I￠￥ve been in Europe for a while now and I￠￥ve come to realize the differences between Korean and European teaching style.

   In Korea it￠￥s very common for the teacher to say something like "This is the correct move" and that is the end of the explanation. If you wish to know why that move is the correct one you just have to think about it for yourself.  In Europe it￠￥s literally impossible for the teacher to do this because as soon as he says something the students will inevitably come with the question "Why?".

   When I first came to Europe I got a cultural shock because of this, everybody would ask me why all the time. At first I thought it was weird, but now I￠￥m starting to change my mind and see it as a good thing. It has certainly helped me think more deeply into situations thinking about the why of situations. Lately I usually try to think about the reasons for my moves in order to be able to explain them better for my students.

     When I was studying in the Myongji University , Department of Baduk  Studies, the teacher once told me if you are not able to explain something well  it means you don't really know it and that made me realize how much I thought I knew but actually I had just scratched its surface.

   I learned baduk with the Korean method and while I can￠￥t say which one has better results, but I believe that the free interaction and exchange of ideas between students and teachers is able to create very interesting results.