Meet Abbey, an English teacher from the United States who teaches grades 3-6 in Seoul, Korea. Passionate about language and culture, she enjoys exploring Seoul’s hidden gems, learning Korean, and immersing herself in a different way of life. Her dream is to continue traveling and achieve fluency in Korean.
Interview
- WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
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United States
- WHAT DO YOU DO IN KOREA?
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I’m an English teacher, teaching grades 3-6 in a public elementary school. Along with doing daily lessons, I also conduct English camps between semesters.
- WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN KOREA?
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I have been interested in languages my entire life and knew I wanted to work in a language/culture-related career. My cousin’s teaching in Korea first originally piqued my interest in Korea specifically, and since then I have grown to love the food, culture, and music.
- WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STAY IN THIS CITY?
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The public school teaching program I came up with can be random with their placements, so I feel extremely lucky to have been placed in Seoul right away. Coming from a small town, I love the convenience and the fact that there’s always something new to explore.
- WHERE IS YOUR LOCAL RECOMMENDATION IN THIS CITY?
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These days I recommend exploring 연희동, 연남동, 물래동, and 성수동 for some great restaurants and cafes. I also recommend taking a stroll along one of Seoul’s many streams and rivers. It really gives you a new perspective of the city.
- WHAT DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST WHILE STAYING ABROAD?
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Overall I enjoy being immersed in a culture and language that’s different from my own. On a smaller scale, public transportation is extremely convenient. My husband and I have been able to travel to all corners of the country without owning a car ourselves!
- WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE BEING IN KOREA?
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While I think I’m pretty good at Korean, and I continue to improve, the language barrier can still be a challenge at places like banks and hospitals. Those are the places I want and need to understand every last detail, but the details can be full of financial and medical jargon that I might not have learned yet in my studies.
- WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN KOREA AND YOUR COUNTRY?
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Korea is much more of a collective culture, while the U.S. is much more individualistic. Both have their pros! Korea is also hierarchical, which is not a thing in the U.S. It took a while to get used to!
- DID YOU EXPERIENCE ANY CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS?
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I knew since I was a college student that I wanted to live in Korea permanently (with maybe a couple year-long “vacations” in the U.S. eventually). That hasn’t changed!
- WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?
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I would love to be able to keep traveling more in the future! There’s too much out there left to learn and see. I also hope to be perfectly fluent in Korean.
- MESSAGE TO OUR FRIENDS WHO WILL GO TO KOREA.
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It can be hard navigating a new country and culture, especially one that’s so different from your own. Take advantage of all the new knowledge you gain, whether you’re here to visit or stay!
- HOW DO YOU LEARN KOREAN?
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Before coming to Korea I used howtostudykorean.com for grammar lessons and vocab lists. I transferred the vocab lists and example sentences to my courses on memrise.com to practice. Now that I’m in Korea I rely much more on immersion.
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