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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:03 am Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| On the other side, how's his Korean? Writing is one thing, actual speaking... When'd fermentation come back? I'm sure he's strong in both, but usually one is stronger than the other. |
He's a native Korean who was in the Korean military. I think said he has some minor gaps (like lacking (pop) cultural references), but I think overall his Korean is pretty close to as good as someone who has been in Korea their whole life. And his English speaking is so good, people think he is an American gypo. They don't realize he a Korean citizen sometimes. If I remember correctly, he lived in America for seven years (though I'm not exactly sure on the number; he can correct me on that if necessary), but those years were as he grew up. Put an adult in another country for that many years and odds are they won't become fluent. Fermentation's spoken and written English is so good, he is virtually indistinguishable from a native English speaker. I've met others like him too. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| 12ax7 wrote: |
| I knew a guy who was fluent in Korean after only 9 months here |
Some people lie, man. (Actually a lot do.) But if that guy is telling the truth (about the total amount of time he has been in Korea and/or studied the language), he is an extreme anomaly. Most Western adults who study Korean (with a genuine, sincere effort to improve) never get pass the beginner level. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
And another thing about your comment, even if the gypos' Korean isn't perfect, it's a hell of a lot better than any whitey's Korean. There is a reason Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic translators are being paid more. That reason is supply and demand. There is a huge Korean diaspora in the U.S., and on top of this no other country sends its kids overseas to study English in the numbers Korea does. Korean-English is not a high paying niche language combination. Not anymore. |
They get paid more because:
1. China has the world's biggest population and its 2nd biggest economy.
2. Japan used to be the world's 2nd biggest economy and still is an economic power that still dwarfs Korea.
3. Arabic translators can thank 9/11 and Al-Qaeda. Before those events, they weren't getting significantly more money.
I should also note that while yes, the Korean diaspora in the US is large, it is still much smaller than the Chinese one.
And where are you getting your info that says Korean-English translators get less than those other groups? I just checked old invoices for translation services my employer has used in the last few months and the highest rate was Korean. Chinese was nearly the same. They were about double the price of Spanish (big surprise) and Eastern European languages (Bulgarian, Hungarian, Czech) were in between.
I used to get monthly e-mails from a temp agency in DC asking if I knew anyone proficient in Korean to translate law documents (simply because I had Korea listed on my resume years ago). The pay was substantial. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:22 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| 12ax7 wrote: |
| I knew a guy who was fluent in Korean after only 9 months here |
Some people lie, man. (Actually a lot do.) But if that guy is telling the truth (about the total amount of time he has been in Korea and/or studied the language), he is an extreme anomaly. Most Western adults who study Korean (with a genuine, sincere effort to improve) never get pass the beginner level. |
Nope, I heard him talk in Korean, I've seen him converse with Koreans. He wasn't lying. The guy was smart and was immersed in Korean at work. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:23 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| 12ax7 wrote: |
| I knew a guy who was fluent in Korean after only 9 months here |
Some people lie, man. (Actually a lot do.) But if that guy is telling the truth (about the total amount of time he has been in Korea and/or studied the language), he is an extreme anomaly. Most Western adults who study Korean (with a genuine, sincere effort to improve) never get pass the beginner level. |
Nope, I heard him talk in Korean, I've seen him converse with Koreans. He wasn't lying. The guy was smart and was immersed in Korean at work. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| You checked his passport to see he had only been in Korea nine months? And did a background check on him to make sure he hadn't studied Korean before coming here? How'd you verify all that (especially the latter)? You must be a genius. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| You checked his passport to see he had only been in Korea nine months? And did a background check on him to make sure he hadn't studied Korean before coming here? How'd you verify all that (especially the latter)? You must be a genius. |
Right, because lying about being able to speak a particular language to native speakers of that language is always a wise thing to do. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| How do you know he had only been in Korea for nine months? How do you know he didn't study Korean before coming to Korea? You don't. |
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12ax7
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 3:45 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| How do you know he had only been in Korea for nine months? How do you know he didn't study Korean before coming to Korea? You don't. |
We asked and he said he hadn't. Would you be happy if we had gone to Nepal and interrogated his family and friends?  |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:51 am Post subject: |
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No. But you are saying you know beyond a shadow of a doubt he is telling the truth. You have no way of knowing that is what I'm saying. Study history and human nature. People lie a lot. Just because someone says something does not mean there is a 100% certainty it is true. And your story has little to do with addressing the following anyways:
| Quote: |
| Most Western adults who study Korean (with a genuine, sincere effort to improve) never get pass the beginner level. |
Care to take a shot at that? |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
No. But you are saying you know beyond a shadow of a doubt he is telling the truth. You have no way of knowing that is what I'm saying. Study history and human nature. People lie a lot. Just because someone says something does not mean there is a 100% certainty it is true. And your story has little to do with addressing the following anyways:
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| Most Western adults who study Korean (with a genuine, sincere effort to improve) never get pass the beginner level. |
Care to take a shot at that? |
You personally know most of the Western adults who have studied Korean?
Since you demand proof from other people I'm going to have to ask the same standard from you. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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| What percentage of the Western lifers living in Korea can speak the local language? It's an extreme minority. I've met a ton of lifers. You haven't? How about I use you as an example then? You've lived in Korea for fourteen years, yet are still at the beginner level. Did you not make an effort to learn Korean? I'll use myself as an example, too. I've studied Korean harder than anyone I know yet still suck at it. That is such a bad feeling. When I say adults (with rare exception) cannot learn languages as well as children, I am absolutely correct. I'm enrolled in the government sponsored Korean Integration Program. I tested into the intermediate level. All of my classmates are foreign brides with Korean husbands. All of them have lived in Korea longer than I have. (For the first class we introduced ourselves and said how long we had been in the country.) My classmates have been in Korea for years, totally immersed in Korean, yet still suck at it. I was shocked by how bad their Korean is, given their circumstances. (And I have twelve classmates, which is a pretty large sample size.) Do I blame them and think they are lazy/losers? Hell no. Why? BECAUSE ADULTS CANNOT LEARN LANGUAGES AS WELL AS CHILDREN. (And yes, I admit there may be anomalies here and there.) I doubt someone who had only studied Korean for nine months would have a level high enough to be a professional interpreter/translator, but hey, maybe it is possible. It is certainly not the norm though. |
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