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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Chet Wautlands
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| shostahoosier wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| Did you know U.S. income taxes are at their lowest level since 1950? Parts of Canada have really cold weather, too. Also, I think Canadians are better at learning foreign languages. If you are exposed to more than one language at a young age, changes occur in the development of gray matter, and you will be better able to learn another unrelated language such as Korean down the road in adulthood. Even notice how practically the only English teaching Westerners able to converse in Korean are kyopos and Canadians? The number of Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, etc who can speak decent Korean is virtually zero. Seriously, this (exposure to a language at a young age) matters a lot in a big way. |
Thats interesting since most Canadians that I meet here cant even speak French.  |
OK, so out of 100 English teachers who come to Korea, how many eventually end up fluent in Korean? Maybe three? And in all likelihood all three are Canadian. It is too big of a coincidence. Look, many Canadians were brought up bilingual, and very few American E-2ers were. (Latinos in the United States have a low college enrollment rate.) It has already been scientifically proven that a bilingual upbringing at a young age produces crucial changes in a child's brain, changes which persist for a lifetime. The younger learning another language the better. Those who were monolingual growing up lose plasticity in key areas of their brain. Even that genius among geniuses Madoka is unable to learn other languages. Why? Because he grew up monolingual. Once the window of opportunity closes you are S.O.L. Same with developing perfect pitch.
P.S., if you are wondering how adults around the world learn English, it is because they have been exposed to it their whole life and have been learning it as a compulsory subject since early elementary school. This is the case virtually everywhere on earth.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/02/12/english-is-not-a-foreign-language/0/
Does that answer your question? |
Why is every single post of yours an excuse as to why you can't learn Korean? Stop whining and start studying. ANYONE can learn Korean. ANYONE! Study a lot. Practice a lot. Repeat every day. Also, please don't post another link defending your point. Anyone can learn a language if they try. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
OK, so out of 100 English teachers who come to Korea, how many eventually end up fluent in Korean? Maybe three? And in all likelihood all three are Canadian. It is too big of a coincidence. Look, many Canadians were brought up bilingual, and very few American E-2ers were. |
Lol, what?
Speculate much?
Of the literally thousands of Canadians I have met in my life, less than 5% of them are bilingual. Of that 5%, nearly ALL of them have been from Quebec. You do know that not all Canadians grow up learning French right? |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| shostahoosier wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| Did you know U.S. income taxes are at their lowest level since 1950? Parts of Canada have really cold weather, too. Also, I think Canadians are better at learning foreign languages. If you are exposed to more than one language at a young age, changes occur in the development of gray matter, and you will be better able to learn another unrelated language such as Korean down the road in adulthood. Even notice how practically the only English teaching Westerners able to converse in Korean are kyopos and Canadians? The number of Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, etc who can speak decent Korean is virtually zero. Seriously, this (exposure to a language at a young age) matters a lot in a big way. |
Thats interesting since most Canadians that I meet here cant even speak French. |
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| Quote: |
| OK, so out of 100 English teachers who come to Korea, how many eventually end up fluent in Korean? Maybe three? And in all likelihood all three are Canadian. |
Where did you pull this number from? And what do you have to support your theory that "in all likelihood all three are Canadian"? Besides your anecdotal evidence of course.
| Quote: |
| It is too big of a coincidence. Look, many Canadians were brought up bilingual, and very few American E-2ers were. (Latinos in the United States have a low college enrollment rate.) It has already been scientifically proven that a bilingual upbringing at a young age produces crucial changes in a child's brain, changes which persist for a lifetime. The younger learning another language the better. Those who were monolingual growing up lose plasticity in key areas of their brain. Even that genius among geniuses Madoka is unable to learn other languages. Why? Because he grew up monolingual. Once the window of opportunity closes you are S.O.L. Same with developing perfect pitch. |
From what I've read online, only about 18% of Canadians can speak both of the official languages of Canada. I guess the "gray matter" they developed only works for non-related languages though. 
I didnt have any questions before but as you can see I have plenty now.
And to clarify I have nothing against Canadians...I'm just not drinking your Kool-aid. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| shostahoosier wrote: |
| World Traveler wrote: |
| Did you know U.S. income taxes are at their lowest level since 1950? Parts of Canada have really cold weather, too. Also, I think Canadians are better at learning foreign languages. If you are exposed to more than one language at a young age, changes occur in the development of gray matter, and you will be better able to learn another unrelated language such as Korean down the road in adulthood. Even notice how practically the only English teaching Westerners able to converse in Korean are kyopos and Canadians? The number of Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, etc who can speak decent Korean is virtually zero. Seriously, this (exposure to a language at a young age) matters a lot in a big way. |
Thats interesting since most Canadians that I meet here cant even speak French. |
OK, so out of 100 English teachers who come to Korea, how many eventually end up fluent in Korean? Maybe three? And in all likelihood all three are Canadian. It is too big of a coincidence. Look, many Canadians were brought up bilingual, and very few American E-2ers were. (Latinos in the United States have a low college enrollment rate.) It has already been scientifically proven that a bilingual upbringing at a young age produces crucial changes in a child's brain, changes which persist for a lifetime. The younger learning another language the better. Those who were monolingual growing up lose plasticity in key areas of their brain. Even that genius among geniuses Madoka is unable to learn other languages. Why? Because he grew up monolingual. Once the window of opportunity closes you are S.O.L. Same with developing perfect pitch.
