What are the attitudes about family in the culture(s) you are studying? How are families organized? Is the family evolving? How are these attitudes reflected in the language?
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The attitudes about family in Korea culture is similar to China, which values family and dependencies so highly. According to culture in Korea,the Korea family structure has traditionally been rigid and hierarchical, with elders still receiving the largest degree of reverence, respect and obedience, a practice that has continued into the modern age. On the other hand, children incur a debt to their parents who gave birth to them and raised them. This debt lies behind the idea of filial duty: treating parents respectfully at all times, taking care of them in their old age. These attitudes can be all reflected in the formal structure of Korean language. Younger people should always use formal way to speak with the elder in order to show respect. Also from the Korea's tradition customs in festivals, like Korea Lunar New Year, we can see that young people are very respectful to the elder. In addition, one of the responsibilities of children also includes having children and maintaining the continuity of the family line. The continuity of the family is not only a biological fact which human society but also reflect the culture of family in Korean. But now since gradually influenced by western cultures and high pressure in cost of living, more and more younger people choose to do not have children. But they also need to suffer from the blame or misunderstanding from the elder.
Family is a central aspect of Korean culture in which many factors of an individual's life revolves around. Koreans tend to have an attitude of doing things for the family and not the self, thus working and studying are all tied to the well-being and provision of not necessarily the individual but for the rest of the family members. This is mainly caused by the way the family is organized, since Korean families tend to be hierarchical and tied throughout generations. It is common for parents to take care of grandparents while children also tend to live with their parents until marriage. Korean families also tend to place the husband as the dominant figure in the household while the wife is expected to be submissive and obedient. These ideals are largely thanks to Confucian influences. Modern families continue to have these roles but they are slowly evolving since more women now enter the workforce, reducing the stereotype of husbands being the sole "breadwinners" of the family. In terms of language within Korean families, the younger generations must always address the older generation with utmost respect by speaking to the elders with formalities, bowing deeply, and performing other respectful behaviors.
Family values play an important role in Korean society. There are family month, children’s day, parents’ day and teachers’ day to remind people of this national tradition and culture.
But it is really regrettable that such values have increasingly been losing their ground in the wake of rapid modernization and economic development. Traditional extended families have been superseded by nuclear families. The advent of a mass production and mass consumption society has greatly changed our value systems.
Self-centered individualism, mammonism and fetishism have weakened our unique and proud tradition and culture in every aspect of our society. Therefore, many people have experienced confusion and chaos in their spirit, despite economic affluence. In addition, the family system is faced with greater challenges arising from a decreasing number of marriages, more divorces, lower birthrates, the soaring population of senior citizens, domestic violence, child abuse and a higher suicide rate.
Confucian influences on Korean culture are most easily seen through the Korean family structure. In Korea, children are expected to be respectful towards their elders with small acts, such as waiting until the eldest person in the family has eaten, and bowing to their elders on certain holidays. This influence is further apparent through the patriarchal organization of the family, where the man is seen as the "breadwinner" and the women and children are expected to respect that. Although the patriarchal organization of Korean families today can be debated, the historical importance of Confucian values cannot. Today, Korean families are not as contained as they once were. It is no longer common for 4 generations to be living under the same roof. As a result of urbanization, Korean families are becoming more separated, and it is increasingly common to only find one or two generations living under one roof.
Korean pays a lot of attention on families, and male and female have explicit different jobs. Traditionally, the Confucian ideal of strict separation of males and females led to division of labor into inside and outside work. Men labored outside, making money to support the families. Women worked inside at home doing housework, weaving and cooking. Even when wives work outside the home, husbands usually think it embarrassing to help. Recently, the structure changed. But the structure changed recently. More and more women graduate from colleges and work outside the home. This change cannot fail to affect the divisions of labor dramatically, especially in urban areas.
