Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylde]

lesson idea....

if things get a bit tricky because students aren't listening to you.... try this..


call them waegookin...

it struck me the other day...

this is MY language and classroom, they are the foreigners, not me..

tell them they are foreign, they are the waegookin not me, when i go out of the class and i am in korea i am foreign.. but it is america or australia or whatever inside these walls and they are the foreigners..

damn got my students attention... they didn't like it much..

anyway, its an idea and it sure was fun to reverse the situation for a while

[kangnamdragon]

nice try...but I believe the word is more accurately translated as "non-Korean", not "foreigner". Even in Los Angeles, Koreatown, I have been called a waeguk.

[SuperHero]

The literal translation would be outside person. The dictionary says it is foriegner and I tend to agree. koreans using it to refer to Americans in America are just showing their parochialism.

I do not know how many times I have had to instruct students that they are the foriegners when they are abroad, not the natives of whichever country they are visiting.

[kangnamdragon]

[the_beaver]

[kangnamdragon]

Sorry, I disagree. A gyopo is not considered a waeguksaram, even though they are foreigners, by our definition of "foreigner". When a Korean goes to America, he or she does not consider him or herself a waeguksaram in America. Therefore, a waeguksaram is a nonKorean, someone from outside KOREA. It cannot be a foreigner, someone from outside your own country. We who are not Korean cannot call Koreans waeguksarams.


The above are the also the opinion of various Koreans whose advice I asked. Maybe mithridates can clarify....

[Zyzyfer]

Wow.

[Crois]

So what about the North Koreans?

[kangnamdragon]

[the_beaver]

[mithridates]

Hmm...I've actually made this point before, but not while in Korea. When in Korea I'm still a �ܱ��� even when inside my classroom, but I don't let them get away with it when I'm back in Canada. The definition of �ܱ��� doesn't say anything about 'non-Korean' though it certainly is implied considering that 99.999% of non-Koreans don't know the word in the first place.
I would consider Kyopos to be �ܱ��� as well though that's more by definition than by anything else; they can get away with being thought of as being Korean as long as their language skills are up to the task.
I don't think there's a clear answer to this; the definition is too vague. It looks like everybody's right. And in the first place it was brought up as a teaching method, and since anything that gets their attention is a good teaching method, Wylde is right as well. At least it gets them thinking.

[Gwangjuboy]

[jajdude]

The words aint so important, are they? Well they are somewhat. As connected to feeling. We feel foreign here. Same as many places. They'd feel foreign elsewhere too, whatever labels they use. Met a few koreans who told me how hard it was living abroad. Others who loved it. Same as us bunch on board i guess.

[katydid]

I just remember my friend and I snickering at Osaka Immigration seeing the Koreans have to go through the weigugin passport stamping gate along with us.

[dogbert]