Very few traditional societies, Western or Asian, were noted for their social mobility, and education was limited to the elite. Korea was no different in this regard. One difference though, which Koreans will love reminding you of, is that Korea was a “nation” and had a kind-of “state” millennia before Western countries, and it needed educated people to be civil officials. Given how Confucianist Korea was, the education deemed necessary was learning Confucian texts to instill the proper virtue and ethics, and then writing them all out word by word in competitive examinations. Those who wrote them out more accurately got better marks. In theory this was meritocratic and open to anyone, but in practice very few people outside of the elite had the 20-30 years spare required to study. As explained below, Koreans have been preoccupied with exams and results over quality and substance ever since.

The other great influence was the Japanese colonization of Korea, from 1905 until the end of the Second World War. Koreans remain very bitter about this - it strains relations with Japan today ? and so many are very reluctant to admit that Japan in fact significantly developed and industrialized Korea during this period, although it is very true that this was all for the benefit of Japan, never for Koreans themselves. Japanese agriculturalists would, for instance, reform the agricultural sector and apply scientific techniques to rice farming, then send most of the new rice bonanza straight to Japan.

Japan brought over civic officials from Japan to lead Korea’s development, and expanded the Korean education system to produce educated workers. But not only were Japanese teachers used instead of Koreans, and the Korean language not allowed to be taught at all, but there were never enough schools built to satisfy Korean’s new demand for them. And as for middle and high school and higher education, there were virtually non of these outside of the few led by Western missionaries that the Japanese hadn’t kicked out, and this was a deliberate policy to make Koreans subordinate second-class citizens of the Japanese Empire. So upon independence, Koreans had a burning desire to set up an education system of their own, and Korean parents now spend more money on their children’s education than any other country in the world.

What does all that mean for me teaching then?
Please bear in mind everything below is a generalization, may not exist or happen in your classes, and might not be all that different to back home. Make of it what you will.

1) From their very early teens and even earlier parents will send their children to after-school institutes to prepare for this exam. Some as many as 4 or 5 a day. This gives you a job, but…

2) Teenagers generally have a very miserable life in Korea. They probably only get 6 hours sleep a night, they are constantly studying, they have little or no time to relax, have hobbies, or simply be a kid and develop as a person.

3) So when they come to class they usually don’t want to be there, but their parents force them to be. They are either tired and want to go to sleep, or want to have fun and mess around with their friends; either way, it’s the only chance they get. So when they start misbehaving, before you get stressed try to put yourself in their shoes ? you’d probably do the same thing if you were them. Don’t take it personally, and have realistic expectations about how much you’ll be able to teach them in their condition.

4) Once the university entrance exams are over, Korean students feel they deserve a break. Who can blame them, and the men still have 26months of compulsory military service to complete (they usually go to University for one year first). So the next 4 years at University are just one big holiday, and because of this Korean universities are much worse than their Western counterparts, not merely because they have less money. This does not change until PhD level.

This is of course related to the exams above. Korean teachers have very little time other than being able to teach what’s required in the exams, and wrong answers don’t get you into Seoul National University, no matter how interesting they are, so mistakes are severely punished and innovation and new ideas discouraged. This was fine when Korea was becoming the 10th biggest economy in the world by copying everyone else’s products and manufacturing them 10x cheaper, but Koreans now need more innovation and language skills than just those needed to read the technical requirements of Italian toasters…

1) It was not so long ago that most Koreans had had 8yrs of English education and could do fine in grammar tests, but couldn’t speak a word of it to save their lives. The Korean education system is slowly changing to overcome this, but in the meantime Koreans want “conversation classes” with you. This has become something of a mantra with parents, who want their daughter in your advanced class for foreign-born students even though she can’t speak a word of English. Unfortunately you work for a business and so most bosses will allow that rather than not have the student come at all, but most parents and bosses are sensible about it.

2) Despite all this, many Koreans are still reluctant to speak even though they’ve paid to do it, because they are absolutely terrified of making a mistake. Women and girls seem much less confident than men in this regard, but this will not stop the occasional 50yr-old businessmen that everyone is scared of at work nearly break down in tears at the prospect of talking in English about his weekend. It can also be quite distressing watching bright-eyed and confident kids slowly turning into virtual deaf-mutes in class as they get a little older and the Korean education system gets to them (although becoming a normal sullen teenager has a lot to do with it as well!).

Please just be patient with them, and be aware that it is difficult and nerve-wracking for ANYBODY to start speaking ANY foreign language. It’s just that the Korean education system discouraged anyone from even trying.

3) Still, many Koreans are mad about English Speech contests. You will find out about these when one of your students asks for help editing something he or she has written to speak at one. Usually this means a complete rewrite, and what is wanted is not something appropriate for their level but a Shakespearean soliloquy. Your student will then spend the next 3 weeks of your classes learning this word for word, and then read it in a robotic monotone during the contest, 9 times out of 10 having absolutely no idea what he or she is saying. NEVER EVER agree to judge one of these, as you’ll be slitting your wrists well before the end of it.