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Goodbye Mrs Gim!
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ABC KID



Joined: 14 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:01 pm    Post subject: Goodbye Mrs Gim! Reply with quote

It's getting close to March and that means it's time for some public school teachers to move schools. That also means that I get to say goodbye to one of my co-teachers - Maybe the one and only, Mrs Gim!

Now unless I've been missing something, to you and me and probably 99%+ of the Korean population 김 is Kim, whether it be Mr Kim, Mrs Kim or Miss Kim. End of conversation. However, try telling this to Mrs 김 at my school...

Despite the fact that her passport says Kim she is adament that the spelling is Gim. She claims it has changed in the last few years. However, lots of our students went abroad on a school trip recently. Lots of these kids got their first passports for the trip, including the predictable large numbers of students with the name 김. Sure enough they all came back with the spelling Kim...

Not good enough for her though and students who use the spelling Kim at our school continue to get a ticking off from her. It's a shame because our school sometimes gives out English awards of various kinds and at her insistence any student with the name 김 has to have Gim written on the award.

What do people think about this woman?
Have you met any other Mr or Mrs Gim's?
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dirty_scraps83



Joined: 02 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think she has ideas abover her station. This is KOREA goddamit...she must conform!!!
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laconic2



Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Wonderful World of ESL

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For those of us fortunate enough to be able to routinely experience and enjoy life outside of the Korean bubble, such occurrences are of little or no consequence.

For which I offer thanks on a daily basis. Wink
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chris_J2



Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:37 pm    Post subject: Kim Reply with quote

Daegu or Taegu?

Busan or Pusan?

Gwangju or Kwangju?

Then there's the R/L sound in English, that many Asians have difficulty with. Try "rural". It cuts both ways too. There is no R or L sound in Korean, Japanese or Chinese, & it's really hard for an English speaker trying to learn a conglomerate r/l sound. eg: It's neither 'Arigato' or 'Aligato', but somewhere in between.
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RACETRAITOR



Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Goodbye Mrs Gim! Reply with quote

I have no problem with the spelling "Gim." Also, I think Koreans should reconsider how they romanise Park, Lee, and Lim.
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the eye



Joined: 29 Jan 2004

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's pronounced more like Gim anyway.
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tsgarp



Joined: 01 Dec 2003

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

She's right.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Kim Reply with quote

chris_J2 wrote:
Then there's the R/L sound in English, that many Asians have difficulty with.


One of my hopes, my dreams, is that this little bit of "information" will be put to rest. Alas, it remains merely a dream.

Quote:
Try "rural". It cuts both ways too. There is no R or L sound in Korean, Japanese or Chinese,


Korean has both the [r] and the [l] sounds, as does Chinese. The issue is not the lack of the sound in their languages (as their languages have those sounds), but rather the difference in phonological rules. Japanese does not have the [l] sound, so it's not an issue of phonotactics for them.

Quite a number of other Asian languages have both the [r] and [l] sounds.

Quote:
& it's really hard for an English speaker trying to learn a conglomerate r/l sound. eg: It's neither 'Arigato' or 'Aligato', but somewhere in between.


What the heck is a "conglomerate r/l sound?" I majored in Linguistics and have never heard of such a thing.
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NilesQ



Joined: 27 Nov 2006

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always get this confused stare from Koreans when I give my opinion that it is impossible to misspell your own name. It is your name and you can spell it any way you want to. Mrs.Gim seems to want the rest of the world to agree with her for some reason. I think that Gim does sound mor like the Korean. Park an Lee are the ones that I think sound nothing like the Korean originals. Just as a test show her how you spell your name in Hangul and see the lambasting you will get from her. The sad thing is that the irony will be totally lost on her.
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Young FRANKenstein



Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Goodbye Mrs Gim! Reply with quote

ABC KID wrote:
at her insistence any student with the name 김 has to have Gim written on the award.

As long as she spells 이, 박, 신, 심, as E, Bok, Sin, Sim then I have no problem with it.


Last edited by Young FRANKenstein on Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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suneV



Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Location: At the Flop

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Kim Reply with quote

CentralCali wrote:
chris_J2 wrote:
Then there's the R/L sound in English, that many Asians have difficulty with.


One of my hopes, my dreams, is that this little bit of "information" will be put to rest. Alas, it remains merely a dream.

Quote:
Try "rural". It cuts both ways too. There is no R or L sound in Korean, Japanese or Chinese,


Korean has both the [r] and the [l] sounds, as does Chinese. The issue is not the lack of the sound in their languages (as their languages have those sounds), but rather the difference in phonological rules. Japanese does not have the [l] sound, so it's not an issue of phonotactics for them.

Quite a number of other Asian languages have both the [r] and [l] sounds.

Quote:
& it's really hard for an English speaker trying to learn a conglomerate r/l sound. eg: It's neither 'Arigato' or 'Aligato', but somewhere in between.


What the heck is a "conglomerate r/l sound?" I majored in Linguistics and have never heard of such a thing.


I think I watched a 'phonotactic' movie last night. Oh wait....
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Hanson



Joined: 20 Oct 2004

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:22 pm    Post subject: Re: Kim Reply with quote

chris_J2 wrote:
Daegu or Taegu?

Busan or Pusan?

Gwangju or Kwangju?

Then there's the R/L sound in English, that many Asians have difficulty with. Try "rural". It cuts both ways too. There is no R or L sound in Korean, Japanese or Chinese, & it's really hard for an English speaker trying to learn a conglomerate r/l sound.


Come on, chris, that's like the Koreans asking us if we can use chopsticks after living here for years. I have a feeling that everyone who posts here knows about the old R/L thing.

Oh, and what the heck is a conglomerate l/r sound? Are you talking about the "reeyeul" letter (ㄹ)? If you are, I'm not sure conglomerate is the right word here...
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chris_J2



Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: From Brisbane, Au.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 11:31 pm    Post subject: r/l Reply with quote

I'm no linguistics expert, but Japanese friends have corrected me on "arigato" pronounced as aarrrigato. (R. E. GAR. TOE). It's not aallligato either, but somewhere in between, which is what I meant by 'conglomerate'. Maybe 'hybrid', is a better word?
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pkang0202



Joined: 09 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gim would be pronounced "Jim". Like GIant and GIst.
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Hanson



Joined: 20 Oct 2004

PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

pkang0202 wrote:
Gim would be pronounced "Jim". Like GIant and GIst.


What about GIve, GIpper, GIddy, GIft, ...? Wink
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