Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Korean & Education

I am impressed to know how Korean people love to study. Education is on their top list of priority. They will spend a lot of money to equip themselves or their children with the best education they can get.

I was surprised when I saw so many high school students walking out from the school at 9pm. My friend who was driving me to the nearest subway told me that the school hour starts from 9am to 9pm, Then into my surprise, she continued by saying that those students mostly were going to English Academy after school until 10.30pm. Some of them probably were going to library to continue study until 11pm. It is normal for Korean students to arrive home at midnight.

I remembered that yesterday night when I went to the study room in a public library, I could not find a place to sit. I needed to wait until somebody walked out from his chair. I could not give any comment anymore...it's summer vacation now! And everybody seems having their vacation in library! I only can say 'WOW'...


The way Korean value education is also showed by the way they appreciate teachers. May 14 is a national day specially for teacher. Our friends and us also celebrated it for our Korean Language teacher. He is a super nice person. I love the way he taught us. Eventhough he didn't use English while explaining to us, I could understand what he wanted to say.

Thank you for your kindness, Gyusunim. God bless you.

3 comments:

  1. Wow - I can't believe that's the norm for high school students!! Impressive! What is it like for younger students? I just wonder how the love for education is instilled in everyone. Is it really wanting to learn or vigorous competition?

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  2. Hi Julia! After wrote this post, I interviewed some teachers and students (high school students, especialy). The reason why they have to study hard is because of the University Entrance Test. It is so important for Korean people to be able to pass this exam, otherwise, they won't get into good (and public - cheaper than private univ.) university.
    High School - 1st grade students have to study at school till 6pm. 2nd grade, till 9pm. 3rd grade till 10pm. Most of the 3rd grade students continue to study in Institution (although it is forbidden) / by themselves till 12-1am!
    In my opinion, that's terrible, because they only sleep for 5-6 hours everyday and lack of social/art activities out of school.

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  3. Younger students go home earlier. Elementary school - around 2pm; Middle School - around 4.30pm.

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