P.S., if you are wondering how adults around the world learn English, it is because they have been exposed to it their whole life and have been learning it as a compulsory subject since early elementary school. This is the case virtually everywhere on earth.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/02/12/english-is-not-a-foreign-language/0/
Does that answer your question? |
All the Foreigners I know who learned Korean are American.
ALSO, the majority of korean speakers are either:
International students(from all over the world)
and
US army troops who went to the foreign language school or took advantage of the free Korean classes.
The foreigners with the best Korean went to the US. Army or grew up here. I only know 2-3 who learned it well here on their own.
Vast majority of teachers don't spend a long time here and hang out with other foreigners primarily. Korean classes exist in only a few places and usually charge money or have limited seating space. |
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Cliff for King
Joined: 09 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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| The really interesting thing about these statistics is the gender imbalance, which is reversed in SA teachers. Is this an anomaly? Anyone care to offer a potentially sexist/racist/mildly controversial theory? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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I've asked many Koreans if they have ever met a Westerner who could speak Korean. Oddly, every time, when the answer is yes (they have met maybe one white person in their entire life who could speak Korean), this person happens to be Canadian. Also, as evidenced by TV, several Europeans are able to speak Korean. Maybe there are Americans out there who can speak Korean, but I have never met them or even heard about them (except for posters on this board, many of whom I suspect are greatly overestimating their abilities).
Yes, 18% of Canada is French-English bilingual, but for the 20-49 demographic, the incidence of bilingualism is significantly higher.
I'm not saying most Canadians end up able to speak Korean, but I am saying most English teachers able to speak Korean are Canadian. (And yes, South Africans, though few there are, would have a major advantage learning Korean as well overall.)
Almost no one who sets out to learn Korean actually learns it. At least I've never witnessed this happening. Those few who do are almost always Canadian. (Or European). (Or South African). Strange considering most E-2s come from the United States.
Of English teachers who come from overseas, what percentage end up fluent in Korean? Anyone want to throw out a number? |
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Chet Wautlands
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
Of English teachers who come from overseas, what percentage end up fluent in Korean? Anyone want to throw out a number? |
0.5%? I'd say one in 200 become fluent in Korean.
What do that 0.5% have in common? It's not their nationality. They put in the time studying. Some enjoy studying, some feel obligated to study... but they all study.
After three months in Korea I could conjugate simple verbs to past, present and future tense. It took me a few seconds to do it, but I figured it out. How? It was on page... like 10 of my textbook.
If you took a week (7 full days) and spent it studying Korean you would be able to communicate most basic things.
"I will eat samgyeopsal" tomorrow."
"I always sleep at 10 o'clock."
"Where is the bank?"
"How much was that pizza?"
One week. Anyone. You just have to sit down and study it!
Fluency... an intangible concept if ever there was one... takes a lot longer, obviously. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| I've asked many Koreans if they have ever met a Westerner who could speak Korean. Oddly, every time, when the answer is yes (they have met maybe one white person in their entire life who could speak Korean), this person happens to be Canadian. Also, as evidenced by TV, several Europeans are able to speak Korean. Maybe there are Americans out there who can speak Korean, but I have never met them or even heard about them (except for posters on this board, many of whom I suspect are greatly overestimating their abilities). |
I'm trying to figure out what situation I would need to be in to frequently ask Koreans if they've ever met a foreigner who speaks Korean. I dont think I've ever had this conversation. If I did...it would probably be for the purpose of confirmation bias. 
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| Yes, 18% of Canada is French-English bilingual, but for the 20-49 demographic, the incidence of bilingualism is significantly higher. |
Why do you think this is so? And why do you think this statistic is imporant?
| Quote: |
| I'm not saying most Canadians end up able to speak Korean, but I am saying most English teachers able to speak Korean are Canadian. (And yes, South Africans, though few there are, would have a major advantage learning Korean as well overall.) |
Again, what EVIDENCE do you have to support this?
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| Almost no one who sets out to learn Korean actually learns it. At least I've never witnessed this happening. Those few who do are almost always Canadian. (Or European). (Or South African). Strange considering most E-2s come from the United States. |
Again, what EVIDENCE do you have to support this?
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| Of English teachers who come from overseas, what percentage end up fluent in Korean? Anyone want to throw out a number? |
I think that 18.24% become fluent because [insert ridiculous, extremely limited anecdote here]. |
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Squire
Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:19 am Post subject: |
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| I would have thought the reason for having more Canadians here is that they are (presumably) not as inward thinking as Americans and would be more open minded to working in another country |
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happiness
Joined: 04 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:52 am Post subject: |
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| i speak korean and japanese and Im American. BUT I did live in Canada when I was 6. hmmm |
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Stephen Ireland
Joined: 22 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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If I were to guess on why there are so many Canadians here I'd have to say initially it's because of the 6 month tourist visa. It certainly makes it easier to settle and travel with a cushy visa like that.
Looking at the numbers though shows that based on population size new zealand has a greater presence here. I wonder why that is?
As for the language situation, I don't think Canadians are any better or worse than Americans at learning it. Like Americans, Canadians tend to pronunciation difficulties - I.e. Their mother tongue interferes with their language learning.
Also, even those Canadians who are fluent in French still get teased by the French for their pronunciation, style of speech etc. But that could be just a snooty reaction from the French and may not have any basis...but still the point remains to some degree. |
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