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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:46 am Post subject: Nice try, Korea Times, but try again |
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Story No. 1:
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Festivals Lack Foreign Language Web Sites
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Each year since 1995, the government has selected representative festivals to attract more foreign tourists but 55 percent of them picked up for this year have been run without foreign language websites, the most influential information source for foreign nationals.
Due to the lack of online foreign language information, it has been hardly impossible for foreign visitors to know about these events. |
More:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/117_19990.html
"Hardly impossible"?
Do you mean hardly possible, or nearly impossible?
"Hardly possible" is a rarely used phrase whose meaning in this context would not be immediately clear to the reader. It sounds like something an imperious British colonist might say to a local subject: "I say, that's hardly possible."
"Nearly impossible," on the other hand, is a common phrase whose meaning is immediately clear. It is saying "I won't say it is 100 percent impossible, but it sure comes close."
Story 2:
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Half-Baked Policies Lie Behind Record-Low Support
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak's crusading contentious policies such as plans to reform English education and build a cross-country canal has dragged his popularity down, a pollster said Monday.
Han Gui-young, a senior researcher at the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), told The Korea Times that the now-defunct presidential transition team became a lightening rod for its overly ambitious role in the policy-making process.
``People used the (half-baked) policies unveiled by the transition team as standards to assess the new government's performance. Lee's declining popularity is a consequence of the controversial role of the team,'' Han said. |
more:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/116_19982.html
"Lightening rod." Is that what you use to whiten your teeth?
Using "half-baked" in a headline is powerful language, but it is also editorializing, which does not belong in a news story. Therefore, if someone in the story is alleging they are "half baked" you would put the words in the headline in quotation marks.
BUT, in the story they are in parentheses. What gives? What was the word that was actually used? Was it a profanity? Now THAT would make an interesting headline.
You do get some bonus points for the hyphen, though.
Story No. 3:
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Parents Support English-Only Classes
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
More than half of parents surveyed said they supported English classes being conducted only in English, but believe that a public education too focused on English is unnecessary.
According to online education site Topia Education, 61 percent of 624 parents with children currently in middle school said they support having English-only classes, while 31 percent opposed it. |
more:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/117_19989.html
Parents support English only classes, or parents supported English only classes? Which is it? Did they change their mind prior to the survey?
This is a good example of why it is best to keep your ledes in the present tense.
More important, keep your tenses consistent.
This is an easy one to fix:
More than half of parents surveyed say they support English classes being conducted only in English, but believe that a public education too focused on English is unnecessary.
Or:
More than half of parents surveyed say they support English classes taught only in English, but believe that a public education too focused on English is unnecessary.
Here you are replacing five wordy, vague syllables with a single, direct word.
Otherwise, interesting stories.
And extra points for a spyware free website.
A little advice: If you are ever lucky enough to find competent copy editors, treat them right. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:56 am Post subject: Re: Nice try, Korea Times, but try again |
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| flummuxt wrote: |
Story No. 3:
| Quote: |
Parents Support English-Only Classes
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
More than half of parents surveyed said they supported English classes being conducted only in English, but believe that a public education too focused on English is unnecessary.
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The results bear this out. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:23 am Post subject: |
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I like to see a good standard of written english too, but don't you think you're being a touch too judgemental with this?
I think you'll probably find a similar level in the other english language papers of asia... and also there are few if any expat teachers here who are 100 perfect in written korean to be able to speak from the high ground. Maybe a little patience? i've known several native speakers with a lower proficiency than the korea times. |
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Justin Hale
Joined: 24 Nov 2007
Location: the Straight Talk Express
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:31 am Post subject: |
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I don't know about the Korea Times, but certainly at the Korea Herald their copy editors are foreign. Is it the same for the KT? I dunno, but, if so, it confirms that many a foreign person attracted to Korea for employment is an unemployable, useless layabout. Reading Daves is vivid confirmation. I've seen EFL textbooks, edited by foreign editors, full of mistakes.
Well done on your grammar naziism, flummuxt. Very amusing.  |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:40 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
I like to see a good standard of written english too, but don't you think you're being a touch too judgemental with this?.
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If I spent 15 billion dollars a year on English education and I still couldn't properly comunicate in the language (and let's face it, the average Korean's English communication skills are abysmal), I would be a little saddened.
Let's consider how we can solve this problem.....
