orders your life around and has you shipped off and around all day long. She berates wongjongnim-babo and rips into your waygukin teachers with same rigour she beats you when you bring home low test scores. You may have already figured out that she's a co-dependant, vicariously existing psycho who knows nothing about educating (or how very little you're learning at your five hogwans), but you'll still learn to fear her and know that her will is the law so long as you live under her roof (which will be for about 30 more years).

Learn to love Korea, kid; you're only just starting. I only have to put up with this shit for one year.

[mj roach]

Maybe not a childs' logic, but rather what they are being told.

A personal anecdote -

Some friends (a Korean couple) have a child that age. I've known their child since birth and have spent a lot of time with them. From infancy, I spoke to him in English and he was starting to form basic sentences in English.

When his parents enrolled him in pre-school, I spoke to him in English at the end of his first week and he said ( in Korean), " We Koreans don't speak English; we speak our language". I continue to see them quite often since, but he will only occasionally say a word in English.

I don't mean to generalize from this one experience, but it does make one wonder.

[Hollywoodaction]

[schwa]

Caustic & funny. Nicely written: