Learning Korean, Learning Respect: What 22 Years in South Korea Taught Me About Language, Culture, and Belonging
A Personal Reflection on Language, Culture, and Everyday Life in Korea By Majella Pagayon | June 14, 2026 When I arrived in Chungju in June 2004, I believed that English would be enough. After all, I was a teacher. Communication had always been one of my strengths, and I assumed I could navigate life in South Korea using the language I knew best. My father-in-law thought otherwise. Not long after my arrival, he sat me down and began teaching me Korean. Starting with the basic letters of Hangul, he patiently guided me through words and expressions that I would need in everyday life. At the time, I saw it simply as language lessons. Looking back now, I realize he was giving me something much more valuable: a key to understanding Korea itself. Learning That Respect Lives in Language Learning Korean was not easy. Like many foreigners, I struggled with unfamiliar sounds, sentence structures, and cultural nuances. But one lesson stayed with me from the very beginning. In Korea, respect...