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 

I said Icheon not INCHON!!!!
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
koon_taung_daeng



Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Location: south korea

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:24 pm    Post subject: I said Icheon not INCHON!!!! Reply with quote

wondering ifthis has ever happened to anybody else, i was trying to get to a party in Icheon and the lady at the bus terminal sold me a ticket to Inchon, i couldint tell because EVERYthing was in korean so i traveled an hour in the wrong direction. crappy sunday
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
JD1982



Joined: 19 Apr 2007

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:26 pm    Post subject: Re: I said Icheon not INCHON!!!! Reply with quote

koon_taung_daeng wrote:
wondering ifthis has ever happened to anybody else, i was trying to get to a party in Icheon and the lady at the bus terminal sold me a ticket to Inchon, i couldint tell because EVERYthing was in korean so i traveled an hour in the wrong direction. crappy sunday


Sorry to hear that. Shocked

Learning Korean might come in handy, eh?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Scotticus



Joined: 18 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah man, sorry to hear that.

If you haven't noticed, vowels are REALLY picky in Korean. Differences that seem trivial to us (the diff between ㅓ, ㅏ, and ㅗ) can complete change the meaning of a word in Korean.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
koon_taung_daeng



Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Location: south korea

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yea its funny now that it already happened but i was pissed off yesterday, has anything like this happened to any of you guys?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Masta_Don



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Hyehwa-dong, Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

koon_taung_daeng wrote:
yea its funny now that it already happened but i was pissed off yesterday, has anything like this happened to any of you guys?


Sangsu/Sungsu, Sincheon/Sinchon...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
swetepete



Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Location: a limp little burg

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was here about a week and took a taxi back to my suburb from Seoul. I asked for Songnae station, the one in Bucheon, and got Sungnae station way the hell out east. It was 20 000 to get to the wrong one, and another 30 to get back to the correct one.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Masta_Don wrote:
koon_taung_daeng wrote:
yea its funny now that it already happened but i was pissed off yesterday, has anything like this happened to any of you guys?


Sangsu/Sungsu, Sincheon/Sinchon...


One time I was in Chungju and a friend who was coming to meet me there called and said "Okay, I'm in Choongju now."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used to live in 신정 and they always tried to take me to 신촌 even though I would be in Mokdong and heading in the proper direction. It happened for a full year. I think in some cases when Koreans are talking to foreigners, they just hear what they want to hear, not what is actually being said.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Scotticus



Joined: 18 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ajgeddes wrote:
I think in some cases when Koreans are talking to foreigners, they just hear what they want to hear, not what is actually being said.


Yes and no. As someone who's put some time into making sure my "accent" is "right," I'll say I very, very rarely have issues when asking a taxi driver to take me someplace. It's sounds stupid, but seriously, put on a Korean voice when you get into the taxi, be real careful about your pronunciation, and you will always get where you need to go. My gf gets angry cause she can repeat something 5 times to no avail, and I'll put on my Korean voice and the driver will know in one shot where I want to go.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scotticus wrote:
ajgeddes wrote:
I think in some cases when Koreans are talking to foreigners, they just hear what they want to hear, not what is actually being said.


Yes and no. As someone who's put some time into making sure my "accent" is "right," I'll say I very, very rarely have issues when asking a taxi driver to take me someplace. It's sounds stupid, but seriously, put on a Korean voice when you get into the taxi, be real careful about your pronunciation, and you will always get where you need to go. My gf gets angry cause she can repeat something 5 times to no avail, and I'll put on my Korean voice and the driver will know in one shot where I want to go.


I disagree. I still think a lot of the time they tend to hear what they want to hear.

Case in point. My friend, who speaks Korean at a very high level, and is completely conversational even has trouble from time to time. One time, he was trying to buy an electronic dictionary for his girlfriend and he must've repeated it over 10 times and the girl kept on talking about something else (I can't remember what it was now) and there was no end in sight of this ridiculous conversation until an ajumma came over and repeated exactly what my friend said.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
SPINOZA



Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scotticus wrote:
Yeah man, sorry to hear that.

If you haven't noticed, vowels are REALLY picky in Korean. Differences that seem trivial to us (the diff between ㅓ, ㅏ, and ㅗ) can complete change the meaning of a word in Korean.


I hope you're being sarcastic. The difference between 어, 아 and 오 is plain as day.

신촌 vs 신천 winds me up and really the sooner Westerners STOP referring to 신촌 as 신천 there will cease to be any confusion.

And 한남? Jesus. I know folks who've been here years who pronounce it 하남. You can see them, piling into the taxi, saying "하남....한암....hello???....duh...." to the driver, the fuckin idiots.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
cbclark4



Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've heard of people ending up in Westford when they wanted to go to Westport.

Oh, wrong country.

cbc
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
endo



Joined: 14 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul...my home

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:47 pm    Post subject: Re: I said Icheon not INCHON!!!! Reply with quote

koon_taung_daeng wrote:
wondering ifthis has ever happened to anybody else, i was trying to get to a party in Icheon and the lady at the bus terminal sold me a ticket to Inchon, i couldint tell because EVERYthing was in korean so i traveled an hour in the wrong direction. crappy sunday


Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Drew345



Joined: 24 May 2005

PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm surprised this doesn't happen to Koreans more when giving directions on the phone. As far as I can tell, there is no way to "spell" a word out in Korean; the vowells have no "names". So even for Koreans, there is now way to spell out the name of the city to make sure they got the right one.
I had a rubber stamp made with my last name spelled out in Korea. A Korean friend called the stamp maker and told the name several times with proper Korean pronumciation (making 2 English syllables into 4 Korean sylables). Of course my name is just sounds in Korean, but the funny part was that there was no way for my friend to "spell" out my name to the stamp-maker; there is no "name" for the Korean letters (especially vowells). So, of course, when we got there, the stamp maker spelled it wrong. My last name is really common, so there is a "standard" Korean spelling for it. Was in a rush to get some documents stamped, so couldn't ask for a remake.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dogshed



Joined: 28 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went to Inchon instead of Incheon and it had nothing to do with
the pronunciation. It was all my own doing. The guy told me
to meet him at the Burger King and both stations have a Burger
King near by so I thought I was in the right place.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
Page 1 of 5

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe
TEFL Courses, TESOL Course, English Teaching Jobs - TEFL International