[WHY] Once-dreaded worksheet from childhood now becoming surprising study tool of choice for adults

An adult works on her Kumon worksheets. [KYOWON]

Many Koreans in their 20s and 30s will remember staying up late at night, wrestling with hakseupji (worksheets) — or even rushing through them at school before a teacher came home for a weekly progress check.
 
The fear of unfinished homework often pushed students to tears. Some, this reporter included, occasionally resorted to “accidentally” leaving the worksheets at school or deliberately tearing out few pages to hide unfinished work.
 

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For today’s MZ (“Millennial-Gen Z”) generation, daily worksheets are a familiar — and not especially fond — childhood memory, particularly from brands like Kumon, Noonnopi and Red Pen. Students were assigned several pages of similar exercises each day — in subjects ranging from math and Korean to Chinese and Japanese — either to boost problem-solving skills or simply to keep them occupied while their parents were at work.
 
And yet, despite those groan-inducing memories, many of those children are now, as adults, voluntarily returning to the once-dreaded worksheet. Kim Soo-min, an office worker, is one of them.
 
“I wanted to learn Japanese,” said, Kim, who did Kumon worksheets when she was in middle school. “When I traveled to Japan, it was so nice. And because my favorite idol appeared on Japanese shows often, I wanted to be able to understand them without subtitles.”
 
For about a year and a half, Kim spent about 15 minutes a day before or after work on her worksheets — sometimes more if she had fallen behind. Once a week, she would have a 15-minute video call with a Japanese teacher through the Kumon app, though home visits — like the one from her childhood — were also an option.
 

English 777 worksheet's adult users [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“The teacher would check whether I had done my homework, ask me questions based on the worksheets and introduce new material,” Kim said.

 
Like Kim, many adults who want to learn a new language or improve their math or Korean skills as part of self-improvement are choosing daily paper worksheets.

 
Kumon, whose users span a wide age range — including those in their 70s — said it has been seeing a steady increase in inquiries from adults. Another major player, The Week, operated by Weaversmind, sold 72,000 sets of its monthly worksheets as of last December, three years after its launch. Designed for adults, The Week assigns three pages a day, one booklet per week.
 
English 777, a worksheet-based English program launched in 2023, has also seen steady growth of adult users. Founded by a former online lecturer who noticed that many adult learners preferred worksheets, the program offers a structured set designed to be completed at one booklet per week over the course of 18 months.
 
 
Why paper still works

 
With so many online lectures and apps now available, worksheets might seem old-fashioned. But their fixed daily workload and the printed format is precisely what many adults find reassuring and appealing.
 

The Week worksheets [WEVERSMIND]

“App-based learning relies heavily on visuals and screens, which makes attention relatively more passive,” said Yoon Cho-hee, a professor of educational psychology at Dongguk University. “This isn't much of a problem for children who are accustomed to digital environments. They tend to be better at focusing in short, intense bursts rather than sustaining attention for long periods.”
 
Adults, she said, are more accustomed to processing language and text, which makes them gravitate toward printed materials “Printed materials allow learners to control when they start, stop and proceed, giving them a stronger sense of control,” she explained.
 
And perhaps most importantly, paper makes learning feel real.
 
“When you read and solve problems on worksheets, you clearly feel that you are studying,” Yoon said. “With online platforms, it often feels like you are just consuming content. As a result, the sense of actively constructing knowledge and truly making it one's own can be relatively weaker.”
 
Kumon agrees. “For preschool and elementary school students, writing helps develop fine motor skills and pen control, while for adult learners, the act of writing allows them to focus on a single task — which is why many continue using Kumon as a form of self-development or a hobby,” the company said.
 
 
Watch me, please!
 
“I need someone to check on me.” This was Kim's main reason for choosing Kumon worksheets over all over learning platforms including apps.
 
While many worksheet services now also rely on apps or recorded lectures to accompany their materials, Kumon still assigns teachers to check students' work once a week. “Having someone watch whether I did my homework gives me motivation,” Kim said. “I need someone to make sure I'm actually doing it.
 

A Kumon teacher assists a student with her worksheet. [KYOWON]

Experts say this reflects Korea's deeply ingrained belief that studying requires supervision — shaped by the country's education system.
 
“From a young age, many grew up being told what to study and how,” said Kwak Geum-joo, a emeritus psychology professor at Seoul National University. “So even as adults, many have difficult being entirely self-directed.”
 
For workers, worksheets also offer structure without rigid schedules.
 
“It's not only cheaper than academies, I don't have to go somewhere at a fixed time,” said Lee Won-jae, who did Kumon and Red Pen worksheets as a child. The 27-year-old was considering signing up for Vietnamese or Chinese worksheets.
 
“I can do the worksheets on my own schedule and study independently for about 15 to 20 minutes a day.”
 
 
A kind of mental rest

 
Worksheets also serve as a way to relieve stress, experts said.
 
“With too much information to process these days, the brain becomes fatigued from having to work constantly,” said Kwak.
 
“Working on something as simple as worksheets allows people to slow down and rest. It can be a form of healing.”
 
Kwak also pointed to the overwhelming distractions in modern society as one reason for adults' preference for worksheets.
 
“In today's world, there are endless temptations,” Kwak said. “It becomes hard to regulate yourself, so people chase constraints — like proving themselves on how many work exercises they did or teacher checking progress — to keep themselves accountable.”
 
Another noticeable trend in the worksheet market is that the highest share of it is from female users.
 
A representative from English 777, whose users are largely women, said this may be because women tend to be more active in self-development.
 
The Week, which also reported a particularly high share of women in their 20s and 30s, cited stylish layouts and the collectible goods included with the materials as key parts of the appeal for female users.
 

The Week provides collectible goods when registering for worksheets. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Its worksheet set include stickers, memo paper, colorful notes and even planners. English 777 also offers pen sets when first registering for worksheets.
 
With playful designs and far fancier covers than the plain bundles of loose pages once held together by a ring or a small strip of glue, studying on these stylish, colorful materials has also become part of the attraction.
 

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]