Keeping Korean and identity abroad: home, weekend schools and TCK research

This guide is for parents worried that a child learning in English will lose Korean or feel they belong nowhere. It draws on research articles and the Overseas Koreans Agency.

What you can do at home

A 2021 study of an immigrant family in Canada describes what helped keep the home language (a single-family study, so it cannot be generalised):

• Everyday talk during meals, baths and walks
• Books in both languages at home, and parents reading
• Retelling family stories and reading picture books together
• Playful writing and songs using the children's names
• A reason to use the language, such as a grandparent who speaks only Korean

Encouragement worked better than strict rules; low status of the language at school and pressure to use English made it harder.

Weekend Korean schools

Korean weekend schools abroad teach language, history and culture, and the Overseas Koreans Agency supports teacher training. In 2025 it also ran parent sessions on identity and teaching Korean at home. Check whether your new city has one.

Research on third culture kids

• A 2023 study of 399 university students found that people who feel their cultural identities form one coherent whole report higher wellbeing, while those who keep them separate report lower wellbeing. It is cross-sectional, so it cannot show cause and effect.
• Another 2023 study of 489 adults found that adults raised as TCKs reported more resilience but less comfort with close relationships, with better outcomes for those with siblings.

Checklist

• Do you have regular Korean conversation time at home?
• Are Korean books and media within reach?
• Does your child talk with grandparents or relatives in Korean?
• Have you looked for a weekend Korean school in your new city?
• Do you talk with your child about both cultures together?

Ask the school

• Whether there are Korean classes or clubs
• How the school views home-language use
• What support new students get to settle in

Every child moves at their own pace; talk to the school counsellor about any concerns.