Korean Job Discussion Forums

[seoulmon]

Well, I've been trying to crack the code....How do you keep people from practicing English with you?

I try this:
Random person: HI! May I help you..
ME: (In Korean) I speak good Korean.
Random person: Oh, well I've lived in Chicago.
ME: (In Korean) See that way-gook. When I meet him, I only talk to him in Korean.
Random person walks away.
The End.

[prairieboy]

I usually just say "hi" back to them and "nice to meet you" as I turn my back and walk away.

I've got better things to do than to try to have a conversation with a stranger on the street wanting to practice English.

[schwa]

If a Korean has the gumption to approach me & make a remark in english I'm friendly & responsive & pleased to see the effort. It also indicates we arent all money-grubbing & rude.

[FierceInvalid]

I don't bother trying to avoid it. A conversation is a conversation regardless of motivation, and I often have fun talking with random strangers. I see English as a potential way of meeting people, not something that I should feel like I'm getting cheated out of if I'm not charging for it.

[camel96]

Yeah too many people have actually convinced themselves that the joy of their company is worth 50,000 won an hour.
That's so far from the truth it's laughable.

[jpal75]

Turn it into a cultural exchange. If you want to learn Korean this will be a great opportunity.
If not, help them out. What's a couple of minutes?
If you're in a rush be polite and say "sorry, I've gotta go".
If you believe that your company cost money then print out some business cards and hand it out...just don't get caught, else, work a deal with your boss to allow you to do this by printing out the hogwan name on it too, that way you help your boss generate some income and he'll be taking you out for soju binges...

[Gord]

[matko]

While it can be annoying, especially after a long day at work, I kind of appreciate it. It doesn't happen nearly as much in Japan as it does in Korea, but how often does it really happen for it to be that bothersome?

I would simply be polite, and if you're not in the mood politely excuse yourself. Say you're busy and have to go.

If it's on the subway or bus where you can't easily escape, pretend you are sleeping and then you won't have to bother. If they wake you up to talk.......well that's just rude.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I agree with the majority of posters. Not every conversation with a Korean is an English lesson. A short conversation with a stranger can be entertaining.

I say: Lighten up and enjoy it.

[Mr. Pink]

It all depends.

Around my neighbourhood, I speak to any adult that says hi to me. I ignore the children as they just so the "hi nice to meet you" - LAUGH and run away.

I figure it is always nice to be friendly with neighbors or people that are in my dong.

When I am taking the subway somewhere, or busy trying to get somewhere, I either ignore the person saying something, or I just do a quick hi and sorry I don't have time to talk bit.

I feel it is just as rude for me to ignore someone on the subway, or in Seoul, as it is for them to come up and talk to me out of the blue.

I was eating at Burger King once and some guy comes up and starts talking to me...um I AM EATING DUMBASS. So I have to say, sorry I am EATING go away. Like I have time to talk to you when I am eating my dinner. Like the guy was purposely hanging out in Burger King in the hopes some foreigners would pop in and help him with his homework. I know this as I say him trying every foreigner in there. DUMBASSES!!!

[tomato]

Hello, Seoulmon!

I have one bit of advice: move as soon as your contract is up.
The larger the city, the harder it is to dodge English-speaking Koreans, and Seoul is the worst of all.
It gives me a headache to hear "Can I help you?" every time I look at a subway map for 10 seconds.
So I only go to Seoul when I absolutely have to.
Then I head back as quickly as I can.

I don't know what really goes through a Korean's mind when he or she speaks to me in English, but this is what my id is telling me:

"All foreigners are alike, and you're no exception."
"You have a carefully prescribed place in our country, and if you don't like it, you can lump it."
"You are a helpless infant, and that's all you can ever hope to be."
"You are too stupid to even know simple things like hello and thank you in Korean."
"I don't care how you feel about how I'm treating you."
"You never tried to learn Korean. Or if you did, I don't appreciate it."
"My English is better than your Korean, so I have the right to sniff down my nose at you."
"My right to learn English is more important than your right to learn Korean."

Seoulmon, before you joined the group, I started two similar topics. One was entitled "If you speak Korean, why do Koreans answer in English?" The other was entitled "How do you feel about Koreans speaking to you in English?"
Sorry, I don't know how to create links to these topics. (Waterbaby, you got your ears on?)

