For a while, I never really gave the Korean language much thought because as a Korean American, I grew up in a household that spoke Korean. But having this dual perspective allowed me to notice the stark contrasts between American culture and Korean culture. One thing I’ve noticed is heavy emphasis on education. Korean students would be sent to tutoring centers starting from a very young age—I was one of said students. I’ve always grown up going to tutor to always “prep” for something. Whether it be to get ahead in school or in preparation for some standardized exam, everything felt like a competition. Koreans have a phrase “죽을 때 까지공부해” which means “study until you die” or in relation to an English phrase “work hard to death”. It’s a very common phrase to hear from Koreans, which alluded to this concept of heavy importance on education.
Aside from education, I always found the comments of Koreans to be fairly blunt and straightforward about appearance. In such that whenever a Korean adult would point out a flaw of mine, I became used to it and wouldn’t be offended. They would casually point of someone’s weight, skin complexion, skin complications, and other appearance characteristics. Along with the remarks, they often speak in the sense of comparison. For example, I would hear Korean mothers chattering away about where someone’s kid went to college, if another kid got into a private school, or achievements of their own child. At a young age, it always bothered me knowing that was on their mind because it felt as if I wouldn’t be seen as admirable or seen in general if I didn’t accomplish something. But it always seemed strange to me how this seemed to be primarily common among Koreans.
After looking more into this behavior, I found out competitive aspect is an actual part of its culture. That particular aspect had spawned from Korea’s emphasis on the importance of education and the value that it holds. All of the assumptions and behavioral characteristics of Koreans I had noticed were, for the most part, fairly accurate. But they’re like that because of the Korean culture they grew up in. This idea of importance in education and trying to get ahead was the atmosphere and mindset that has been engrained into them at a very young age. The lifestyle of a Korean student is far more different than an American student. It’s a lot more strict, strenuous, and filled with discipline. That’s probably why some Asian mothers are called a “tiger mom” due to their strict parenting, but that’s because they view success as having a good education.
There isn’t any particular “special” vocabulary that a person needs to know to engage in this topic. There are several articles out there that provides more than enough information to understand the topic. Personally, my Korean American background does help in understanding this topic a bit better than non-Koreans. However it shouldn’t impede on the engagement of the latter population for those that want to gain a better understanding of this aspect of Korean culture.
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