Introduction to korean secondary and college education and comparison with american education

1. Intro


2. Body

Entering collge
; brief summary of secondary education system 못놀아서 축제때 미침

Korean secondary education system (6 years) focuses mostly on getting high grades on school exams and CSAT(College Scholastic Ability Test) at the end of the school year.
After finishing 3 years of senior secondary high school education, Korean students take CSAT to get into college. Getting into majors is different from American college in that students apply for certain majors in certain college when they get their test results. In contrast, Americans enter college as general students and apply for their major after completing pre-requisite courses and

Korea) getting accepted in majors depending on the scores from entrance exams (Korean, math, natural sciences, social sciences, 2nd foreign languages)
different secondary eduation system
America) high school performance, activities + additional tests (e.g. SAT)

college education system
; different grading methods (retaking classes, relative grading), "registration battle", technology, plagiarism, less focus on diversity education, studying abroad programs of each

-Here in America, all of the grades students get from the beginning are shown without exception.
Unlike it, when students in korean college get low grades in class, after the semester, they could re-take the same class and the previous lower grades will be completely replaced with the higher ones. In addition, most korean students gain their grades through competition, so the best performers get A+ (4.5/4.5 or 4.3/4.3) and the second get A zero (4.0/4.5) while only the individual performance matters when it comes to grades in America. Since most korean colleges are crowded, when the resisgration days come, students stay up at night and choose their classes with clicking within a few minutes.

college festivals

Korea) a specific festival held once a year, 'dong-a-ri' (club activities)
America - St.cloud state) No specific annual event except homecoming week

When there is a festival once a year in korean college, each department works independent of others and they prepare for selling food and drink and make a booth for a variety of games. They also compete with other departments when there is a sport competition. Each collge invites Korean celebrities to hold a big show during the festival. The festivals normally last a few days. In American colleges, it is hard to find any specific annual festivals or events where each department cooperates to compete with others for fun. In St.Cloud state, there is once-a-month event, called, 'Atwood Afterdark' and many cultural events such as Chinese nights and South Korean cafes which are hardly seen in korean college due to a lack of cultural diversity.

relationship between students and professors/juniors and seniors

Korea) 'respect for elders' culture
America) view professors as instructors

Respecting for elders is very critical in any society in Korea, or in Asian countries. Social norms will require you to speak and behave politely to elders such as your professors and seniors and if someone does not follow them, s/he will be in trouble in college, and even it will affect career life after graducation.

3. Conclusion

The final project - topic

Introduction to korean secondary and college education and comparison with american education

The second interview transcript by Kaye Lee

ENGL 191 21
The 2nd report transcription
Kaye Lee

Where are you from? Why did you come to America? Are you going back after graduation?
I’m from Katuneriya, Negombo. I have parents there and my sister is in the cities studying medicine. I’m studying community health and will get a job in the States. I’m planning on going for master’s degree, but might eventually go back to my country after traveling around the world.

Have you taken any college classes in your country? What’s the difference between home college and here?
No, I went to high school there, but here is the first college that I’m taking. If I go to college in the states or Australia, or England, I would get more chances to get a better job back in Sri Lanka. Also, colleges in Sri Lanka don’t require students to complete internship, so they lack practical experiences. It’s also very hard to get into Sri Lankan colleges because they are not many.

How long have you been here? Do you feel that your attitude toward life and career has changed in the States?
This is my 4th year in St. Cloud. If I were in Sri Lanka right now, my priority would be marriage and having children, or family, and never thinking of traveling around. Since I’m here, I like when I meet people from all different world.

When was the most culturally shocking event in the states? 7:07
People here often talk about sex openly and it was not comfortable at the first place. They share their experience with others, but people in my country normally don’t. Also, homosexual people fight for their rights, but gay people are rare in Sri Lanka. In South Asian counties, we don’t have arranged marriages any more, but when in a relationship, we think about marriage.

Is you home country as culturally diverse as here?
Not as much as here, but people are divided by religions they believe and languages they speak such as Sinhalese-Buddhists and Sinhalese-Christians, Tamil-Hindu and Tamil-Christians. Tamils are from India, so there are few Christians, but mostly Hindu. It’s common to say Sinhalese and Tamils are the majority because there was a war between two, but the government made the country Sinhalese-Buddhist. I am in the minority since I am Christian.

