asses I’ve attended. The classes I went to are mostly located in the Seoul region.As many of you already know, Korea is famous for having a variety of learning academies (“hagwons”) and tutoring system. I was raised in an area where tutoring was a must in order to keep up and receive good grades at school. There were tutoring programs even for subjects such as physical education, where the tutor taught us how to jump rope properly. In addition, I also experienced a tutoring program where the teacher taught me how to play a recorder. This may seem extremely bizarre to most people, but it was completely common in the place where I was raised in. People were viewed odd if they didn’t receive the types of tutoring that I once received. Not only were they viewed peculiar, they were portrayed as people who didn’t care about doing well in school and maintaining good grades.
I wasn’t born in this region where I experienced these type of tutoring. I was born and raised in a city called Yu-Soo and this city was famous for its beautiful surroundings. I moved to Seoul when I was 12 years old and had to adapt to the new environment in which tutoring was one of the more important things that one must do as a student. Honestly, I didn't need tutoring in some of the areas but decided to receive tutoring due to the fact that my classmates and friends were involved in tutoring. I worry that if I didn’t receive tutoring, especially those that subjects that
my friends were receiving, I might fall behind the competition. Personally, I believe that some of the tutoring that I received were absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. However, in my opinion, tutoring in core subjects such as Korean, Math, Science and English are needed in today’s education system. I understand that it may be unfair to those who can’t afford high quality tutoring, but the education system and the competition that today’s students face at school encourage tutoring. Even though the system may be unfair, it’s the reality of Korean education system. by: Yoo Jin from GEO Class 5-1 (Professor Tom & TA Ezzy's class)
