Korean Job Discussion Forums

Captain Zoom · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Location: Tokyo

Hi folks,

Just wondering if there's significant dialect variation in Korean. By significant, I mean significant enough to cause problems in understanding people from other areas. And lastly, do you think that a person's likelihood of learning Korean is affection by the region in which they live?

Thanks,

Zoom

SarcasmKills · Joined: 07 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul

Generally from my experiences, the Busan area dialect is quicker, louder and more aggressive...(think how Chinese people talk)

around the middle of korea (chungcheongbuk-do), the dialect is one where people speak much slower than anywhere alse - "the country dialect"..

Seoul is generally faster than the middle of Korea, but not as loud or aggressive.

And well Jeju,.. sometimes its almost a different language!

My students always make fun of other Korean dialects.. (especially Busan - could be a Seoul-area thing).. and yes, they admit they have trouble understand people from other parts of the country sometimes..

mishlert · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

It's not a Seoul "thing". Last summer I was working in Daegu and I went to Busan with a girl I was dating and she was making fun of the dialect.
She then told me the differences between Daegu, Busan, and Seoul dialects.

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

whatthefunk · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Dont have a clue

Pohang apparently has a very strage accent. Its made fun of alot on tv, Ive been told. This must be the reason why nobody understands what I say...

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

I think their are 6 accents/dialects in South Korea alone, 4 in North Korea and 1 or 2 for the Koreans on the Chinese side of the NK border. The accents basically corresponds to the North-South provincal boundries. With the exception of the people in Jeju, Koreans have little problems understanding each other. Obviously their will be regional phrases that may be alien to someone from another region. Also, NKers may not understand the Konglish and Chinese based loan words present in SK. However, a foreigner studing Korean, understanding another accent is another question.

ThreeDogNight · Joined: 30 May 2003 Location: Seoul

shakuhachi · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Location: Sydney

Fortunately all koreans know how to speak 표준어 - the standard korean language. I dont think that koreans would talk to a foreigner in a dialect unless he was very clearly fluent in the standard korean language and thus likely to also be able to understand a dialect. Once you are fluent in standard korean its easy to learn dialects - but sounding authentic is not.