Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

I think English is mainly a decoration in this country and others, like Japan. There are just too many examples of meaningless or goofy language posing as English on clothing, stationery, whatever! But I have to say that for an English language academy to mispell (that's one "s" right?) its own name (America) is pretty bad.

[Homer]

Indeed english signs here are sometimes ridiculous. English is also used in fashion with some ludicrous results.
However, this is much like people wearing clothes back home with chineses characters on them. Most of the time they don't know the meaning of them. Some particularily bright ones eve tatoo those characters on their bodies regardless of the meaning...but thats different...yes of course....
Or the dudes back home taking martial arts to "be like Bruce Lee"....
All equally ridiculous.

[Thomas]

One of the most depresing situations I knew of was when my roommate was HIRED to go and spell check the signs that were to be installed in the brand new library. (All the subject signs were to be in English and Korean... despite holding absolutely NO English books in the library.) My room mate made a detailed list of the proper translations... the English side by side with the Korean... from the list from the Korean guy in charge. Unfortunately, the Korean guy who had initially translated it disagreed with my room mate's translations after he did them and just before they were sent in, so they went with the first draft from the Korean guy!!!!! Loads of incorrect terms... (My buddy got his money though!)

[Monty_]

[some waygug-in]

Great topic. The truth is that most of these places don't teach English, they teach Konglish and pretend that it's the real thing.

Funny story about the refusal to correct the mistakes in the signs. The original translator was obviously afraid to admit his mistakes and lose "face".

The scary thing is that most Koreans couldn't give a rip about proper spelling and or grammar. As long as other Koreans understand it, that's all that matters.


I'm sure a lot of Koreans actually believe that they understand English better than most of the foreign teachers that they hire. They are very arrogant about what they "know" and it is quite comical to watch some of them try and feign fluency.

Cheers

[philipjames]

The coffee cup on my desk reads: "My heart leaps up when I he Hold A Rainbow in the sky..."

This is absurd in so many ways. 1) The annoyingly inconsistent use of capital letters. 2) The impossibility of holding a "Rainbow in the sky". 3) The inexplicable use of ... at the end of the sentence. 4) The absense of "and" between "I" and "he". 5) The use of such child-like sentiments between people who appear to be dating, (and therefore being at least in their late teens.)

Aargh!

[Homer]

Jesus H Crap PhilipJames!

You need to take a deep breath and think about what you are focusing on...
Just enjoy your coffee or whatever you put in that cup..its the content that matter not the outer shell...

[crazylemongirl]

The other one that annoys me is kids whose 'english' name are spelt wrong.

eg.

Jaems
Linder

CLG

[jajdude]

And all the romanization of Korean with its variations. Even taught some adults who were unsure how they should spell their name. Hmmm.... do they have a passport? Same thing occurs in lots of countries though. Saw a street name in Taipei, for example, with three different spellings all at the same intersection! Now, is it "Fu shing, Fu jing, Fu-xing, or Fu zhing...?" And still they laugh when you mispronounce their names even if you don't study their language!

[Squid]

I'm in a "The glass is always half-full" mood today so quit harping on them and have a good laugh. Keeping your sense of humor here is very difficult sometimes but stick at it because sooner or later it will pay off for you.
I agree most errors in spelling and grammar are simple and should've been avoided, but if "Friend love forever" or "Cute girl sexy" on the shirts and books don't float your boat, you can always try my personal favorite, on a toilet paper dispenser at Daerim station: Machine of toilet paper.
No matter how fragile I may feel it always gives me a wry smile.

BRAVO YOUR LIFE!

Squid

[philipjames]

Today I saw a van for "Let's English" . Let's what? Let's be incompetent at merchandising our sole product? Another one I saw the other day was a bakery truck with "I'm Baker" written on the side.

Unbelievable.

[Homer]

Philip,

I must come from a very small and isolated town in your hoem country. The kind of town that doesn't have much in the way of worldy goods or knowledge...

How else could you be so easily "astonished" at such "unbeleivable" things as mispelled English in a non-English speaking country....

[Horangi Munshin]

[philipjames]

Homer, you're sounding rediculous. The van with "Let's English" on it is indeed incredible to see. That's school's sole product is the English language!! Think about that before posting silly responses. The "I'm Baker" van; well, why bloody well bother with any English at all? A two dollar dictionary before they trademark such a name would indicate a certain competence. There's a culture of mediocrity in this country, and these rediculous signs are symptomatic of this.

Perhaps you also share this ethos of mediocrity Homeboy, otherwise you wouldn't post such nonsensical responses. Yes, this is a non-English speaking country, but "Let's English" is merchandising the English language. Why don't you see this as bizarre?

[Son Deureo!]

Homer is me is learn English at the Let's English academy. You think is good school no?