How many languages do you speak?
I speak Sinhalese and English. It is common to speak the first language and others because Tamils speak their language plus Sinhalese. So Sinhalese, Tamil, and English.

When do you feel homesick the most?
Christmas! It is hard to spend Christmas without family here. We celebrate Christmas back home where most people are Catholic. However, my sister does not celebrate Christmas because she converted to be a Buddhist due to marriage.

If I want to travel your country, where would you suggest me to visit?
My hometown, first, is Katuneriya, Negombo that is much family-oriented. I would recommend Negombo with beautiful beach. I would also recommend kokendi where ancient capitals and temples exist. Segehiria is also famous for its castles made of rock……. I will take my friends to those places and my house. We often treat guests the best food such as seafood and Sri Lankan curry with rice.

Is there anything that I should not do or say when meeting Sri Lankans?
Well, if you visit my country, you’d better not travel alone, so you should contact me. Don’t try to talk to strangers otherwise they will look at you strangely. It commonly happens in developing countries. Also, if you meet older people, try not to be rude to them, but say something with respect.

Plagiarism?
In high school, we didn’t’ care. We didn’t care about references, but focused more one so many exams than papers. In college, people might try to cite sources with permission or reference. Illegal downloading is really common in Sri Lanka. Students don’t fail for plagiarism either.

Is being gay, divorced, or being single parents common back home?
No, in my hometown which is a very small community, it will be not acceptable to be a single mom, divorced, or be homosexual. It is very rare to find divorced people back home and I don’t know anyone around me being single parents. Raising kids without moms or dads will be really hard because the entire society is family-oriented. Sri Lanka is definitely not a good place for homosexuals. Those minorities will be treated unfairly back home because for instance, if a kid goes to school, the first thing to be asked is about his/her parents.

Can widows marry again?
They can, but most choose not to be married because of their children. Most parents don’t focus on their own happiness, but their kids.

Is your society male-dominated?
I’m not sure, but in family, mom is very important because of Buddhism influence. Sri Lankan women work like their husbands do, but males still have more advantages in society. If a couple wants to get divorced, they go to court and mostly, mom will take her child with her, not dad.
Any other comments?
People here often think Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal are the same, but they are wrong. Starting from religions, we are all different. This is my concern. I hope people can understand those differences. Lastly, if you interview other Sri Lankans, they might give you different opinions because I’m from the minority, Christian community, so keep it in mind.

The third interview report by Kaye Lee

My Third Interview Report with a Sri Lankan student

For the final interview, my goals were the following;

1. To reserve a study room
2. To email the interview questions to the interviewee before the interview
3. To listen carefully to the interviewee
4. To avoid assume that the interviewee would give the same answers as the first interviewee since both are from Nepal
5. To print out the questions sheet and give it to the interviewee
6. To ask some different questions from the original ones

