Kibun!

Date: January 26^th, 2024

In our second English Teaching class, we continue to learn about how culture and different variations of a language can affect the teaching or learning of a new language. For this class we use as an example a cultural aspect for the inhabitants of their country of origin, we talk about Kibun.

We found out something really interesting about South Korean culture, something that, just by its name, you can tell is a foreign term you might not have heard before: “Kibun.” The name itself doesn’t give away the deep meaning behind this simple word. To put it simply, it’s a part of South Korean society, a cultural aspect that’s very important to people there. In short, “Kibun” is the word used to describe the social behavior expected of a Korean. Things that are super simple for the rest of the world might not be so simple in South Korea. For example, sharing your emotions or thoughts is frowned upon in Korea. As a Korean, you’re supposed to keep a low profile, even if it means hurting yourself in the long run.

Personally, I knew a bit about this part of South Korean culture, but as I looked more into it, I realized it was way more complex than I first thought.

This unique and strong part of South Korean culture is a constant reminder of how different every social or ethnic group is from one another, and how things that are normal for you might not be normal at all for other cultures. This helped me get why it’s so important to know the cultures and traditions of a group to really teach other languages well and to get along better with different groups.