The Korean Stereotype

There's so much that could be said about the way that people think of Koreans and the drastic difference between stereotype and reality. I couldn't begin to tell all. But I'll try.

Once I told a Korean salesgirl in Itaewon that people think Korean kids are all good students. She was surprised. I told another Korean hagwon teacher that people think Korean kids are all quiet and behave well. She was surprised too.

Once a Korean man who's kids were attending school in another country told me they had done well enough to get scholarships. Then he said, I can't remember exact words, that Koreans believe in the importance of education due to Confuscianism. After he said that I was dumb-struck for just a second. At that time I was in the middle of teaching a lot of Korean kids who were ordinary, bad or terrible students as well as some good ones. It's like after being in Korea I had completely forgotten the stereotype. I wish that I had responded to him telling him of all the students I had then. A middle school girl who used her cellphone from start to finish every class, a 6th grade or middle school boy who slept through each class, literally from near the start of class to the end. Or the boys, led by one bad one, who after class sometimes shouted "fuck you" to me and then ran away fast as they could. Or the girl in first grade who refused to do class activities I gave her so after teaching her for some time I ended up putting a few different things in front of her at the start of class and letting her choose. Her mom sat in one day and said that I should just have one activity and have her do it. That wasn't all. There were so many more challenging students.

Honestly I know this stereotype of Korean kids being all good students must really frustrate those who are not. One Korean I knew who was in his early 30s told me he disliked/hated that aspect of Korean culture, the huge weight put on study. The Korean words meaning dislike can also mean hate if said strongly enough; I'm not exactly sure which he meant but I think hate. The words are 싫어 or 싫어요 meaning "I don't like it." or "He/she/it doesn't like it."

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