I got a flurry of hate mail, just like you did, and I will probably get a flurry of hate mail now.
I think I know what the letters are going to say, so I shall answer some of those letters in advance:

If you will be nice to them, they will be nice to you.

Where I come from, the oppressed minorities tried that approach for two hundred years.
It didn't work.
Then they tried the opposite approach.
It worked.

You mean you want to practice Korean but you don't want Koreans to practice English? That's selfish!

I work 30 hours a week in the English classroom. That's enough.
Professional musicians don't walk down the street playing musical instruments.
Auto mechanics don't look under the hood of every car that's parked on the street.
Doctors don't carry tongue depressers around and look down people's throats.
So why should I speak English at all times and at all places?

Koreans don't get to meet very many foreigners, so they don't get to practice English very much.

You can't practice English with anybody else?
There are millions of English students in Korea; let them speak English to each other!
In my high school French class, we spoke French to each other in the lunch room, in the locker room, and everywhere else we saw each other. By the end of the year, we knew a good bit of French.

The Koreans are following the Golden Rule. If they met someone who spoke Korean in your country, they would appreciate it.

I'm not sure about this one.
On this message board, a Canadian said that he has tried speaking Korean to Koreans in Canada, and they resented it.

A Korean who has never seen you before doesn't know whether you speak Korean or not.

Then shouldn't the Korean at least give me the benefit of the doubt?
Shouldn't the Korean at least speak to me in Korean first?
Why am I guilty until proven innocent?

The Korean is trying to make you feel comfortable. So you should appreciate it.

Say that again the next time you see a gentlemen opening a door for a liberated woman.

You are setting a bad image of our culture.

Not half as bad as the image that the whiners must be setting.
Concentrate on them first.

You must have an advanced case of paranoia.

If I thought you were a competent therapist, I would come to your office and offer you a hundred dollars an hour.

Can't you just ask them politely to speak to you in Korean, and then forgive them if they honor your request?

Too late. The other person has already shown me how stupid and naive I look to him.
Would you expect a Black person to ask, "Please don't call me 'boy'"?

You shouldn't feel that way.

How can I cancel a feeling which is unacceptable to someone else?
By banging my head on the wall?

This is their turf. Love it or leave it.

I intend to. As soon as my Korean is good enough, I'll look for a situation which doesn't involve speaking English, but which will enable me to move to the most remote village in all of South Korea.

Don't tell me that there is no such opportunity. I'll do my own job-hunting.[/b]

[krats1976]

Scowl as you walk about as though you are utterly disgusted by the vomit and mucus on the street and the ridiculous walking patterns of people who don't seem to realize that there are 10 million people trying to walk through this same bloody subway station so would they please stop staring and get the hell outta my way!!

Works for me.

[little mixed girl]

.....

[Hank Scorpio]

[Son Deureo!]

Tomato -

I admire your determination and passion about learning Korean. I wish I met more Westerners here who shared this passion. I also understand your frustration about dealing with Koreans who continue to talk back to you in English after you have addressed them in Korean. Especially when their English is terrible. It feels insulting, no question about it.

I especially notice this when I go from Incheon to Seoul. Make a simple request that most newbies can handle (asking for a price, more kimchi please, etc.), and being met with a laugh and a "OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH, belly goooooooooood!" makes me want to smack them upside the head, too.

But I think you are being a bit too harsh in judging all Koreans who speak English to you this way. I think most of these Koreans really are trying to be nice and helpful, and don't even realize that they might be hurting their feelings. Most Koreans have very limited experience with dealing with any foreigners, let alone foreigners who speak their language (and imperfectly, at that!). For the most part, I think they really just don't know any better.

I also think that you may be passing up on some good opportunities for friendships by responding to English-speaking Koreans with a chip on your shoulder. I've been in a language-exchange club since a few months after I arrived in Korea. The English-speaking Koreans in this club were from the beginning a lifeline for me. They have given me a lot of help with my Korean, and with learning more about Korea. In return I've helped them with their English, and I've been damn glad to do it. They are as gratified to see my progress over the past two years as I have been to see theirs. They've been great friends, and if I had not allowed them to speak to me in English it would have been a huge loss for me.

At any rate, give some of these English-speaking Koreans the benefit of the doubt. You'll probably find that you have a lot more in common with them than just two languages.