Site Search:
 
Speak Korean Now!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

How much, if at all, are Koreans and Japanese alike?
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
stevemcgarrett



Joined: 24 Mar 2006
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:44 am    Post subject: How much, if at all, are Koreans and Japanese alike? Reply with quote
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
goodgood



Joined: 22 Nov 2006
Location: seoul
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I don't have a whole lot of Japan experience either, but....

#1 They generally dont laugh, look, point, or talk to random westerners.

#2 Youth subcultures are suuuuuper big there. They (basically, besides the small punk scene) do not exist in Korea.

That's all I got. Like I said, haven't spent much time there.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jdog2050



Joined: 17 Dec 2006
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 3:59 am    Post subject: Re: HOW MUCH, IF AT ALL, ARE KOREANS AND JAPANESE ALIKE? Reply with quote
stevemcgarrett wrote:
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?


I think they're incredibly similar, although Japanese seem to be more calm and Koreans more emotional, they're more similar than they'd obviously like to admit. Honestly, and this is uber-nerdy, they really remind me of Vulcans and Romulans.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Travelous Maximus



Joined: 15 Jan 2007
Location: Nueva Anglia
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:04 am    Post subject: Re: HOW MUCH, IF AT ALL, ARE KOREANS AND JAPANESE ALIKE? Reply with quote
jdog2050 wrote:
stevemcgarrett wrote:
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?


I think they're incredibly similar, although Japanese seem to be more calm and Koreans more emotional, they're more similar than they'd obviously like to admit. Honestly, and this is uber-nerdy, they really remind me of Vulcans and Romulans.


Is the language similar at all? Aside from the obvious differences. When I was in Korea, this girl told me that Japanese and Korean grammar are somewhat alike.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger
jdog2050



Joined: 17 Dec 2006
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:06 am    Post subject: Re: HOW MUCH, IF AT ALL, ARE KOREANS AND JAPANESE ALIKE? Reply with quote
Travelous Maximus wrote:
jdog2050 wrote:
stevemcgarrett wrote:
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?


I think they're incredibly similar, although Japanese seem to be more calm and Koreans more emotional, they're more similar than they'd obviously like to admit. Honestly, and this is uber-nerdy, they really remind me of Vulcans and Romulans.


Is the language similar at all? Aside from the obvious differences. When I was in Korea, this girl told me that Japanese and Korean grammar are somewhat alike.


Well, chinese is the Latin of this area, and Japanese and Korean are like a romance language equivalent. Lots of borrowing from each other and their root.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Travelous Maximus



Joined: 15 Jan 2007
Location: Nueva Anglia
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:10 am    Post subject: Re: HOW MUCH, IF AT ALL, ARE KOREANS AND JAPANESE ALIKE? Reply with quote
jdog2050 wrote:
Travelous Maximus wrote:
jdog2050 wrote:
stevemcgarrett wrote:
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?


I think they're incredibly similar, although Japanese seem to be more calm and Koreans more emotional, they're more similar than they'd obviously like to admit. Honestly, and this is uber-nerdy, they really remind me of Vulcans and Romulans.


Is the language similar at all? Aside from the obvious differences. When I was in Korea, this girl told me that Japanese and Korean grammar are somewhat alike.


Well, chinese is the Latin of this area, and Japanese and Korean are like a romance language equivalent. Lots of borrowing from each other and their root.


True. However, unlike Chinese, Korean and Japanese puzzle linguists due to their uniqueness. Actually, linguists believe that Japanese and Korean are language isolates and do not belong to any language family. I have a theory that they stem from the same root maybe possibly from central asia.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address Yahoo Messenger
VanIslander



Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
After six trips there from here over the last five years I'd have to say that the two cultures are waaaaaaay more different than the same.

What motivates a desire to see similarities?

Ignorance is what made me see as the same before what is very different.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jdog2050



Joined: 17 Dec 2006
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:20 am    Post subject: Re: HOW MUCH, IF AT ALL, ARE KOREANS AND JAPANESE ALIKE? Reply with quote
Travelous Maximus wrote:
jdog2050 wrote:
Travelous Maximus wrote:
jdog2050 wrote:
stevemcgarrett wrote:
I'm genuinely curious to know, especially from those of you who have lived and worked in both countries.

I've only been in Korea 18 months and my visits to Japan have been quite brief. My own initial impression is that they are alike in many ways but dissimilar in some important respects.

So what's your take on this?


I think they're incredibly similar, although Japanese seem to be more calm and Koreans more emotional, they're more similar than they'd obviously like to admit. Honestly, and this is uber-nerdy, they really remind me of Vulcans and Romulans.


Is the language similar at all? Aside from the obvious differences. When I was in Korea, this girl told me that Japanese and Korean grammar are somewhat alike.


Well, chinese is the Latin of this area, and Japanese and Korean are like a romance language equivalent. Lots of borrowing from each other and their root.


True. However, unlike Chinese, Korean and Japanese puzzle linguists due to their uniqueness. Actually, linguists believe that Japanese and Korean are language isolates and do not belong to any language family. I have a theory that they stem from the same root maybe possibly from central asia.


echh...that sounds like kind of a dubious claim. How can they be language isolates when Chinese has been a semi-official or official language for both countries at some point in time? Korea hasn't been as isolationist as they love to dramatize.

Also, while they're all really different from the step languages at this point, I will say that while I was in Mongolia, I did notice a lot of the same throat noises and...well...harshness that is present in korean. I think that the flow of humanity went into Korea from the steppes, was a *bit* cut off linguistically, then evolved and intermixed with Chinese.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jdog2050



Joined: 17 Dec 2006
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
VanIslander wrote:
After six trips there from here over the last five years I'd have to say that the two cultures are waaaaaaay more different than the same.

What motivates a desire to see similarities?

Ignorance is what made me see as the same before what is very different.


Oh god, don't get that from my post. If I wrote about all the differences between japan and korea, I'd get carpal tunnel.

They're different alright; my thing is that I think a lot of Japan's difference has come more f