Korean Job Discussion Forums

Rae · Joined: 10 Oct 2007

OK so I wanted to learn proper Korean to get by before I arrive to the boonies. No ones offers Korean classes where I live and my Korean American friends aren't fluent. So I found a solution online.

I found a seemingly perfect person that also has a deadline and in turn has an immediate urge to learn (he's taking an English test soon). He asks me personal questions - which I am aware are common in Korea and since I've researched this matter beforehand, I am now comfortable with answering them. But one thing I'm noticing (and I barely know the guy) is his random comments that show concern. If I speak to him late at night, he convinces me to sleep. Tonight he actually asked if I took a bath already after coming home late from a party. Is this kind of thing common in Korea?

Do I have to get used to random men worried about my safety and sleeping schedule? Is it just a weirdo cultural thing that I have to dismiss cause they don't mean anything by it? Is this guy just a tool? Or is he being polite and I'm just supposed to answer? I'm not used to being treated like a little girl, especially from a stranger thats only two years older than me.

sojourner1 · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:48 am Post subject:

Yes, my Korean friends always act so concerned for my well being. They go a little over the top at times. If you walk around with them, they also walk so uncomfortably close to you and often want to lock arms. I understand that these concerns and overt closeness are just customary and don't mean anything negative like it would in a western country. They act so concerned that you won't be able to eat the food and walk in traffic which makes it a bit of challenge to get a Korean friend to go someplace other than a beer hof. They don't respond if you speak Korean to them as they want to learn English.

It gets on my nerves that they will ask you 100,000 times in a night if you are OK. I am to the point where I tell them, "Yes, I will tell you if I am not OK or something is wrong."

Join a Korean language class in the evenings when you start your new job or anytime you want to start.

Rae · Joined: 10 Oct 2007

I think the locking arms thing is a little universal for close friends. Last night, one of my Russian gal-friends from college was doing that to me. As for Koreans generally being overly concerned: I guess I just have to start getting used to it now and build-up tolerance. But it'll take awhile - I'm still urked by the bathing question. Did I mention it was only the second time I've spoken to the guy -_-

"Are you OK?" - damn anything more than twice gets to me =/ Sojourner1, for putting up with it, you must be OK ^^ I'll look into that language class when I arrive. Hopefully they have one close to where I'll be placed.

Thanks for the reply Smile

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Ditch him.

jeffkim1972 · Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Location: Mokpo

I found a good way to learn Korean.

All Korean movies have subtitles in Korean (for the hearing impaired).

Get out your electronic dictionary and start renting DVDs.

Rae · Joined: 10 Oct 2007

soju pizza · Joined: 21 Feb 2007

pimsleur korean lessons + torrentspy.com worked for me. It's all audio though. No reading/writing.

Faunaki · Joined: 15 Jun 2007

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Rae · Joined: 10 Oct 2007

I appreciate all the responses thus far. I use http://www.mysoju.com, Crunchyroll, and Veoh for watching Kdrama and movies. So convenient and you can't beat free! But it's much more convenient to just be able to ask someone. That way my tense and politeness match and not to mention dialect differences, which I am just learning about now.

yingwenlaoshi, I doubt he sees me above him, he's a professional and was very kind and asked to be friends by our first session. Therein lies the initial problem, I think we got too familiar. I'm more comfortable with a professional-ish type of relationship for something like language exchange online. I think it's better to keep some distance, plus it's just less complicated that way.

All I did was stress formalities and it's working well. No weirdo personal questions at all. I think he got the hint.

I now recommend finding an online language exchange partner for anyone going to Korea (and know nothing of the language). It's convenient and the most efficient way of learning basic phrases ^^ I hope it continues like this.