It is not morally, intellectually, or academically useful to engage in nationalistic, racist, sexist, or age-related generalizations about Korea or foreign teachers? When people from vastly different cultures attempt to work together toward a common goal there will be problems. Particularly, when each participant has a different goal.

Parents want their children to succeed, schools want to make a profit, and good teachers sincerely want to improve the English of their students. The main focus in all this ought to be the students. However, it is not always best to ask them what they want, it is better to ask; how can we improve their chances of learning English in the shortest time possible? That is the real acid test.

I have taught EFL in Japan, Taiwan and China to students of all ages. I have friends teaching in Korea who I met during my teacher training who regularly update me with long emails about their experiences. I have read many of the posts in this blog.

I am also an avid reader of international news and find that many news gathering organizations are now in the entertainment business. Hence, every news item in the world is connected to something bizarre. That is sad, because democracy depends on the free flow of information to be a vital political mechanism.

You may be asking yourself why I am discussing news gathering and democracy in an EFL blog. The answer is simple. Real people from all over the world are gathering information here to base a decision about whether to teach in Korea. Show them the bizarre and they will teach elsewhere. That is not a theory, that is a fact based on my own personal experience. I deliberately stayed away from Korea because of these types of stories.

Do the Koreans who post here really want to improve the quality of foreign teachers? If so, please do not allow this forum to degenerate into mindless foreigner bashing. This goes double to the foreign teachers who bash Korea. You have a responsibility to report your experience, good and bad, for the benefit of all. Please respect that right to free speech. Good teachers do, in fact, read what you write.

Please forgive me if I appear to be lecturing from outside your country. I am not there and can only read your posts. I realize that many complaints are real, we have all had challenges at some point.

It would be helpful to post a solution with your problems and complaints. Personally, I am trying to rise above my petty complaints and set a standard of excellence for myself. Complain if you want, you might feel better in the short run, however, the students of Korea will be the ones who will suffer in the long run.