Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bryan]

I'm a university student in Korea right now, and am aiming to come back in a year when I finish my degree and teach here. One of my goals is to get good at speaking Korean (the other is to earn a lot of money).

I was thinking that Seoul has better language schools, such as Sogang, that wouldn't be available in the country. And that I could try and attend Sogang in the morning and work at a hakwon in the evenings.

The other alternative is that I could work in the countryside if jobs are available. There I would be immersed in the Korean language much more.

Which one seems like the better plan for improving my Korean language ability?

[katepult]

First, anywhere you go, people will only want to practice English (unless you are East Asian and blend in).
In my experience, people living in Seoul tend to learn less Korean because they need Korean less often. There are a lot of English services available. People who live in the country seem to learn more Korean because they use it more often in daily life.
There aren't really any language schools outside of Seoul or Busan, however. Rural areas and smaller cities are much better for practicing Korean. A rural area in Gyeonggi-do, the province surrounding Seoul, may be a good choice. In rural Gyeonggi, you are usually close enough to Seoul to attend a language school.
"Rural" in Korea is not like "rural" in North America. The countryside still is pretty populated.

[Bryan]

Thanks. Any other input?

[Smee]

I've lived in big, medium, and small sized places, and have been happiest with the medium-sized city I'm in now. Population just under 300,000, though I guess a lot of people will tell you that's tiny.

If you're out in the countryside, sure, you will use Korean most of the time. Thing is there's not really anyone to talk to. Trust me, the chit chat gets old, and there's only so many times you want to answer questions about spicy food. If you're young you won't have anyone near your age to talk or relate to. It gets pretty lonely, so you'll spend a lot of time on your own, which can get to you after a while. There are many reasons to like rural life, but based on my experience it's hard to improve your Korean. I basically studied a lot at home, and tried to use it little by little outside, but there was no option for any guided learning. If I made a mistake I probably didn't know it, or got laughed at or ignored. Not very conducive to learning.

In the mid-sized city I'm in now, there are no real Korean classes. There are free ones, but they're awful and will make you want to die. You'll find people your age and people interested in talking with you. I insist on speaking Korean when I'm talking with anyone other than my students or my coteachers, and people are obliging and don't try to strike up conversations in English.

In big cities like Seoul there are loads more options for formal study. I'm jealous sometimes. You do have more people who are interested in speaking English or Engrish to you, but that's just because there are so many people. Don't overestimate Koreans' English ability, most of the time a person with halfway decent Korean is easier understood than their English.

I think I'd avoid a rural setting, at least at first. You'll be bored and lonely, and you'll come to find out that "experience REAL Korean culture" means "there's a lot of old people."

[Otherside]

The argument that living in the countryside forces you to learn Korean and that living in Seoul allows you to get away with English is true to an extent.

However, in the OPs case, he WANTS to learn Korean. He will be making the effort to learn Korean and use wherever possible.

Now, Seoul has top language programmes and 10million native Korean speakers. In terms of studying the language, what does the countryside offer that beats that. Not to mention, if you wind up in the south of the country, you'll be learning an accent which is different from the standard Seoul accent.

[some waygug-in]

Unless you already have some proficiency with the language, I doubt that a move to the country will help you much. You'll just end up using a lot of gestures and sign language, broken English and bits of Korean mixed in.

If your goal is to learn Korean, get thee to a good class first and stick to it.


There are plenty of free resources on the net, Sogang's site, the Radio Korea site, videos on youtube etc., but there's no replacement for having a good class.

http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=learn+Korean&kgs=0&kls=0

http://rki.kbs.co.kr/learn_korean/lessons/e_index.htm

http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plujaKEG5pI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyxtUyMTtM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A93eF6Jwpow

enjoy

[dean_burrito]

For myself I've learned more Korean in Seoul than I did in the country side. In the country side I worked more and by the time I was finished there was no place to go and study Korean anyways. So sure there was plenty of opportunity to practice Korean but not being disciplined enought to learn it on my own it was really difficult getting by. And then there is the loneliness. Most places outside of Seoul that one would go to and expect to socialize aren't exactly set up to where you can meet new people. Take hofs for example. There will be plenty of people in the place but it is unlikely that you will ever meet any of them. It is considered kind of rude or socially awkward to walk around and mingle in these places.
Sure you could sacrifice your weekends and travel to a language class but I found myself wanting to other things.
Basically if you don't end up in Seoul don't go to too small of a town. But I'm sure the next person to post will have a totally different experience. That's just how the world is I reckon.

[hugekebab]

[Countrygirl]

You also might want to consider teaching at a public school instead of a hogwan. At a public school you will be the sole FT surrounded by Korean speakers. If you have a co-teacher with bad English, you might learn Korean faster than you think.

In my experience co-teachers like to help with Korean language learning. Korean English teachers at hogwans have a bigger workload and might not be able to help as much (but I could be wrong.)

[Robot_Teacher]

I'd say country such as Gangwondo. I don't get approached for English lessons either nor does anyone try much English as they don't know it nor am I a walking English lesson. I'm just a lone stranger ranger in a strange land. A few Korean teachers know English, but they haven't taken up huge amounts of my free time practicing their English. I just get hello'd to death by kids day in day out which is getting so monotoneously old and boring. No adults to connect and relate with makes it a very lonesome way of life.

Whether you're in the city or country, your learning Korean depends on level of interest and motivation more so than if classes are available. If you want to learn, you don't need a class, you self study and then practice in the real world. I'm getting hung up on pronunciation and informal abbreviated dialect the country people speak. I'm not all that facinated about learning new languages unless it's German due to my ancestoral history, but learning Korean out of necessity and respect for locals. I know I can do much better. Instead of spending 3 hours watching music videos with 3 or 4 beers of a night, I could be studying and trying my new knowledge around town more. Instead of surfing Daves right now, I could be studying, but I find it boring.

[drunkenfud]

[Bryan]

I think Otherside made a good point for me. I *want* to learn Korean. However, I think I need a little nudging here and there because motivation isn't always consistent. I'm thinking a full time class might be best for me, and will try to enroll in Sogang next year full time.

I could get airfare and money if I tried to work at a hagwan on the evenings, but that may be super exhausting. Anyone know if there are many scholarships available to study at Sogang or study Korean language in general?

[air76]

By far and away the most important factor in how much Korean you'll learn is your own personal motivation.....which in my opinion is difficult to keep up for 99% of the foreigners living here. With the exception of folk who get a Korean girlfriend/boyfriend most people tend to level out at being able to speak enough Korean to order food, exchange basic pleasantries, and solve very simple problems such as needing the oil changed in your car, buying cold medicine, etc. In reality the average foreigner here can't even do those things in Korean, but even those who have put out a reasonable effort tend to lose interest after a couple months.

So in the end, if you really want to learn then you can do it in either Seoul or the countryside....if you don't really want to learn then it won't matter where you're at.

If you have a specific reason for wanting to learn...i.e. it pertains to getting a specific job in the future, or maybe your family is Korean but you don't speak the language, etc....then I think that the only way to make real progress would be to pay for good classes at a good school in Seoul. Working at a hagwon and studying at the same time wouldn't be all that tiring if you keep yourself out of the bar.