Life in Korea
Beyond the keyboard: friends, hobbies, and the best and hardest parts of living in Korea.
Starts with 3 cross-tabs, or jump to the 4 individual answers ↓
Cross-tab
Korean comes slowly, and mostly after year seven
Korean proficiency by years lived in Korea (international residents)
Among international residents, 24% reach conversational Korean or better in their first year, 44% at one to three years, 52% at four to six, and 71% at seven to nine. Just under half the group is still below conversational after six years here.
Conversational Korean or better
Under 1 year
1–3 years
4–6 years
7–9 years
Scoped to international residents on purpose: 24 of the 30 respondents who have lived in Korea for ten years or more are Korean nationals, which would otherwise make this a measure of nationality. Too few international residents in that bucket answered to publish it.
1 group with fewer than 8 answers are not shown (6 respondents).
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
Learning Korean trades one hard thing for another
What is hardest, by Korean proficiency (international residents)
Among international residents with basic Korean or none, 75% name the language barrier as one of the hardest parts of life here and 22% name work culture. Among those who are conversational or better, language falls to 45% while work culture climbs to 37%. The barrier moves from the street into the office.
Name the language barrier
Basic Korean or none
Conversational or better
Name work culture
Basic Korean or none
Conversational or better
Korean level tracks time in Korea, so part of this is simply having been here long enough to be working inside a Korean team.
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Cross-tab
Korean helps less with friendship than you would expect
Friend groups by Korean proficiency (international residents)
55% of international residents who speak conversational Korean or better still say their friends are mostly or entirely non-Korean, against 73% of those with basic Korean or none. Language moves the needle, but a majority stays in the same social circle either way.
Friends are mostly or all non-Korean
Basic Korean or none
Conversational or better
One question about friend mix, with margins of ±12 to ±14 points, and nothing in it says who is doing the choosing.
Groups differ in more than the split shown, so read these as descriptions, not causes.
Every question in this chapter
Friend group
131 answered
All Korean
Mostly Korean
Mix
Mostly non-Korean
All non-Korean
Hobbies
131 answered · multiple answers allowed
Programming
Sports/exercise
Movies/TV
Video games
Music
Language learning
Reading
Electronics
Cooking
Camping
Arts & crafts
Tabletop gaming
Other
Gardening
Woodworking
Best things about life in Korea
131 answered · multiple answers allowed
Convenience
Safety
Infrastructure
Healthcare
Food
Career
Nature
Cost of living
Culture & history
Adventure
Compensation
Pop culture
Collectivist culture
Other
Hardest things about life in Korea
131 answered · multiple answers allowed
Language barrier
Visa uncertainty
Work culture
Housing
Limited career growth
Cultural barriers
Isolation
Pressure to conform
Compensation
Cost of living
Other
Food