Important Differences Between American Culture and Korean Culture
SeongCheol Kim
Writing Level 7
Winter term 2014

What if a new American teacher got on the train in Korea for the first time? Maybe, he would be surprised by the cultural differences. In the Korean train, no one has any emotion on their face like silent robots on a crowded train during morning rush hour. When he arrives at his school, he will feel that his students treat him very politely. In Korea, the general manners and social connections are different from American culture. There are dissimilarities in talking with new people, school life and privacy.
What are the differences in talking with new people between Korean culture and
American culture? The answer is the conversation traits. For example, Koreans are not comfortable with talking with strangers, whereas Americans usually talk with strangers naturally if they need to. In addition, Koreans make friends slowly because they are careful to meet and get accustomed to new people. After becoming close friends, they usually share personal thinking together. On the other hand, Americans make friends fast, and they like mingling with new people; however, they don’t usually ask personal questions to respect their friends. In summary, there is cultural gap of conversational methods between the two countries.
Furthermore, school life has some dissimilarities when comparing each country’s schools. The most interesting thing for me in the American schools is that almost all of the students call the professor’s name when they ask questions of him or her. In Korea, a teacher has the power and is called “Teacher” instead by their name; in contrast, American instructors prefer being called by their name. Moreover, an American school’s curriculum has a lot of discussion in class, but Korean instructors usually use passive ways to teach students.
Therefore, American schools have a different teaching style from Korean schools.
The last difference is in privacy, which is very