Korean Job Discussion Forums

[regicide]

Like their English is so perfect and alternatively, if they were in our country, would we even think about doing the same.

And quite often, it isnt a matter of the quality of the Korean language spoken. It is simply that a non-Korean is speaking THEIR language.

[IlIlNine]

My Korean is still not that great but...

I found that people used to laugh when I spoke Korean, but as I got better and more 'natural' sounding, it stopped. YMMV

[regicide]

[The Perfect Cup of Coffee]

Uhhh, so you're saying you speak Korean like a handicapped foreigner?

[regicide]

[The Perfect Cup of Coffee]

Yeah I know, sorry about that. Damn 12 years, only 4+ myself. But one thing I've found is that some Korean people, no matter the age, just cannot accept that someone who's not Korea-looking is speaking Korean. I'm not claiming any scientific survey or anything, just experience.

It's like a mental block or something. But then I'll meet 10 Korean people in a row who will just carry on a conversation without freezing mid-sentence, laughing, or making puzzled faces. No logic to it I guess.

I've had full hour-long conversations with elderly Koreans in the countryside who don't think twice that I'm a Caucasian guy speaking Korean. Then you'll meet the 30 year-old knuckleheads at KTF who don't accept that you've just asked them how much the monthly plan is for the newest Samsung cellphone. Damn.

[laogaiguk]

I remember when Kim Campbell (sp?) made fun of Jean Cretien's lisp during the election in Canada some year way back. The backlash on it was quite intense.

[regicide]

[oneofthesarahs]

I suspect it's just the novelty of hearing the Korean language come out of the mouth of someone non-Korean. I would guess for many of the people who laugh when they hear your Korean, it's their first (or one of few) times ever hearing Korean spoken as a non-native language. Whereas most of us have heard English mangled umpteen times, sometimes by native speakers!

Also, I'm sure that few people on this board speak Korean anywhere near a fluent level, and we probably make all sorts of mistakes we are unaware of. And after all, we make fun of Korean's Engrish-ee all the time. There's an entire website devoted to poor English, for goodness sakes! www.engrish.com

Also, in my experience, often Koreans laugh when they are uncomfortable. So the laughter might not be malicious, just discomfort at dealing with a non-native speaker. Much like I would guess most Americans who don't speak Spanish would be slightly uncomfortable if a Mexican person came into the store and tried to communicate in poor English.

[cdninkorea]

[nobbyken]

Koreans laugh at each other trying to speak English.
They really tear into a friend who makes an error.

They don't forget it for years, they go to far sometimes.
Hence, most Koreans are too scared to speak English because they know they won't be fluent.

Sometimes we can learn things from Korean books or other resources, but what is spoken by Korean native speakers, is quite different.
Similar to English learnt from a 10-15 year old book, which focuses on grammar and sentence structure.

It just doesn't sound natural.
My wife thinks it's kind of cute when I speak Korean, and I think she's cute speaking English at times. Both learning though, and getting a more naturalised form of speaking.

I try to teach that it's fun to make mistakes, and a good way to learn correctly.

[Vicissitude]

They laugh at you because they are xenophobic and no amount of sensitivity training will change that fact. See, Koreans look at you not as a human being but more as a sub-species or an ape if you will. Oftentimes Koreans call non-Koreans "monkies." So bearing this in mind, it would be like you witnessing a chimp that spoke your language. Now just imagine what your reaction would be like? It's the same reaction of a Korean who thinks of you as an animal. Really it's the same reaction we have to a parrot that speaks a language. We are amazed and most of us will laugh.

[crusher_of_heads]

You've never been to Montreal, have you?

[jajdude]

[butlerian]