Comments on: A Day in the Life of a Korean Student

By: Henrydestine23

Henrydestine23 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

do kids have job in korea and if so what kind

By: Aafke

Aafke — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:01:00 +0000

I’m from holland, and i’m shocked of what I read. I’m going to a Univerity next year, I’m the best pupil of the class but I never have to learn that much.

By: marcus lee

marcus lee — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 18:50:00 +0000

As a Korean American, the fallacy of Korean Education is that it fosters competition without learning. Result..many Korean kids try to get big corporate job or gov’t job to veg. for rest of their life, instead of engaging in challenges and innovation. Recent newspaper articles shows that many kids shun away for science field, but choose to go to law or med school instead. So, there would never be a Korean Steve Job in Korea.

By: Amber

Amber — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:50:00 +0000

It is quite depressing comparative to my high school. I attended a city public school and it lacked in educational material and study hours. We attended classes from 8:45am to 3:45pm. So classes were poorly taught, the books were outdated, we didn’t have study hall like other schools, and all in all, it was a very poor educational institution. Why did I attend? My mother was ill and I wanted to be close just in case something happened. There were a handful of students, like myself and several of my close friends, who were in top classes such as honors or advance courses, which is equivalent to any suburban high school academic level. It was awful. Me and my friends would meet on Saturdays at our school to get tutoring and study for exams with students from Loyola University. The opportunity was open to all upperclassmen but many didn’t bother. As students, we took the initiative to study more and challenge ourselves. There were teachers there who would help us to achieve the proper education needed to succeed and get into colleges. Our high school only prepared us to attend junior colleges. My friends and I would push ourselves to not attend such schools. We wanted to get into the best schools. We developed a support system. Many students believed that they were being educated enough and sadly, many dropped out, became young parents, ended up in jail or dead. I wish that the school administrators had pushed us and educated us properly. I also wished that more students demanded a proper education from the school and the city. Conversing with some of my friends and other students from school, I was able to see that many regret their choices. Not all my friend attended school or were able to get into top Universities, but a small amount of us were able to get into top universities and are doing well. We all have a common conclusion, our education at the city high schools did not prepare us for Universities and we all have had to double our studies in order to be on the same level as many of the students that attend our schools. I do wish that city officials, parents, and alumni would come together to create change. I can only pray that it becomes possible.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:05:00 +0000

Thanks for your comment, 문채현. I remember reading about government people cracking down on study rooms. I’m sorry to hear the situation is as bad as you say.

By: Lauren Kang

Lauren Kang — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:47:00 +0000

I’m a Korean-American middle schooler and this post is pretty accurate, at least according to my parents (Seoul National University and Yonsei graduates . The way my parents handle my education is basically like the way they do it in Korea, although less extreme. I usually get up a little before 8:00 (school starts at 9:05, I have to be there at 8:50). I go to a hagwon-type learning center twice a week for a total of 3.75 hours, and I also do ballet (4.5 hours a week), violin (2 hour lesson including commute and 1 hour practice five days a week), and orchestra (on Saturdays for 1.5 hours). I’m in a gifted program so I go to bed around 12:00 or 12:30 (the latest I had to stay up last year was around 1:30).

By: 문채현

문채현 — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Yes, we have summer vacation. It’s only about 2 months, though. However, winter break is longer than America and we have spring vacation one week after and then it’s a new semester. New grade levels start in the spring not autumn (unlike America) Korea does have its benefits and studying is actually not that bad. I’ve experienced going to school in America and Korea and I have to say, I prefer Korean school because what we learn is actually fun.

By: 문채현

문채현 — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:29:00 +0000

I am a student in Korea but I have to disagree about the 10 PM thing. Yes, the government has stated that hagwons must close before 10 PM at most, however, majority of the hagwons still operate after that, even up to 1 or 2 AM. Students go to Self-Study rooms (dokseoshil; 독서실) to study by themselves until midnight and the average sleeping time we usually get is about 2-3 hours. We have to wake up earlier than 6:30 because our school requires morning exercises and students of the student council have to come to school earlier than that.

By: MiasMangoz

MiasMangoz — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 03:58:00 +0000

Hehehe Im a American Middle Schooler and Im fascinated by koreans and how hard they work. They put the states to shame, my mom is always saying that in America we are given everything. But Korea sounds alot more fun and exciting..although we wont have the pleasures of the states..it will teach the new generation to work hard for what they want..Teens staying up until 2? My sleep time is 10.. :/ I want to work as hard as koreans I will kick there butts in math and all that! Wait..do they have summer break over there? (friendly competition)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:24:00 +0000

Oh my goodness.