Understanding the Importance of English Education in South Korea and Exploring the Reasons Why South Korean Students Come to a University in the Midwest

The concerns of Korean students before and after coming to UNK.  
The concerns of Korean students before coming to UNK.  Fourteen out of 30 
Korean students mentioned that they thought they could not communicate with native-
English speakers because of the lack of English speaking skills before they came to UNK.  
Elizabeth stated that she had a limited chance to learn English speaking abilities, so she 
was worried about talking to native-English speakers because they could not understand 

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what she said; especially, she was afraid of her English accent and pronunciation when 
she spoke English with native-English speakers.   
Twelve out of 30 Korean students indicated that they were not sure they would be 
able to follow UNK courses because all of the UNK courses were taught by UNK 
professors and were required to fully use English and participate in more discussions and 
presentations.  John said: 
I heard from my friend who attended one of American universities that the 
teaching style between Korean college courses and American college courses 
could be different, so my friend mentioned that American college courses required 
more discussions and presentations.  After hearing from my friend’s comment, I 
was so afraid of how I would handle the different teaching style, and I was not 
fully sure whether or not I could share my opinions and present my projects in 
front of professors and classmates.  That is why I always thought about adjusting 
to the different teaching styles between Korean college courses and American 
college courses before I decided to come to UNK.   
 
 
Ten out of 30 Korean students agreed that they were wondering whether or not 
they could build a strong relationship with native-English speakers and international 
students.  One of the students, Richard, stated that he did not know how to make a foreign 
friend and how to find a commonality between him and foreign friends.  In addition, he 
thought that it could be difficult for him to strongly connect with foreign friends due to 
the age difference; he was a little bit older than a traditional college student.   
 
Seven out of 30 Korean students said that they could experience racial 
discrimination.  Patricia mentioned: 
Before I came to UNK, I strongly thought that Nebraskans would not know about 
Korea much, so it could happen that Nebraskans discriminate against Korean 
people.  Furthermore, I heard and saw numerous news articles regarding 
discrimination between Caucasians and African Americans, so I was worried 
about this kind of discrimination against Korean people as well.  
 

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Another student, Michael, also indicated,  
I heard from several of my friends that they had experienced racial discrimination 
while they stayed in the United States, and they told me that I might have this 
kind of experience while I attended UNK.  Therefore, I was very worried about 
racial discrimination before I came to UNK. 
 
 
As previously stated, the above concerns were the main worries of the 30 Korean 
students.  The following concerns were mentioned by a couple of the 30 Korean students 
before they came to UNK: how to adjust to the new environment (six people), how to 
handle the loneliness away from families (six people), how to eat American food every 
day (five people), how to efficiently and effectively spend the time while they stay in the 
United States (four people), and how to stay away from guns and illegal drugs and keep 
safe while they attended UNK (four people).