Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

When you ask Korean high school students why their lives are SO incredibly weak, they will tell you it's because they have to study all the time (the ones who give a damn). I call B.S. American kids are getting it done and doing it with outrageously active social lives and organized sports to boot.

I'd wager some American kids WISH they only had to study.

Korean students lose. Game. Set. Match.

[itaewonguy]

exactly you would think with all the amounts of study korean kids do they would grow up to be the best! but frankly speaking
this is BS.., thing is with koreans.. they study their asses off then get into uni and act like FOOLS! and forget everything they studied anyway!
so whats the point of all that studying.. ohh yeah to pass a silly test!

[JeJuJitsu]

Wholeheartedly agree. At first I thought, "Well, these kids are probably smarter up until college, because they freaking go to school 6 days a week and are up until midnight studying."
But, after getting to know my high schoolers, they are actually well below an average US student (I've taught in the US for several years).

I think that Koreans just go through the motions just to be able to SAY that they are doing X or Y from dawn til dusk--whatever it may be--work or school. In their mind, hard work is very noble, and to say you work/study (even if you sleep at your desk like my coteachers--they can still SAY they were "at work" until 11PM!!!) is an important part of their vanity. And that is all it is. Fake work/studying is just vanity. Like the person you know that is always buying books but never reading, or buying health club memberships and tracksuits, but never exercising.

[rapier]

I thinik westerners have a more co-ordinated and efficient work ethic. Cover the same ground in a third the time: less is more.

Then its time for those two equally important facets to life: sport/physical exercise, and social life.


I saw a group of middle schoolers sharing a supper at a table in a restaurant yesterday. Obviously they'd been in class all day and were unwinding. Socialising and letting their hair down in an almost urgent, extreme and raucous fashion. Getting their intoxicating fix of carefree liesure time- it was almost like a group of kids on drugs, savouring a short moment of relaxation.
-but of course some old ajosshi had to yell at them to be quiet and spoil their fun, poor things. However, their tolerance for confinement and patriarchal authority is wearing thin I think. If a sixties style revolution hits Korea, it will be like an unleashed tsunami.

[chiaa]

The thing is they don't study that much. Their parents stick them at a desk with their books open and the kids just day dream for six hours.

I have several people tell me this. Kids are kids all over the world.

[Wrench]

I agree Western kids I think have it tougher. Plus uni in North America is pretty damn hard compared to High School.

Japan and Korea are really poorly ranked on the efficiency scale.

[Karabeara]

Koreans can be proud of their math ability. Past that, forget it. Our school regularly, as a part of the way things are done, fixes grades so that students get higher than a certain score. It is done in high schools and universities too. I cannot wait for the day when I bump into my former teachers in the grocery stores back home, and can tell them all about it.

I have a student who moved here from the states. She lived over there for 4 years. She is behind in math, and is struggling. She has little interest in her other classes, but is doing fine in most others except Korean class. She speaks excellent English, and told me that she hates Korean school because the teachers just stand up there and teach. She said she used to love debating about things with her social studies teacher, as well as other teachers back in the states. Here, however, students just sit and watch. I really feel sorry for her.

I taught a writing class which pretty much bombed because it was not graded. Students would not do homework, or not show up for class, and in writing class, that is especially essential. She and another girl who also moved here from America recently took a few minutes after class to say they were sorry that their friends did not take my class seriously. The two girls felt it was just terrible, and that the other girls were so lazy.

[itaewonguy]

koreans need to learn that activity and playing actually helps stimulate the mind!

[cruisemonkey]

Think about this - most Ks with an undergraduate degree, in essence, have only a high school education. For passing the university entrance exams, they are rewarded with a four-year vacation and graduate with no ability to critically analyse anything (or apply logic in a new or unfamilliar situation)... hell, they truely believe in fan death. I love it!

[hypnotist]

[joe_doufu]

What I don't get is why they think the prize (S/K/Y university degree) is worth it so much! They throw away their children's childhoods, sacrifice their middle school and high school educations to drill for a test instead of acquiring real knowledge and skills, and waste four years thereafter... for what? A chance to be a worker drone at a company where every worker is unsatisfied?

Sometimes I think a "slacker" who gets a lousy job like driving a taxi or running his own restaurant probably has more fun and satisfaction in this Korean life. Maybe they should have a "career day" in Korean high school.

"This is Mr Kim who aced the college exam and now is in charge of form 37-F in the Samsung company's Purchasing Office #28, Gyeonggi-do department."
"This is Mr Park who aced the college exam and now is in charge of form 37-B in the Samsung company's Purchasing Office #28, Gyeonggi-do department."
"This is Mr Kim who aced the college exam and now is in charge of form 32-H in the Samsung company's Purchasing Office #28, Gyeonggi-do department."
"This is Mr Lee who aced the college exam and now is in charge of form 32-F in the Samsung company's Purchasing Office #28, Gyeonggi-do department."
"This is Mr Kim's little brother Mr Kim. He failed the exam, so his parents sent him to study English in America. He made a bunch of money on an internet startup and now he lives near the beach in Santa Monica with his beautiful family."

[hypnotist]

I'm guessing you don't know many of said "worker drones"... Do you really think they're planning to stay there for their whole lives?

(BTW whilst Samsung management can be mystifying at times, I don't find it particularly bureaucratic compared to that at Western firms.)

[jacl]

If workdays are 9 to 5 then school days should be 9 to 5 (including studying). Students should be taught that you only have so many hours to get the job done.

The more you do, the more you can do.

The good kids here are the ones that do sports and practice an instrument along with studying.

Kids need a break. Go to school, go home and relax and then maybe play a sport in the evening two or three times a week or take piano. Free time is so important.

Kids up to the age of 8, 9 or 10 should be going to bed at about 8 or 8:30 at the latest. They can be kept busy during the week with school, sports, clubs, etc during the week. Then they just fall asleep pretty much. The weekends should be for more play and time out of fun for doing homework. This all depends on the kid though. Some kids might want to stay up later and eventually weasle themselves into a position where they can stay up later. It all depends. But to force middle school children to stay up late to study is just insane. One of my engineer students told me that kids in late middle school (or at least high school) sleep four hours a night. Life's too short for that.

My hagwon boss tells me that I should give my students homework because if I don't, they won't do it. I do give them a little, but not much. They have the book and the tape and the workbook. Now I just tell them "Here's the book, the tape (the workbook isn't my responsiblity). Listen to the tape and do practice what's in the book." End of story. If parents ever complain (I don't get any complaints) then I would just direct the fault back toward them. "I told them to listen to the tape and practice. What do you want me to do? Go home with all of them?" Strange thing.

[joe_doufu]

[hypnotist]