한HAHN - Documentary on Korean Education by Kelley Katzenmeyer

this sounds intriguing, after 12 years of teaching these very same kids in the  various academies and schools, i'd like to see just what kind of spin this film will take.  i'm biased in a negative way after years of first hand experience to the flaws in korean education. I admittedly don't know the history of "hahn". i'm optomistically skeptic that such a young aspiring film maker can get a really good picture of what it means to be korean, and the korean education  system. i whole heartedly disagree with the pressure that is placed on the children. and although the stats are there to reperesent the ones that do indeed get into ivy league institutions. my biggest criticism has always been, if its so good, if they are so smart, why are they still so far behind.

anyway, best of luck to the film maker. i'm considering a contribution.

T

Sorry, but although the topic of this documentary seems interesting, the whole thing looks like a joke. I mean, a documentary directed by a high school graduate who lived in Seoul for a couple of months? (with her picture photoshoped on top of a Chinese city) I also like the 350$ gift package, with is basically $200 more expensive than the previous one at $150, with the $10 mirror and the $2 mask pack added.

And what exactly is "han"? I've been learning Korean for quite a while, and I must say that first of all, 한 can have several meanings, but I've never come across the one with no English translation. Anyhow, when a word has several meaning in the Korean language, provided the word is rooted from classical Chinese a (Chinese) character is usually added so as to clarify the meaning. But in any ways, "han" can simply mean Korean people, hence the name of the country 대한민국 (大韓民國). It can also mean "one" in pure Korean. But I'm pretty curious about the meaning (Chinese character) of the "han" you are talking about.

Also, just to help you out with a detail, there is no romanization system that uses "hahn" to write 한. The "it looks cool that way" romanization is usually better to avoid, as it not only confuses people who actually know how it's written, but it also looks unprofessional.

For anyone curious as to the meaning of "han", naver dictionary gives the definition as "(deep) resentment [sorrow, regret]" with the chinese character 恨.  Even though that is its "definition", it's a little more complicated than that.  My husband's cousin, who is fluent in English, tried to explain it to me once, but since it was so long ago I forgot a lot of what she said.  Sorry!  But I do remember that she had a really hard time trying to convey its nuances.  Don't quote me on this, but I think this is a feeling all Koreans are born knowing because of their history of oppression...or something like that?  Hmm..will have to ask my husband about this later...

Anyways, the film looks interesting.  Props to the girl for willingly going to a Korean high school =)

One of my favorite scenes from the West Wing provides a musical definition of 한