Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tenchu77491]

This made quite a stink in the Japanese media. Not sure if it was posted here, the search button isn't working for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJPIVm98NNY

Sorry I couldn't find any English subtitles.

Basically a lot of people were outraged by this teacher. He was addressing, "Why did the Japanese win 2 Nobel Prizes, and Koreans have won none".

He basically said (my quick and dirty summary, so don't be too critical here),

There's many differences in the language, but Korean is the strongest of them all. (He) is an English professor but of course he loves Korea (and Korean). He asks them (the students) to have great English and Korean, so study hard. Japanese is such a weak simple language it's easy to translate into English, and thus the Japanese have won 2 Nobel Prizes and Korea none.

This gives me an idea. Maybe we can get the students to actually study if we can convince them we are fighting Japan. So Monday morning, march in your classroom and show this clip to them. Do that every morning while you take attendance.



/some sarcasm

[mc_jc]

[PARAMDUNGI]

Japanese is certainly not a simple language. Even Japanese people have trouble with it from time to time.

[mc_jc]

Yeah, I mean they both use Chinese to explain things they can't do in their native languages.

[tenchu77491]

Don't kill the messenger, I just translated/summarized it.

He said basically in Korean you have a word like "red" and there are hundreds of words to use for red but they all have different meanings. People can not understand Korean (unless you are Korean, this is implied).

It's just arrogant crap. Even one (Korean) student laughed at the professor. The professor asked him like "what? what are you laughing about? Don't you agree?"

Guy is a total douche bag.

PS,

Korean and Japanese have similarities, yes. That's beside the point though. I wouldn't go as far as saying Japanese uses Chinese either. Even Korean uses Chinese characters. Would be beside the point again. Yes they both use Chinese characters, but really the usage is unique in it's own way.

Not to mention the implication here is that Korean alone can not be translated into English because Korean is such a unique language. That is why the authors didn't get a Nobel prize. This is a round about way of saying English is incapable of expressing Korean?

Anyway language is more than words and grammar and the physical form in which language is shown.

This douche bag is trying to say Korean is so unique unlike any language on earth. In fact, every language is pretty much unique to this point, but he is trying to isolate Korean in a way that is incredibly backwards and ignorant. Even the Korean students in his class picked up on that.

[mc_jc]

You're are absolutely correct- the guy is a total douche!

Korean is not in any way unique or special- the only thing that separates Korean from other languages in this region is Hangeul- which was created to give common people a way of reading their own language that, until its creation, was only reserved to the intellectual elite because they spent years learning Chinese calligraphy (aka Hanja). But according to a royal scroll that is in the national archives (part of the Joseon wonjo shillok), Chinese was used as the official language of the Korean court from before the three kingdoms period all the way to about the time King Sejong took the throne (which is similar to way French was used by English kings all the way to the 17th Century or the way Latin was the written language of the Catholic church for many centuries).

Do you want to know how I learned Korean?
First, I learned how to read Hangeul, then I picked up a copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets and read it in its original form- you would totally surprised at how similar Korean is to Old English in word order and sentence structure.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

[Samurai Blur]

If they are really that concerned about winning the Nobel Prize then why don't a group of intelligent Koreans get together and work on making a great discovery?
I remember hearing that Jang Yeong Sil "invented" the water clock while I was in Korea. Interestingly enough, I have read books in the states written by Korean authors who claim that he invented the water clock and the sun dial. Failing to make what Sejong tells you too, going to China to learn how to make them, and then coming back to Korea and succeeding to build them does not constitute as an invention. If this is how they expect to get a Nobel Prize, I think Korea will be complaining for a long time. Just sayin'...

[ryoga013]

Korea hasn't won anything because the awards go to innovative works... Korea.... Innovation? bwa hahahaha

You can change things slightly after copying a design and not fully understanding it, but it doesn't make it all shiny and new.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Little man of asia complex.

[andrewchon]

This is basically what he said:
-Korean is the most phonetically advanced language in the world
-example: expressing redness
-example: expression of sound made by flowing water. Korean can determine the strength of the flow from the expression used.
-I am a teacher of English, but not only that, a scholar of Korean Language
-I am a patriot. You (students) must study English well and use Korean properly
-Our language is too advanced. It is not translatable into English. That's why no Korean has received a Nobel Literature Prize.
-Why laugh? You are laughing because the situation is absurd, not because what I said is ridiculous, aren't you?
-How many times the Japanese have received the Literature Prize? Twice.
-Something about poet 서정주
-Japan was a primitive, intellectually barren land. If Baekje in 4th century didn't send some of our culture, it's possible they'd still be troglodytes
-then why is it that a country with such an advanced language and culture not won a Nobel Literature Prize while Japan has two?
-Japanese is easily translatable because there's nothing in it
-Korean is not translatable into English. Because it is too advanced, the most richly complex language on Earth.
-It's not just my opinion, but the truth.
-Do you know the poet 조지운?
-quotes his poetry
-how can you translate that?

So, he caught flak because he denigrated Japan. He claimed Korean was the most advanced and complex language. Most of all, he was telling his students to study English so that they can show the world how great the Korean language is. Not much more than a case of foot-in-the-mouth by an over zealous lecturer.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Can you use chopsticks?

[mc_jc]

Reise-ohne-Ende- Thanx for pointing that out and I will be the first to admit when I am wrong about posting info like that.
I think a person really should pick up a copy of Shakespeare and read it in its original form as it is the closest thing we have in our language to Korean.


I wouldn't say Koreans aren't innovative- just complacent. During the Saemaul movement of the 1970's, Korea was striving to achieve industrial status. However, once Koreans started to view themselves as being a member of industrial society, they pretty much slacked off. But not on all respects, for example telecommunications and internet connectivity- Korea has the fastest internet connections in the world.
I think alot of it has to do with the brain drain, where many of the innovative Korean scientists are actually emigrating from Korea. These very same scientists are actually helping other nations with their Nobel-winning experiments.

[tenchu77491]

[mc_jc]

I am going to take bits of this arse-clown's words and see if there is any truth to them;