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About South Korean Health Care System, Culture & Community, Culture Shock Tips, Health care self advocacy, Maternal Health, Medical & Health, Mental Health Resources, Physical & Mental Wellness, Public Health, Tips of Living Your Best Life
Overcoming Language Barriers in Korean Healthcare: A Practical Guide
Have you ever needed to overcome a language barrier while accessing healthcare in Korea? Many of us have, even those who speak Korean somewhat fluently. Language barriers can be challenging but not impossible to navigate. This blog post offers some tips on how to overcome such language barriers that may help.
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Wheelchair Rental in Korea
Did you know there are several ways to get a wheelchair rental in Korea? If life happens and you find yourself in need of rental medical equipment, whether recovering from an unexpected injury or healing after a procedure, there are several resources you can turn to.
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ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, Medical & Health, New Arrival Information, Physical & Mental Wellness, Public Health, USA Military Welcome Packet
How to Set up Your COOV App
Learn how to set up your COOV app with these step by step instructions provided by SOS Public Health.
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Education, Medical & Health, Physical & Mental Wellness, Public Health, Tips of Living Your Best Life, Useful Korean Phrases
How to obtain your Korean COVID vaccination certificate in English
Why would I need to have my COVID vaccination certificate printed in English? The vaccination process in South Korea has been picking up speed over the last couple of months, particularly among our expat teacher community. If you completed both doses of the COVID vaccine in South Korea, then you should have received a vaccination certificate similar to the one pictured below. Your vaccination certificate is also available on the COOV app which you have access to if you have a contracted Korean phone number under your name. While you…
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Culture & Community, Culture Shock Tips, Education, ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, Medical & Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Resources, New Arrival Information, Physical & Mental Wellness, Public Health, Tips of Living Your Best Life, Tourist and Traveler Welcome Packet, USA Military Welcome Packet
The Challenge of the Language Barrier in Korea
What is a language barrier? Before we jump into the challenges of language barriers, we need to understand what a language barrier is. There are several definitions for language barriers that essentially say the same thing. For the purpose of this article we will use Google’s Oxford Languages Dictionary. According to Google’s Oxford Languages Dictionary, a language barrier is “a barrier to communication between people who are unable to speak a common language.” This is a pretty simple, standard definition of a language barrier. If you don’t speak the same…
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Culture Shock Tips, Education, ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, Medical & Health, Physical & Mental Wellness, Public Health, Tourist and Traveler Welcome Packet, US Military and Korean Health Care
How to improve your comfort level with Healthcare in South Korea
The 2021 South of Seoul Public Health Survey found that putting effort into developing cultural competence may improve your perceptions of your own healthcare in South Korea. Let’s talk about this. Listen to the BlogCast Don’t want to read? Listen to the South of Seoul BlogCast which provides accessible content through the use of AI technology. We don’t have time to read each article but we do our best to make more of our content accessible. If you would like to join our Accessibility Team apply to volunteer with South of Seoul. Please…
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3 Important Differences Between Primary Healthcare in South Korea and the U.S.
Disclaimer Although we had survey respondents from all around the world, we chose to focus on the United States for this blog post because the U.S. healthcare system is dramatically different from South Korea’s. The main difference being that the U.S. doesn’t have universal healthcare like many other places such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. However, if you are not from the U.S., don’t let this deter you from reading on. There will be some useful information on South Korea below that you can use to compare with…
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Useful Phrases for Getting an Exchange or Refund
Sometimes a product you purchased doesn’t work out the way you want it to. Instead of getting frustrated, try some of these phrases to help you get an exchange or refund. Christi ClineChristi Cline holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Korean American. She proudly served in the US Marines and worked as a police officer before moving into social media and online content. As a Cultural Liason and Content Creator with South of Seoul, Ms. Cline reported on Pyeongtaek news and helped to coordinate youth camps with the…
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What makes a good mom and pop restaurant?
This meal was filled with 정 and deliciousness. Recently I was asked this questions, “What makes a good mom & pop restaurant in Korea?” When I first arrived here it was one of the most perplexing things for me and I never thought I would ever be good at it. Everything looked the same and I couldn’t deduce what was good and what was bad. I felt helpless when it came time to pick a place to eat. My solution, just start walking into any place I saw and just…
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Useful Phrases for Coffee Shops
Always remember, if you don’t feel comfortable speaking, you can simply show the server your phone and point the the phrase you need. Things you need to know when you order: The barista will want to know if you want the coffee hot or cold. In the summer they will assume you want all drinks cold is you don’t clarify. American style drip coffee is usually not available, so you will ask for hand-drip. Although the names of coffee are western, you will need to use the Korean pronunciation. Most…