Before the interview, I came up with other different interviewee candidates because I wanted to hear from people with different backgrounds. However, I decided to interview my ex-classmate, Sagun since he was willing and to interview a different person from a country other than Nepal or Sri Lanka, I had to start researching from the beginning.
I decided to reserve a study room hours earlier because they were often filled by others. I emailed the question lists on the same day I emailed second interviewee, but changed some questions to make them more interesting. I met the interviewee on Nov. 8 on the third floor in the library. As usual, I brought a recorder, a pen, and two question sheets. During the interview, I tried to make pauses to give the interviewee more time to think and talk, but he often read out next questions before I asked him as soon as he finished answering, which made me a little nervous. After the interview, I thanked him, turned off the recorder, and asked more about him for his biography. I am not decided whether I should submit the transcript of this interview or not because the first and second interviews went well, too, but I will put the audio into a CD and submit it for extra credits.
The person I interviewed was Sagun Rajkarnikar from Kathmandu in Nepal and came to St. Cloud about two years ago. He was born in Kathmandu in a Buddhist family. By ethnicity, he is in ‘Newar’ which is one of the upper caste in Nepal. He went to a private English school (A.V.M higher secondary School) first, and then to another, called N.I.S.T. He has a huge family back in Kathmandu including grandmother, father, mother, uncle aunty, one brother and two cousins. His hometown is tripureshwor, which lies in the heart of the capital city, right in the main business area. His hobbies are to play guitar, games, and sleep all day. He speaks Nepali, his tribal language, Indian, and English and wants to be a successful medical professional and support his family in the future.
When the interviewee said he would go back to his country after graduation and I asked him why, he said he could get more opportunities to get a better job if he graduates from American college. However, it reminded me of young people in my country who have been struggling for unemployment even if they went to prestigious colleges. Sagun said colleges in Nepal lack technologies and equipments such as computers and projectors, and there are too many students with too few resources. It was also interesting to hear that Nepalese kids learn English from their kinder-garden and all textbooks except Nepali subject are written in English. Furthermore, he said he has not experienced any culturally shocking events because he has been exposed to American media since childhood. He was also familiar with Indian language due to Indian movies and dramas broadcasted on Nepali media, and therefore, I could better understand why speaking multi-languages is not unusual in this country.
When I asked a different question from the previous interviews, his response was just neutral and indifferent. I asked how he felt about living in a male-dominant society and he knew that women 20~30 years ago were not allowed to work outside their home. While the first interviewer seemed serious about the gender issue, he did not seem to care maybe due to the fact that he was belongs to high status in caste and was a male. Whereas the first interviewee said a widow had to wear white cloth for the rest of her life, the last interviewee said wearing white cloth lasts for a year only, so it depends on regions and culture.
Nepal is in South Asia and located south to Republic of China and north to Republic of India. Kathmandu is the capital city and most Nepalese students on campus came from here.
Hinduism is the national and major religion in Nepal. Although Hinduism is the official religion in Nepal, there are a variety of religions that Nepalese practice such as Buddhism (2nd largest), Christianity, and Islam (both minor). The north part of the country has many famous mountains such as Mountain Everest and south part is highly populated and developed.
There are more than 92 languages spoken in Nepal. Four major groups of languages are Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian, and Indigenous. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, and so on. There are more than 50 major festivals in Nepal and most of them are religious-related. One of the biggest festivals is Dashain. “The festival is said to be held in honor of the gods’ victory over wicked demons. Legend has it that the god Ramayan was only able to kill Ravana, the king of the demons, when the goddess Durga was evoked. Thus the goddess Durga plays a pivotal role in the celebrations and the entire event is seen as a celebration of good over evil.” [1]
Terai is southern lowland and usually urbanized. Hill is on higher altitude and has subtropical to temperate climates. The mountainous are (Mountain region) is famous for Mountain Everest in Great Himalayan Range. This region is on the northern part of the country. Her hometown, Damak is in east part of Nepal and lies between the border of Ratuwa and Mawa rivers. One Nepalese blogger said, “The favourite hangout place in Damak is 'The Himalayan Tea garden','Mini Palace' of The Himalayan Tea Garden, 'banks of Ratuwa river' and the famous 'Ratuwa bridge' from where the sun sets more beautifully than ever. Even the mountains seems to be mightier. Damak truely is gifted by nature.” [2] The interviewee’s hometown, which is Tripureshwor, Kathmandu, is on Hill region. Kathmandu is the largest metropolitan city in Nepal and is situated in Kathmandu Valley. “The word "Kathmandu" is derived from the Sanskrit word, "Kastha Mandap" which means "temple of wood".” [3]
Nepal has four distinct seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter). There is a raining period during summer and it is called ‘monsoon’. Travelers have the best chances to travel around Nepal during the monsoon period. “Monsoon Nepal is our selection of the best trips in the rainy season, featuring the valleys of Kathmandu and Pokhara, a six-day moderate grade trek in the Nepal trans-Himalaya, and optional high water rafting and wildlife safari extensions.” [4]


Citied Sources


1. Nepalholiday.com
http://www.nepalholiday.com/nepal/nepal_trekking/ganesh_himal_trekking_nepal/dashain-festival-trekking-nepal.html
2. http://jhapadamak.blogspot.com/2008/01/nepal-jhapa-damak.html
3. Maps of World.com
http://www.mapsofworld.com/cities/nepal/kathmandu/
4. Wayfarers – Himalaya adventures (Monsoon Nepal)
http://www.wayfarers.com.np/trekking/monsoon_nepal.htm

The second interview report by Kaye Lee

The Second Interview Report


Class; ENGL 191 21
Interviewer; Kaye Lee
Interviewee; Dabarera, Rasika A
Country of Origin; Sri Lanka
Interview Date; Nov. 1 2009