I know the answer!! Let's have a backlash against everything foreign (except for the cool stuff) and shove our heads in the sand!! If we wait long enough, the bad people will go away!
Last edited by caniff on Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:48 am; edited 1 time in total |
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esetters21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Hale wrote: |
| it confirms that many a foreign person attracted to Korea for employment is an unemployable, useless layabout. Reading Daves is vivid confirmation lol: |
And yet, you are here in Korea and continue to post on this site as well. What does that say about you? |
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Fredbob
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: Yongin-Breathing the air-sometimes
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:53 am Post subject: |
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| Just a slight defense of the native editors, they are often overridden or ignored, at least at KT. At times they are even told that they should not correct certain writers at all. |
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Netz
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Location: a parallel universe where people and places seem to be the exact opposite of "normal"
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:56 am Post subject: |
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nicholas_chiasson
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Location: Samcheok
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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| to argue that a BBS is subject to the same standards of grammar, editing, and spelling as a JOURNALISTIC company(ok ok it is korean times but...) is silly. People post here drunk! But a newspaper should get their act together. |
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flummuxt
Joined: 15 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Me:
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| A little advice: If you are ever lucky enough to find competent copy editors, treat them right. |
Beep?????
Competence is now an obscenity on Dave's!
Yes, the word that is censored is, (avert your eyes if you are easily offended):
"c-o-m-p-e-t-e-n-t".
And:
Split "beep" riding?
*beep* it. This is bullshit. |
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marlow
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Nice try, Korea Times, but try again |
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| flummuxt wrote: |
| ...editorializing, which does not belong in a news story. |
Ever read the Economist? |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| Fredbob wrote: |
| Just a slight defense of the native editors, they are often overridden or ignored, at least at KT. At times they are even told that they should not correct certain writers at all. |
This is exactly right. I former coworker had this job briefly and said 90% of his corrections never got used because "if the reporter keeps getting his work corrected, he will ose face". And yes, some articles don't get corrected at all.
I said, so then why correct anything. Just put a big check mark on it and say it's good to go. "Oh no. You have to show them something to prove you are doing your job." So, basically, you have to prove you are doing your job, but thaey are not going to use the work that you did. What pointless fucking job that must be. |
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flakfizer
Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: scaling the Cliffs of Insanity with a frayed rope.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:38 am Post subject: |
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| Young FRANKenstein wrote: |
I former coworker had this job briefly and said 90% of his corrections never got used because "if the reporter keeps getting his work corrected, he will ose face". And yes, some articles don't get corrected at all.
I said, so then why correct anything. Just put a big check mark on it and say it's good to go. "Oh no. You have to show them something to prove you are doing your job." So, basically, you have to prove you are doing your job, but thaey are not going to use the work that you did. What pointless *beep* job that must be. |
I hate to say something this negative, but sometimes I think if Korea did away with pointless jobs, it would have an unemployment rate around 25 percent. |
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aldershot
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
I like to see a good standard of written english too, but don't you think you're being a touch too judgemental with this?
I think you'll probably find a similar level in the other english language papers of asia... and also there are few if any expat teachers here who are 100 perfect in written korean to be able to speak from the high ground. Maybe a little patience? i've known several native speakers with a lower proficiency than the korea times. |
sorry, but this ain't true. the jakarta post is a class rag, along with the bangkok post and the filipino papers. i mean, these are REAL papers. they talk about GLOBAL stories. they are more than 5 pages thick...
...the korea times. the international news section talks only about koreans outside of korea. this is korea's idea of "international". (sidenote: arirang news does the same f'ing thing). |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:40 am Post subject: |
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| flakfizer wrote: |
| Young FRANKenstein wrote: |
I former coworker had this job briefly and said 90% of his corrections never got used because "if the reporter keeps getting his work corrected, he will ose face". And yes, some articles don't get corrected at all.
I said, so then why correct anything. Just put a big check mark on it and say it's good to go. "Oh no. You have to show them something to prove you are doing your job." So, basically, you have to prove you are doing your job, but thaey are not going to use the work that you did. What pointless *beep* job that must be. |
I hate to say something this negative, but sometimes I think if Korea did away with pointless jobs, it would have an unemployment rate around 25 percent. |
And?
The way I see it: 25% fewer wastes of space fudgjing up my day simply because they are in the way, doing nothing important. |
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