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ZIFA
Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Location: Dici che il fiume..Trova la via al mare
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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:53 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
A few years ago during one Saturday I was at the train station waiting for the door of the train to open. When it did a flock of Korean kindergarteners came out headed by a Korean teacher. This was not unusual. What did catch my eye was the sight of one blond-haired kid talking to another Korean kid in Korean. He seemed to be quite enjoying himself.
He was in the same uniform as the rest of them, spoke fluent Korean from what I could tell and neither he or the rest of the class seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary. |
have you not heard of peroxide?  |
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Murakano
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:30 am Post subject: |
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I`ve had a few students in my school (Korean/Pakistani.....Korean/American) and they haven`t really had any major issues. At the beginning lots of curiosity but the novelty wears off.....this is for elementary school though.
Might be a little tougher after elementary though. I also know 1 mixed Korean/American girl who grew up here since middle school (age 14 when she came over) and she said at the beginning she had kids call her names and soforth (she didn`t speak Korean much at the time) and pick on her but overall she said she was fine after a while and didn`t have too many problems. I think she was more of a celebrity in school more than anything else. |
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sublunari
Joined: 11 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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A Filipine-Korean boy was well-adjusted socially but completely useless as a student in the elementary school I used to work in. He was more conversant in English than about 90% of his peers but despite months of after-school classes still totally unable to read, even as a fifth or sixth grader. I suspect it's because his Filipino mother didn't have the time to make him study after school, or maybe his family couldn't afford to shackle him to a hagwon during his free time.
edit: Also here in Busan I saw a white kid, maybe in the fourth or fifth grade, running around with his class in Seomyeon. It was just for an instant but he looked relatively comfortable. As for me, my jaw was lying in pieces on the floor. |
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TellyRules986
Joined: 09 Nov 2009
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:58 am Post subject: |
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| oldtactics wrote: |
| Just be aware that your son/daughter's English level will drop dramatically if they're going to a Korean public school - if you want them to be fully bilingual, I recommend only speaking English at home. |
I wanted to add that "fully Bilingual" is more than being able to speak. They would need to be strong readers and writers as well. For example, I know plenty of adults that can speak another language (such as Spanish or Chinese) because they spoke it at home. But unfortunately too many cannot read or write to save their lives. They also cannot function properly in formal situations, as they don't know how to address someone formally. Which is sad, considering that say, Spanish, is MUCH easier to read and write than English. That means someone is going to have to pick up some serious books to get them fully competent in English as well as Korean. If you just teach basic reading skills, then the kids will still end up being functionally illiterate, which is a major handicap.
I say it really depends on your family's needs. From an international standpoint, I personally think it's far more important to have strong English skills, since Korean is barely useful at all once you leave Korea. However, if you plan on staying in Korea forever, then obviously Korean is more useful. (If for any reason they leave, then English becomes more important, so I say choose wisely.)
Haha, even if I was in love with Korea I would never raise kids here since there's so much hostility and exclusion to those who are slightly not Korean.
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Korean kids are not going to be racist towards biracial children of white-asian mix. In fact, they will likely be 'reverse-racist.' Your kid will probably be the popular kid (at least in middle school and high school) and envied for the natural brown hair, double eye-lids, etc. Plus your kid will probably have a stellar English ability compared to the other kids.
I don't personally see a problem with sending your kid to Korean public school. I wouldn't say the public schools are of the highest quality, but they are fine. Besides, the fees you would be paying for an international school here are ridiculous. |
As for the first paragraph, that's simply teaching your children (either directly or indirectly) that they are better because they are white. That's still racism and it's vile. That's like a parent teaching a light skinned or mixed race black child that they are better than other black children. It's a shame that Korea attracts these sort of racist types as expats. I think that sort of white worship needs to be actively discouraged, but as I said, there are too many white people here who are high off their privileged status.
While international school is expensive, you'll be paying for qualified, licensed professionals with experience to teach your children. It's obviously not the same as your average ESL teacher here (this is in response to another post I remember reading). |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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| ZIFA wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
A few years ago during one Saturday I was at the train station waiting for the door of the train to open. When it did a flock of Korean kindergarteners came out headed by a Korean teacher. This was not unusual. What did catch my eye was the sight of one blond-haired kid talking to another Korean kid in Korean. He seemed to be quite enjoying himself.
He was in the same uniform as the rest of them, spoke fluent Korean from what I could tell and neither he or the rest of the class seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary. |
have you not heard of peroxide? |
Given the thread topic it should have been obvious I was talking about a WESTERN kid. No one else needed it spelled out for them. |
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indramayu
Joined: 29 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:22 am Post subject: International schools vs. public schools in ROK |
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I don't really know how international schools can ethically charge such ridiculously high fees. The Korean government should step in and somehow make the fees more reasonable. The salaries can't be that high. So, I conclude the owners are making a killing. When I worked in the Middle East, a top-of-the-line international school had fees of $15,000 but the foreign-hired teachers were paid extremely well. I doubt international schools in Korea pay more than $3 million/month (much less than the ME schools but with much higher tuition).