My Second Interview Report with a Sri Lankan student


The revised objectives for the second report were the following;
1. To find an interviewee from a different background other than the first one (Nepal)
2. To research the country (Sri Lanka) that would help the interview process
3. To find a quite and comfortable place
4. To let the interviewee comfortably talk
5. To avoid interrupting while the interviewee is talking
6. To expand topics and make the interviewee think I am fully listening to him/her
7. To provide snack or drink
8. To compare the interview result with the first one and improve

I found the second interviewee by asking one of my roommates whether she had a friend from her country. After that, when we had a birthday party in our place, my roommate introduced me her friend, Amali, who was wiling to do interview for me. I researched general information, geography, culture (religions, languages, food, and festivals), history, and education in Sri Lanka and posted them on my blog.
She wanted to meet in library since she often stays there, and a week before the interview, I emailed her the questions that I was going to ask. On November 1st, I was going to reserve a study room prior to the interview, but there was none available until late at night, so I found a cozy place with some couches in the basement in library where almost no one passes by. I gave her a copy of the question lists and prepared the same mp3 player that I used for the first interview and a pen.
After the interview, Amali said that her answers might be different from others from Sri Lanka since she was one of the religious minorities, Christian. Therefore, I think it is also a good idea to interview a person from her country, but with a different background such as a Sinhalese Buddhist and Hindu. For now, I secured one Nepalese male for my last interviewee.
Amali Debarera was born in Katuneriya, Negombo (her hometown), in Sri Lanka and is 25 years old. She is Catholic and was raised in Catholic Christian family, so she called herself as ‘minority’ since Christian people are not many in Sri Lanka. She is majoring in community health as a senior and St. Cloud State is the first college she has attended. She came here because her married sister lives in the cities. Her sister, however, decided to be a Buddhist now because her husband is one. She wants to get a job in the States after graduation and is interested in meeting people from different backgrounds. In addition, Her last name, Debarera, is Portugese because Sri Lanka was once colonized by Portugese people. She said her enjoys all kinds of food, but chocolates is her favorite. She likes salsa, flamenco, and jazz.
The second interview went better than the first one for some reasons. First, I tried to listen to the interviewee more than I did at the first place because during the first interview, I tried to make a conversation rather than listen. While I was silent, the interviewee kept talking and gave many details in her story, which was impressive and she did not seem to be bored at all. In terms of the interviewee, she answered thoughtfully and made the interview go smoother compared to the first interview, so if I let her to think of the answers for a while, she understood the questions quickly and said something on the right direction, which I appreciated. Furthermore, when Amali talked about herself changed in the States, it was interesting to hear about it because she seemed to enjoy her life here more than when she was back home. She said she was enjoying diversity here and dating guys other than Sinhalese Christians; Sri Lankan people are also strict about marriage like Nepalese since they belong to different subgroups. I mostly agreed when she talked about her life in the states as an international student and especially, I could not agree more when she said she missed her home the most during American holidays without her family being together.
Lastly, when Amali made her last comment about the interview, she said that she did not want people here to judge her country as the same as all other South East Asian country. I also did not doubt how she felt because western people often do not think beyond ‘orientalism’. Sri Lanka, India, and Nepal were established based on different religions, languages, culture, and people and so do China, Japan, and Korea.
In terms of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is an island that is located in the southern cost of India. It is officially named as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka with the capital city, Colombo. Her hometown, Negombo, is a small port town where tourism is the main industry. For tourists, it could be an ideal place due to the international airport near the town and the large fish market is also famous. European colonization influenced people’s religion, so many churches are found in the town such as the Katuwapitiya Church. However, according to christaintoday.com, Sri Lankan Christians are facing more persecution and violence than in the past. [1]
Sinhalese and Tamil are two official languages and English is also spoken by some. Therefore, it is common to speak more than two languages for Sri Lankan people such as Sinhalese and English, or Tamil and Sinhalese. Buddhism is the main religion in Sri Lanka (about 70%), and other minors include Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Buddhism came from India very early with civilization culture and influenced Sinhalese society. The biggest holiday in the country is Sinhala and Tamil New Year (the national festival), but the festivals in Sri Lanka are divided by each religion; Deepavali (the festival of lights) as a Buddhist festival, and Ramadan for Muslims, for example.
Sri Lanka is the most literate country among developing nations. 9 years of compulsory education is required and most enter secondary education. There are 16 public universities (six national) in the country and this is why it is thought to be difficult to get into college in Sri Lanka. The modern school system was established by the British in 1836 and based on this after independence, the number of schools and literacy rate increased. “The contemporary Sri Lanka education system owes its origin to the British colonists. The education is imparted through Sri Lanka colleges. The mode of education in Sri Lanka schools is imparted through the primary, lower and high secondary schools.” [2]
The basic Sri Lankan food is composed of rice, curry, fish and vegetables. Most dishes contain coconut milk and are hot and spicy (usually spicier than other South Indian cuisine). “Sri Lankans use spices liberally in their dishes and typically do not follow an exact recipe: thus, every cook's curry will taste slightly different. Furthermore, people from different regions of the island (for instance, hill-country dwellers versus coastal dwellers) traditionally cook in different ways while people of different ethnic and religious groups tend to prepare dishes according to their customs.” [3]








