Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bucheonguy]

I should say that I'm getting used to listening to it. I can pick out a lot of words. Thanks to my girlfriend, I'm also pretty well versed in the slang and can hear it quite well.

Unfortunately, with my new found skills, I've noticed that almost everywhere I've been going lately I've been getting called a mother F***king foreigner. When I was on the bus, when I was walking down the street etc. Or people have just been calling me English man in a really mean tone. I almost wish that I was still fresh off the boat and didn't hear this stuff.

Or, they are just making fun of me right to my face in stores and places like that, or coworkers. Saying I'm like a child, or how stupid I am. It's really pissing me off because it's so common! Especially, because they are doing it with a big smile most of the time and then speaking to me nicely in English.

All I can say is, this place is full of the biggest back stabbers! I seriously can't imagine ever talking like to to someone or about someone like this back home in Canada!

Anyone else noticing this or am I just being hyper sensitive?

[samcheokguy]

-in thirty seconds someone is going to post saying "no you're wrong. They aren't really saying that. You are just paranoid. Your Korean sux."
-of course in my year and a half here, I've come to EXACTLY the same conclusion as you. But we're both wrong.

[Socks]

sometimes its best for some people to NEVER learn Korean..

then they could just keep enjoying their life in Korean-public-places without realising all the curses and bad-language and nonsense that Koreans are always throwing each and every way at everybody...

without Korean language knowledge - you could happily teach your classes without every minute listening to very young students using the most abominable and foul language and sometimes directed at you (the teacher)...

I learnt Korean ... but sometimes I think it would have been better if I hadn't....

[shaunew]

I agree 100%. One of the worst decisions I have made is learn Korean. It is unreal what they say. The best is phoning the wife in front of them and speaking Korean. Their faces are priceless. My friend is coming over to teach English and she asked me the one thing she needs to know to have a safe and pleasant time in Korea. I told her to have low expectations of Koreans so she will not be disappointed when all the racist bull crap happens to her.

[eIn07912]

please, please, next time u hear something like that, say "i speak korean and understand what ur saying" in korean and tell me the look on their faces!!

i know enough to catch "english man" and a few other key words to know something is being directed at me, but as to the complete content, im lost. also, to come up with some quick comment to shoot right back at them, is beyond my current linguistic level.

please, allow me to live vicariously through u

[travelingfool]

[Xuanzang]

[KOREAN_MAN]

[exit86]

Hmmm . . . I'm gonna have to give my 2 cents worth here:
I've lived here in Korea for about a decade now, and have spoken Korean
well for about 8 of those years. I am very sensitive to comments I
hear from the locals, and I am always listening.
I haven't noticed anything really that bad at all. I hear a lot of stupid shiit
like this:
Jin Ho: Let's eat
Jin Wook: Sure, how about Bibimbap
JH: Sure, you pay . . .
[I walk by, the two stop their conversation momentarily, then resume]
JH: . . . and I really need to study English more
JW: Yeah, me too.

I also hear a lot of flattering comments like "Wow, foreign men are handsome" [ha!!] or "Wow, he is tall!" Upon hearing, I always smile at
the speaker and maybe wink.

It is very much my hobby to listen to what the locals say about/relating to
myself and my separate human species {homo sapiens non-koreanis/ homo sapiens waegookis}
and I am always quick to give folks who need it a really good talking to
about their rude-assss behavior; but, to this day, I haven't heard
anything truly insulting. It is a really good thing I haven't heard this yet too . . . .

[Korussian]

[aka Dave]

Even before I started studying Korean (and I study from textbooks and mp3s, so I know NO Korean profanity, and am not particularly interested in learning it), I knew what waygukin meant. One thing that struck me when I was walking home from work, a woman on her cell phone interupted her cell phone said "wayguk saram!" glancing at me, and it wasn't really negative. It was as if she saw a meteor or a rare animal (this was in Ochang, a small town outside of Cheong-ju).

I used to think Americans were insular and provincial, being an American who's lived in Europe for several years. We don't hold a candle to Koreans. But it really reminds me what an Italian professor once told me. He said "Italy is not a penisula. It's an island". Same for Korea.

[i4NI]

My Korean is pretty good and I've always wanted to catch someone talking shit about me, but it hasn't happened yet. The only thing I've noticed is people get into discussions about foreigners in general acting like they know all about them.

OP if you're Korean is not that good, you can't act like you know exactly what they are saying. Thats what cracks me about people on Daves, I've read a bunch of other posts before of people who can't understand much Korean acting like they know what people are saying about them in Korean.

[mithridates]

[exit86]

Yes, its true; the locals tend to just say what they are thinking at
the moment (in impersonal situations where they have no connections to
those around them) no matter how idiotic it makes them sound.

How stupid would it sound if non-Koreans did this?
(Let's say in LA)

Walking down the street . . . . . "Look!! A Korean person!!!!"
"Look!!! a FOREIGNER!!!!!!"
"Ohhh --I'm so surprised!!! Someone different from me!!!!!"


God Bless the Simple People of this World.

[aka Dave]

[/quote]
I don't know where you're from, but cussing is way more frequent in the states. Many everyday sayings used by young people include cuss words.. can't say the same about Korean..[/quote]

It's true that we cuss a lot in the States, but it tends to be non-agressive. Growing up in Southern California, profanity was ingrained into our speech, but it was usually non-hostile. I think the movie with the most verbal profanity ever is the Big Lebowski. But it's just filler.

Jay Leno had a take on it, he said when you're with your buddies you speak a certain way, and you have to watch how you speak with your family. On Thanksgiving, you might say "Granma, this f*cking turkey is delcious!"

When my Korean students try to use American profanity, it's always angry and hostile, and it just doesn't feel right. "Dude, wtf? Lighten up."