The family is the most important part of Korean life and family welfare is much more important than the needs of the individual. Members of the family are tied to each other because the actions of one family member reflect on the rest of the family. Traditionally, the ideal family type in Korea was a patrilocal stem family. The stem family typically consists of two families in successive generation, a father and mother living in the same household with married oldest son, his wife, and their children. The eldest son generally inherited the family estates. In Confucian tradition, the father is the head of the family and it is his responsibility to provide food, clothing and shelter, and to approve the marriages of family members. The central familial relationship was not that between husband and wife, but rather between parent and child, especially between father and son. These relationships were characterized by obedience, authority, and benevolence.
http://family.jrank.org/pages/1020/Korea-Traditional-Korean-Familie...
Family is extremely important and sacred in Pakistani culture. Families are organized in the same standard way you would expect them to be. Parents seem to have a huge say in their children's lives because of the utmost respect that the children give to their parents. There are formal ways to address family members especially the elderly and this reflects the respect that family members are given in Pakistani culture. This aspect was reminiscent of Korean culture where family is at the absolute center of everything.
In Israel, the family is the basic unit of everyday life. This family-oriented vision is in part born out of Jewish tradition but is strengthened by its particularly hostile ambient conditions. Another factor that reinforces the family as the basic unit in its society is the demographic threat which states that Jews in their homeland -- as well as abroad -- have been threatened in the past. As a result, Jews should be liberal in their procreation in order to quell this fear. Moreover, women are seen in the Israeli society as the guide of her family, and if she does not fulfill this role, she could face ostracization because she failed in her motherly duties as well as her duty to the State of Israel. Moreover, singles from a very young age -- around 23 or so, and younger for women -- are pressured into marriage. Thus, reinforcement for the family as a salient part of the Israeli society starts from a young age. http://www.jewishagency.org/women-israel/content/36621
Its small-sized country, moreover, enables easy interaction amongst family members and friends. Holidays and ceremonies tend to bring the family together at a consistent pace. Family helping its family members is a norm too in Israel, such as babysitting and financial help. Lastly, Israel boasts a high marital and fertility rate with a low divorce rate compared to many industrialized nations. http://www.nekudat-mifne.com/familyinisrael/
The close family ties and dependencies are valued highly in Korea. Korean society became highly patriarchal when the Confucian system was imported from China and made the official state belief system in about 1390 A.D. For example, fathers were responsible for their families and were to be both obeyed and revered by everyone (filiopiety). Although some Koreans still adhere to traditional Confucian principles of family organization, many Koreans are adapting to more independent, less patriarchal family organizations.
In traditional Korean society, women had set roles. They were expected to stay at home, to raise their children, keep house and prepare meals. In farming villages they also worked in the fields. When women married they came to live in their husbands' houses, but always kept their own family names. Once in their husbands' homes, they became part of the extended families. Not only were they to obey the eldest males in the family and their husbands, but to take commands from the eldest woman. Although many of these concepts are still present in many families, it is not as strictly organized. Today, women are in every occupation, from government officials to business persons and professors. Young married couples often move from their hometown, especially if it's in the countryside, to the city or sub-urb near Seoul.
The family is the basic component of social life in Korea, and its preservation has been of paramount importance under patriarchal Confucianism. In a Confucian patriarchal family, the family as an entity takes precedence over its individual members, and the family group is inseparably identified with the clan. The most important function of family members is to maintain and preserve the household within the traditional Confucian system. Society became organized around two principles: that males shall dominate females and that elders shall dominate the young. Growing old in Korea had advantages for both women and men, for age was respected. According to this perspective, women were often self-assertive and highly valued, as the family finance managers, decision makers in family matters, and educators of children. Traditionally, the ideal family type in Korea was a patriotically stem family. The family is evolving because nowadays the house head cannot determine where family members live. The eldest son can now leave home against his father's will. Husbands and wives share the power to determine the education and punishment of the children. Children can decide on their own marriages, and parental permission is not required if they are of age. Younger sons leave their parents to form their own families when they marry, and the house head no longer has the legal right to manage all family property. Since implementation of the New Civil Code, all children have equal claim to their parents' property. These attitudes are reflected in the language because there are different words one must use when speaking to elders, adults, and children.
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