Cited sources

1. Christiantoday.com - Violence against Christians Escalates in Sri Lanka
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/violence.against.christians.escalates.in.sri.lanka/8509.htm

2. Maps of World – Sri Lanka Education
http://www.mapsofworld.com/sri-lanka/education/

3. Wikipedia – cuisines of Sri Lanka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Sri_Lanka

Preliminary report on Sri Lanka

General information
Sri Lanka is an island that is located in the southern cost of India. It is officially named as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka with the capital city, Colombo. The country lies between major sea routes that connect west Asia and south east Asia. Sinhalese and Tamil communities are the majority and others include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs and the Malays. Sri Lanka mostly exports tea, coffee, coconuts and rubber. It’s also famous for the beauty of beaches, landscapes, and tropical forests.



Geography
The island is located in Indian Ocean. The climate is tropical warm and includes monsoon season in May. The southwestern part of the country, mountains, is ‘wet zone’ where heavy rain falls occur during the year while the southeastern and northern part is ‘dry zone’. “The total estimated population of Sri Lanka is 20,926,315. The population growth rate of Sri Lanka is 0.982 % which was last estimated in 2007.” [1]

History
In colonial era, the island was colonized by Portugal, Dutch, and the British. The British developed plantation of tea, cinnamon, rubber, sugar, and coffee and abused people of the natives. Soon, the people struggled for independence and after the World War ll, the country became independent. There was also a civil war by Sinhalese community and Tamils were defeated. “These people give the island the name by which it has been known throughout most of history: Sinhaladwipa, meaning 'island of the Sinhalese', which becomes Ceylon in English. The name of the country is changed to Sri Lanka ('beautiful island') when it becomes a republic in 1972.” [2]



Culture
Sinhalese and Tamil are two official languages and English is also spoken by some. Buddhism is the main religion in Sri Lanka (about 70%), and others include Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Buddhism came from India very early with civilization culture and influenced Sinhalese society. The biggest holiday in the country is Sinhala and Tamil New Year and Muslim people celebrate Ramadan. “Sinhalese as well as Tamils welcome the Sinhala and Hindu New Year at an auspicious time and carry out all the important activities like first light the hearth, start cooking, eating and anoint oil all at an auspicious time. Commencing work and doing the first business transaction is also part of the traditions. Visiting the relations and friends forgetting all the bad things happened in the previous year is the most important social aspect of the festival.” [3]


Education
Sri Lanka is the most literate country among developing nations. 9 years of compulsory education is required and most enter secondary education. There are 16 public universities in the country. The modern school system was established by the British in 1836 and based on this after independence, the number of schools and literacy rate increased. “The contemporary Sri Lanka education system owes its origin to the British colonists. The education is imparted through Sri Lanka colleges. The mode of education in Sri Lanka schools is imparted through the primary, lower and high secondary schools.” [4]

Citied Sources

1. Maps of World – Sri Lankan Demographics
http://www.mapsofworld.com/sri-lanka/geography/demographics.html

2. History. Net – History of Sri Lanka
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac68

3. South travels - Events and Festivals in Sri Lanka
http://www.southtravels.com/asia/srilanka/events.html

4. Maps of World - Sri Lanka Education
http://www.mapsofworld.com/sri-lanka/education/