[POLL] is it a reason to NOT pursue nursing anymore?

[ionelaitou]

Hello, I really want to know the opinions of others about this. I would really appreciate if I were to get an outsider's viewpoint about this!

First off brief background (skip to question if not interested):

I moved to Korea, but I really am not fluent in Korean at all.

It's a four year program and once I graduate, I take the 99% pass rate licensure test and start working at one of the three major hospitals. For my school... graduates are only allowed to apply to one hospital of the 257 general hospitals in Korea.

1st year = just general credits

2nd year = theoretical nursing classes + some cadaver and basic nursing skills at uni hospital

3rd year = 1/2 practice + 1/2 theory

4th year = 2/3 practice + 1 class

No habla korean. I was raised in the states. I'm in 2nd year and literally, for my anatomy class, I just colored in the bubbles for the final. It was allllll Korean. I asked(begged) my professors for English. They said they would put in English terminology in brackets...but allllll the questions were all Korean ALL KOREAN and just the terms like "mycrofibril' was english but the rest was in Korean.

Of course, it's expected that a Korean uni would teach in Korean. But, it just makes no sense to me that they have no English versions...because the material they use are translated material that was originally in ENGLISH. The professors and the earlier classes learned in English. Heck, the year before...they taught statistics in English. BUT NOPE NOT ANYMORE.

Also, all the questions are in the format of "what is wrong, not right etc".

Question

I'm not saying their level or quality of education is inadequate...but its not fit for me personally. I want to know what I should do... to continue or to change?

I just don't know what else to do besides nursing.

Do you think it would be wise for me to continue with a program that I'm passing in all C's and D's? Not because I didn't try...but because I am at a severe disadvantage compared to my peers that are fluent in Korean and can understand the ppts, tests, books etc. I've stressed myself out so much to get good grades...but I realized it's no use and its better for me to just not try at all. I've tried using English version of text books, negotiating with the professors, learning on my own, gathering foreign students together but...its no help because they don't care at all. They just say 'oh im sorry..but we're not good at English either' (HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THEIR PHDS IN AMERICA). They really just don't care at all, because in the end, we just chose a hospital and work there. Their education system FOR ME is a failure. I am taught to fail.

They just don't care, because we're accepted to any hospital we apply to.

There were also foreign students before me that are working at the hospitals now or went abroad. I look up to them, but...their answers are just to change majors or just stick with it. I'm 19 years old btw.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Are you staying in Korea for good?

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I was going to ask the same thing..........

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

My question is "why did you move in the first place?"

[nursegreene]

If you're staying in Korea, I would take a semester off and take a class to learn the language. Then go back to the nursing program.

[ATBStudent]

Sigh. Only Americans can move to a foreign country and get mad they don't speak English. I would learn the language and culture of the country you're in. They don't owe you anything.

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Sigh. Only Americans can move to a foreign country and get mad they don't speak English. I would learn the language and culture of the country you're in. They don't owe you anything.

If you are staying in Korea, put your nursing education on hold and take a Korean language immersion course. Regardless of your instructors being US educated, it is not their responsibility to adapt to meet your needs as a non-Korean speaking student taking a major in a Korean university.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I'm really dumbfounded that you would expect to LEARN anything in a program conducted in a language which you DO NOT SPEAK.

Turn it around, non- English speaking Korean come to this country, (somehow) enrolls in nursing school, doesn't understand anything that is going on. Then want to be employed taking care of YOUR loved one?

[Everline]

You must be able to read and understand some Korean or how have you managed to get Cs on tests that are all in Korean? But the bigger question I have is—let's say you can manage to graduate—what about working? Won't you need to speak Korean to work at the hospital? You have to understand the doctors, other nurses and most certainly, the patients. What's your plan to overcome this problem? How long will you be in Korea? Need more info to give my opinion.

[nlynrob]

Sigh. Only Americans can move to a foreign country and get mad they don't speak English. I would learn the language and culture of the country you're in. They don't owe you anything.

Seriously? Constantly at work I get people who only speak Spanish, German, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Israeli, you name it. And almost EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM gets ****** I can't understand them. My hospital has to pay over 150 different language interpreters to keep up with all the people who won't "learn the language and culture of the country [they're] in".

To be clear, I'm not saying there aren't many Americans guilty of this, I'm sure there are a million who go overseas on vacation and get mad when the waiter doesn't understand them. But I am curious where you live that you never come into contact with people of other cultures who live in America that can't stand Americans and have no patience for English or any desire to learn it.

[ATBStudent]

Seriously? Constantly at work I get people who only speak Spanish, German, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Israeli, you name it. And almost EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM gets ****** I can't understand them. My hospital has to pay over 150 different language interpreters to keep up with all the people who won't "learn the language and culture of the country [they're] in".

Not sure why you're arguing with me. You just made my point. The op is in Korea. He should learn Korean. The end. Also, you have no way of knowing how long those "people" have been in our country. So you can't judge. Op has clearly been in Korea for a good amount of time.

[cracklingkraken, ASN, RN]

Wow, I can actually relate to this. I'm half Korean and actually just came back from Korea. Also, I'm pretty fluent in Korean and one of my friends is in a nursing program in Korea. That being said, if everything is in a different language that you can't speak, odds are you are not going to be a successful nurse. First off, do you even understand any of the courses? I'm pretty sure, even though I can speak Korean, all of the terminology and having to understand it in English first and THEN Korean (I naturally have to perceive things in English first before translating it over since English is my first language. I hope this makes sense. Bilinguals will know what I'm talking about), it would be extremely difficult for me to even consider enrolling in a Korean program. Also, communication. How are you going to communicate with other nurses? Doctors? Patients? And charting? I just don't see how it's possible to continue in the program without learning the language that it's being taught in.