Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gwangjuboy]

Why do so many Koreans (mostly younger Koreans) come out with this line? The other I was in a bar with a friend who is over 35 and one of the bartenders (in his early twenties) decided to talk to us. We started talking in Korean but he used banmal to both of us. I asked him why he was speaking banmal on a first meeting with two guys who were both older than him. He said that since there wasn't any banmal/jondaemal in English he could. He actually insisted until I pointed out that we were speaking in Korean and that if I were to use banmal to older Koreans (such as the headmaster) then I would soon be pulled up on it. What is it with some of these guys?

[SuperHero]

Just tell him that there is 존대말/반말 In English but that it is much more subtle and difficult to use than in Korean. In Korean it is very simple to be polite, just add a 요 to each sentence. In English it depends on word choice and in general longer and more indirect sentences tend to be more polite. Yes this is a simplification, but it works in general.

Can you open the door?
Could you open the door?
Would you mind opening the door for me?
If it's not too much trouble could you open the door?

[Cheonmunka]

Would you open the door for me, please.

[Qinella]

It all comes down to having idiotic Koreans who don't know anything about English teaching English. They tell them all sorts of idiotic things, like V being pronounced bui. lol

I don't know though.. how retarded do you have to be to think that someone speaking Korean doesn't understand the levels of speech in Korean, even if their native language doesn't have that? Maybe you weren't talking to the next Korean Nobel Prize winner..

[Alyallen]

The logic of that guy is stunning.

There is no banmal in English, therefore I can speak to you in Banmal in Korean.

What a jackass

[Gwangjuboy]

Unfortunately comments like that are commonplace amoungst younger Koreans. I don't think it is malicious but it's certainly misguided. Once you point out to Koreans that there are subtle ways of making speach polite in English and that the conversation is being conducted in Korean anyway they apologise. This tool was on a banmal crusade though. Luckily I am well liked by the other staff at the bar and they apologised to me for his behavious and gave him a talking to in front of me after I had tongue lashed him.

[SPINOZA]

This is yet another misconception about English and I can only assume it comes from Korean English teachers, who are quite simply the most useless creatures....certainly in our galaxy, and possibly beyond. Inflated salaries for native speakers, people paying 40 or more bucks for an hour with a native speaker, are excellent evidence as to the abject uselessness of Korean English teachers. Still, keeps me in a job in which I'm able to save thousands without effort, so I suppose I should be grateful.

However, many Koreans use banmal (which of course, literally, means "half words/half speak"; so the longer = more polite analogy appears to exist in Korean also) because it's quite simply shorter and they think their listener will be more likely to understand.....a bit like how an English speaker may use "you like?" to a Johnny Foreigner instead of a full sentence. I try to give them this benefit of the doubt.

But the "English has no 반말/존대말" misconception seems to advocate that English has no formality, no difference in the way one speaks to one's little sister or best friend to the way one speaks to the boss or the Queen or the President....or simply a total stranger. Dim stuff.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It can be a problem when speaking broken Korean of course - what's closer to broken Korean, jondaemal or banmal. What works best is to tell Koreans that English only has jondaemal.

The other week I was out with a 23-year-old Korean friend and a 37-year-old American friend who had just met each other for the first time. I was sitting their wondering where she thinks it's appropriate to speak banmal to him, especially since she knows he's a university 'professor'. What I find ironic is that she complains about how rude and disrespectful her hagwon students are to her.

On the other hand, I've been very impressed with the honorifics many older Koreans, especially in my small town if they know who I am, will use with me.

[mj roach]

1 - Maybe most Koreans view contact with a foreigner as a chance to escape the rigid structure of their relations within Korean society.

2 - 'pop' culture influences from western TV, movies, music, etc. might make it seem that there is no formality.

3 - Some of the westerners here are as unaware (disdainful?) of any degree of formality and may reinforce the notion.

[djsmnc]

I think it's truly a lost cause.

[Qinella]

[Gwangjuboy]

[Gwangjuboy]

[Zolt]

My colleagues tend to do this a lot to me too. Unfortunately, I'm a bit too koreanistically challenged to come up with a proper comeback line. How would you say "Why are you speaking banmal to me?" (don't formulate this in banmal please, it would be a bit counter-productive)

[mj roach]

Gw-ju-boy

I was refering to some westerners being unaware/disdainful of formality even in their own culture.