Korean Job Discussion Forums

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

Now, i'm not gonna complain, because personally, it isn't a big problem in my class.
But it seems like it could be.
Does anyone else think that Korean teachers seem to get (not EARN) a lot more respect than english teachers? (ie...my roomate)?
I mean, just in a general sense, do you think that our (well "our") inability to speak korean is a serious hinderance in getting children to respect us?

i'd say yes. But that it's easy to work around. Show THEM respect and never hit them. Let them feel the difference between respect and fear

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

They respect you, until they moment they realise that they don't actually have to...

Gwangjuboy · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Location: England

Universalis · Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Seoul

You're not Korean, so the same rules don't apply to you.

I used to have a young girl... maybe 12 years old, in one of my upper level classes. She would walk into class, say "hi" to me, then do that half-bow to the other students in class (who were all younger to me).

Did it bother me? Yea, it did. BUt what could I do about it? Order her to bow to me? Tell her to stop bowing to others? What bothered me the most wasn't really the lack of respect, but the position it placed me vis-a-vis the other students in class. As if there was a pecking order in class and I was somewhere in the middle...

I have a similar problem now with a little brat I'm tutoring... polite to my girlfriend.... but talks to me like I'm his peer or something.

It's one of the things I like about American ettiquette (such as it is). Being a multi-cultural country, we've come to accept certain standardized behavior when dealing with "other" people (a handshake, for example).

With Koreans, Korean ettiquete is for Koreans. Once they leave the comfort of their own little sphere, all rules are off.

Brian