I have been living in and out of Korea since 1999. I got my Korean citizenship in 2003 and it is embarrassing that after living in Korea for so long my fluency in Korean is stagnant at intermediate level.
I have many friends who visit Korea three to...
Korean kids who go to HAGWONS (private English schools) have English names mostly because foreign teachers have difficulties pronouncing their names properly. That is my opinion because I myself find it really hard to pronounce and memorize Korean names.
The most difficult names to pronounce are Hyeon-jin, Hyeon-hryong, Sung-hyeon, Kyeong-jin, and Sang-hyeon. Any name with the syllable HYEON is super difficult to pronounce for me.
Hagwon owners usually christen new students with English names. Many kids change their English names when classmates start to tease them. Many kids change their names to famous movie characters. I got students who are named Harry Potter, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Tony Stark, Optimus Prime, Wolverine, Thor, Batman, Spiderman, Gollum and Thanos.
Some kids don't mind being teased because of their English names but I cannot tolerate bullying in the classroom. These are the names that should be banned in hagwons.
ROBERT - because Korean kids pronounce it ROBOT ARTHUR - the worst name ever because kids pronounce it ASSO which sounds like asshole JESSICA - it sounds like JASHIKKA which means BASTARD MELANIE - it sounds like MELAMINE MARIA - kids tease students with this name because KARA MARYA means go away or get lost DOROTHY - it sounds like DIRTY
Surnames come before given names in Korea. My husband's name is LEE, HO-JIN. Lee is his surname. I had students named PARK, YU-JIN and PARK, YOO-NA. Kids tease them FUCK-YOU JIN and FUCK-YOU-NA.
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