User:Jeremy0626/sandbox

Brief history
The Korean language is most commonly used in the Korean peninsula, which for centuries, was culturally influenced by China. During the early 20th century to mid 20th century, the country faced Japanese colonization. After World War II, Korea was divided into Communist North and Capitalist South, which led to the Korean War. The post war period saw remarkable growth in South Korea. These changes heavily influenced the Korean language.

The Korean waves
Before having any contact from the West, Korea's main religion was Buddhism. It was after World War II that Christianity began to blossom. Furthermore, the aftermath of the Korean War (1950 - 1953) caused the United States to become involved in Korean politics and economics, which also allowed the number of Christians to increase rapidly. During this time period, Canadian Missionaries came to Korea to aid the Koreans, who were suffering from poverty as a result of the war. According to the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2004, 52% of Koreans were Christians, whereas only 46% were Buddhists.

The first Korean diplomatic mission to Canada was formed in 1963. During this time period, the Canadian government was accepting laborers who were skilled immigrants, while the Korean government was encouraging emigration. As a result, many Koreans were able to immigrate to Canada. The rising Korean population became clearly noticeable in the 1970s. The unstable government, the Korean Student Movement, and other events caused the second wave of immigration.

Second generation Koreans
Korean ESL high school students in Toronto faced difficulties due to their imperfect English. A high school student, who lived in New Zealand since Grade 8 for four years and then moved to Toronto, faced descrimination from her white peers, which made her lose confidence in speaking English. Furthermore, the negative memories caused her to distance herself from her white classmates and become friends with only Koreans and other international students. She would even notice one of her teachers smiling when talking to white students but ended up frowning whenever having to talk with Asian students.

In the case of another Canada-born male Korean student, his life was only slightly different from the former's. Though born in Canada, he spent his childhood in Korea. As a result, his English was also imperfect. Like the student mentioned above, he found it difficult to interact with Canadians, and hung out with mostly Koreans for his social life.