I agree that it makes sense for my child to attend a Korean public school but he is shy and conscious of what others think of him.
Im |
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happiness
Joined: 04 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| As long as they can speak decent Korean, theyll be ok. If they speak Korean, probably that means they can act in Korean mannerisms and eat the local food, theyll fit in enough. Ive seen several half-kids and a couple of African kids (whose parents were business people here), and they all got on well, at least as young kids. Ive seen white children of NETS in kindies here speak Korean as well. Its easy for them to pick it up. |
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jacksthirty
Joined: 30 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| ZIFA wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
A few years ago during one Saturday I was at the train station waiting for the door of the train to open. When it did a flock of Korean kindergarteners came out headed by a Korean teacher. This was not unusual. What did catch my eye was the sight of one blond-haired kid talking to another Korean kid in Korean. He seemed to be quite enjoying himself.
He was in the same uniform as the rest of them, spoke fluent Korean from what I could tell and neither he or the rest of the class seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary. |
have you not heard of peroxide? |
Given the thread topic it should have been obvious I was talking about a WESTERN kid. No one else needed it spelled out for them. |
I remember seeing a foreign looking kid at a middle school that I was briefly working at. I asked the teacher where he was from. He replied that he was Korean, but an albino. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:14 am Post subject: Re: International schools vs. public schools in ROK |
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| indramayu wrote: |
I don't really know how international schools can ethically charge such ridiculously high fees. The Korean government should step in and somehow make the fees more reasonable. The salaries can't be that high. So, I conclude the owners are making a killing. When I worked in the Middle East, a top-of-the-line international school had fees of $15,000 but the foreign-hired teachers were paid extremely well. I doubt international schools in Korea pay more than $3 million/month (much less than the ME schools but with much higher tuition).
I agree that it makes sense for my child to attend a Korean public school but he is shy and conscious of what others think of him.
Im |
The majority are korean students. It's not as good as sending them to the states, but it's the next best thing. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:56 am Post subject: |
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| Not to mention that foreign students in many countries are charged twice, 3x or more the regular school fees to attend. This is part of raising kids abroad in many places! |
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Konglishman
Joined: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Nanjing
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:12 pm Post subject: Re: International schools vs. public schools in ROK |
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| indramayu wrote: |
I don't really know how international schools can ethically charge such ridiculously high fees. The Korean government should step in and somehow make the fees more reasonable. The salaries can't be that high. So, I conclude the owners are making a killing. When I worked in the Middle East, a top-of-the-line international school had fees of $15,000 but the foreign-hired teachers were paid extremely well. I doubt international schools in Korea pay more than $3 million/month (much less than the ME schools but with much higher tuition).
I agree that it makes sense for my child to attend a Korean public school but he is shy and conscious of what others think of him.
Im |
At the better international schools such as Seoul Foreign School, teachers are making at least that much money if not 4 million per month. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:21 pm Post subject: Re: International schools vs. public schools in ROK |
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| indramayu wrote: |
I don't really know how international schools can ethically charge such ridiculously high fees. The Korean government should step in and somehow make the fees more reasonable. The salaries can't be that high. So, I conclude the owners are making a killing. When I worked in the Middle East, a top-of-the-line international school had fees of $15,000 but the foreign-hired teachers were paid extremely well. I doubt international schools in Korea pay more than $3 million/month (much less than the ME schools but with much higher tuition).
I agree that it makes sense for my child to attend a Korean public school but he is shy and conscious of what others think of him.
Im |
1) Some international schools are very, very high quality and are regarded as being nearly on par with New England boarding schools in terms of quality. I'm not sure which schools are best in Korea, but I know that schools such as Taipei American School, Jakarta International School, and Singapore World College all have excellent acceptance rates at top schools around the world.
2) One of my friends started at 3.0 million a month, and it's not like his qualifications were crazy (one year B Ed, two years experience). Blatant speculation fail. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:49 pm Post subject: Re: International schools vs. public schools in ROK |
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| indramayu wrote: |
I doubt international schools in Korea pay more than $3 million/month (much less than the ME schools but with much higher tuition).
Im |
You mean 3 million WON a month not dollars.
And no it depends on the school. I know some teachers who say they were paid on par with Canadian schools back home. So that would be around 4 million won a month or thereabouts...obviously experience and qualifications come into play as well. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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| My hagweon has an adopted Filipina student from Mindanao. Her father's a Korean office worker of a church organization who used to stay in the Philippines for 8 years. I heard that still speaks Cebuano at home. |
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akcrono
Joined: 11 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
A few years ago during one Saturday I was at the train station waiting for the door of the train to open. When it did a flock of Korean kindergarteners came out headed by a Korean teacher. This was not unusual. What did catch my eye was the sight of one blond-haired kid talking to another Korean kid in Korean. He seemed to be quite enjoying himself.
He was in the same uniform as the rest of them, spoke fluent Korean from what I could tell and neither he or the rest of the class seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary. |
The problem is you're taking a snapshot of this boy's life and assuming the rest of it is the same. Truth is, no one knows what that boy's life is like.
Of the parents I know that have racially mixed children (2), both say that their children do experience racism at school, although it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. |
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