Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rusty1983]

I am not really having a moral crisis here, but it has come to my attention over the last few months that Im making a living off the back of England's muderous empire.

I am not saying its right or wrong, but English seems 'superior' to me and going over the world teaching it is furthering that ideal.

Everywhere Ive worked I have seen teachers imposing western morality on top of teaching English.

But its good for me, I am making a decent living out of this and can see the industry expanding. I never thought of it as a career but from the boom I have seen lately think it could be a good idea.

But I dont know if I will always view it as making money from the British Empire, which was inherently immoral. And even then, the other reason (which may be more significant) is that America appears to be building a similar style empire, through similar means and people need to learn English because people need to do business with America, even though they make money through murder and corruption.

Is teaching English an immoral pursuit?

[spliff]

Hey, wait...let's flip a coin.

[knee-highs]

[ED209]

[rusty1983]

Yeah Im not too distressed by it but just wondering if it's an issue people wonder about. To be honest Im a sucker for believing in the more controversial theories when I hear them, its definitely one of my flaws.

And also, any guilt I may have is washed away by the fact that I dont really care enough to make a big hoo-ha about it. To be brutally honest I dont care if it is because of past wrong-doings, and Im loving teaching at the moment

I wasnt trying to have a pop at anyone just wondering what you thought or if you could enlighten me a little on the subject.

But I do like looking at the history of the language and trying to find out how and why it spread like it did. I dont claim to be anywhere near an expert on the subject though.

[rusty1983]

[eamo]

[browneyedgirl]

You could have the same argument for numerous languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic etc.

[oskinny1]

[Otherside]

You are teaching English in a large part because of the Economic superiority of countries which speak English.

The US, Canada, Aus and NZ owe their existance to the Murderous English Empire. If it wasn't for the colonizers, the US would be a large plain where the Native American (not up to date on the pc term here) population ruled the land and huge herds of bison roamed free.

Is the current situation better? You decide.

[ED209]

[rusty1983]

[quote="oskinny1"]

[rusty1983]

[tfunk]

England isn't really a colonial power any more, so you aren't perpetuating their empire, unless you've brought flags with you.

If you want to feel guilty about England's past, then feel guilty about the millions of people it enslaved, dispossessed etc. and the fact that you are English and are a product of previous generations of Englishmen.

Personally I wouldn't worry about it. As another poster suggested, if Chinese, Japanese, etc were the lingua franca of the day then the same so-called moral issues would arise.

If Ireland was bigger than England, then I'm sure we would've kicked your ass and made you eat potatoes and drink Guinness.

Human nature is pretty much the same, no matter what the colour of the flag. Worrying about moral issues without any possibility of meaningful action is just masterbat*on IMHO.

[Fresh Prince]

I don't think teaching English for profit in Korea is cultural Imperialsim. If we were doing it as part of a movement to replace Korean in favor of English that would be different but we are really only here at their whim. If they decide they no longer want foreigners teaching English in Korea all they have to do is stop giving out visas.

Culture is part of learning any language though. I would never have been able to learn another language as well as I did if I didn't have a native teacher while in university. Aside from improving my pronounciation, I learned cultural things that weren't in any books, just from observation of my teachers' behavior and discussions about how they do a lot of things different where they are from.