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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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 Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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| chiaa wrote: |
Maybe we can sue them for "mental damage" for signs in bad English!
We would all be rich and never have to work another day in our lives...
http://www.whatthebook.com |
I'll sue them for 'mental damage' for the smell of jonggukjang. |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:48 am Post subject: yes |
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Some uneducated idiots are whining because they are either too stupid or too lazy to learn basic English.
I equate this to some foreigners who come to Korea, don't study, and complain that they can't understand Korean and that there is a lack of English. Look where you are, buddy!! |
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hellofaniceguy
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: On your computer screen!
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 1:01 am Post subject: |
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| This nonsense just proves how fubar koreans are. |
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Cymro
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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I was pleased to see that laws are in place to protect the Korean language in this way.
I've often thought that an ideal law would be that Hangul shouldn't be used to express foreign words on signs. We all know that English, among many other languages, can't be expressed correctly in Hangul. Businesses would think twice before giving themselves a foreign name that the locals won't be able to read and would probably dislike.
Outcome: Korean businesses with Korean names.
And the beginning of the end of Konglish as we know it? |
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chiaa
Joined: 23 Aug 2003
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Cymro wrote: |
I was pleased to see that laws are in place to protect the Korean language in this way.
I've often thought that an ideal law would be that Hangul shouldn't be used to express foreign words on signs. We all know that English, among many other languages, can't be expressed correctly in Hangul. Businesses would think twice before giving themselves a foreign name that the locals won't be able to read and would probably dislike.
Outcome: Korean businesses with Korean names.
And the beginning of the end of Konglish as we know it? |
Should it not be up to the companies to decide if they want to deal with the locals not liking their name or their advertisement in English? This is not emergency information, people should have the right to advertise their comany as they see fit. If a company wants to have their logo or advertisment in English, it should be up to them. If their is any backlash from the public because of this, they deal with it on a company level. Lose money, their fault.
So nice that the Korean government controls businesses a little bit further. Imagine if they did this in your home country or if the Korean stores in NYC were not allowed to be all in Korean! There would be a riot and a tent village in front of the US embassy. |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: yes |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
Some uneducated idiots are whining because they are either too stupid or too lazy to learn basic English.
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That is ridiculous. are you suggesting that companies in america or australia or wherever should be able to have signs only in chinese for example
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that joe public shouldn't whine because they should just learn "basic" chinese??
you also compared it to foreigners complaining of coming to korea and complaining about not being able to read korean signs. This too is ridiculous.. This is Korea, the language is Korean. The foreigner as you rightly state has no right to expect 100% english signage. But to denying locals expectations to be able to read signs in their native language is a completely different issue. |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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Surely a liiiiiiiiiittle more English learning couldn't hurt Korea...I speak Korean like a retarded circus clown and my Korean is a hundred times better than the Inguhlisheee of 99% of the Koreans I meet. English is, um, how you say un petit peu d'importance? This is, ah comment-dit-on more xenophobic hatred? I mean, most Koreans can't even count to ten in English.
"Uuaaone, tooo, tree, poh, paiibuh, shikusuh, sebun, aiituh, naiiiun, tiiin, eleben, twenty, shirty, pohtiin, pipuhtin, shikusuhtii, uhhh, teacher pass, pass."
"But you're a senior in university! You've been studying for 14 years! "
"Teachuh, I am no."
" Yes, yes, you are no. So am I."
Truth hurts. |
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Cedar
Joined: 11 Mar 2003
Location: In front of my computer, again.
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
"Uuaaone, tooo, tree, poh, paiibuh, shikusuh, sebun, aiituh, naiiiun, tiiin, eleben, twenty, shirty, pohtiin, pipuhtin, shikusuhtii, uhhh, teacher pass, pass."
"But you're a senior in university! You've been studying for 14 years! "
"Teachuh, I am no."
" Yes, yes, you are no. So am I."
Truth hurts. |
oooh very funny. Unfortunately, I think as long as we are in Korea, they have the right to say shirty instead of thirteen, and as I already said, how would you like the emergency services to arrive late cause they couldn't figure out the directions because of signs written in what, realistically, is a foreign langauge here? |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
| . English is, um, how you say un petit peu d'importance? This is, ah comment-dit-on more xenophobic hatred? I mean, most Koreans can't even count to ten in English. |
English sure isn't important to the vast majority of Koreans who will live in Korea all their lives and probably never need to communicate with foreigners (except for the occasional South East Asian employee at their factory, who usually ends up fluent in Korean after 3 months). I'm sure most Koreans keep that in mind when they study English, which would explain 'wan, two, sree, poh...". Sorry if I offend you, but claiming English is important to Koreans reeks of self-importance and linguistic pride. I think you should have said instead that English is 'pourrait leur être utile" (could be useful to them).
By the way, "un petit peu d'importance" is a an almost direct translation from English which has a different meaning than what you intended. When you use "avoir (to have) peu d'importance", or "peu important", you're saying it's unimportant. I think you meant "être (to be) d'une certaine importance" ('to be of some importance'). Don't you think it's ironic that you criticize Koreans for using Konglish, when you in turn write in Franglais?  |
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chiaa
Joined: 23 Aug 2003
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 12:41 am Post subject: Re: yes |
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| Mashimaro wrote: |
| Ilsanman wrote: |
Some uneducated idiots are whining because they are either too stupid or too lazy to learn basic English.
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That is ridiculous. are you suggesting that companies in america or australia or wherever should be able to have signs only in chinese for example
AND
that joe public shouldn't whine because they should just learn "basic" chinese??
you also compared it to foreigners complaining of coming to korea and complaining about not being able to read korean signs. This too is ridiculous.. This is Korea, the language is Korean. The foreigner as you rightly state has no right to expect 100% english signage. But to denying locals expectations to be able to read signs in their native language is a completely different issue. |
It should not be a question of if people in Korea should learn English to read these signs/logos, it is a question of how the companies want to spend their advertising dollars. Companies should be allowed to advertise any way that they want, in any language that they want. Why does any democratic government have to control in what language these companies advertise? If an American company advertises in Chinese and not able to get good branding because of it, it is the companies problem, not anyone elses. For them to do so would be stupid, but it should be their right to do so. I bet there are a million sign only in Korean in Korea town in NYC. It is their choice to do that.65
On the other hand, for safety information that comes with a product, it should be in the languages of that given country. Public health is at stake here. If the citizens of Korea do not like the fact that a company is using English to promote their products, then they should not buy their products. If they are not able to understand the product because it is English, then that is the companies own stupidity.
I remember when the the American movie Signs came out here. They advertised it as �� or something like that. What differnce did it make when it was written in Koean? It made no sense to Koreans as that is not a Korean word or if it is it has a different meaning. |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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Cedar, it's not funny. It's reality. It's my reality. Every damn day.
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| how would you like the emergency services to arrive late cause they couldn't figure out the directions because of signs written in what, realistically, is a foreign langauge here? |
I think that the emergency services would be far more likely to arrive late because pig-headed Korean drivers don't get out of the way for ambulances and fire trucks. Why? Because it's all they know. They have no idea that there could be a better way of doing things because ideas like consideration for others and respectable public behaviour don't come from the Korean media. They come in English.
Ok, ok Hollywoodaction. My French ain't the best. I come from Vancouver, we have almost no French people. But I can read a newspaper and have a relatively in-depth conversation. Koreans can't do that in English. I know that French and English are very similar and that Koreans can and do pick up Japanese very easily but that ignores the fact that English is still numero uno. No, I don't speak any damn Spanish.
Hollywoodaction, you're looking at the small picture. Imagine a Korea that was integrated into the global economy and welcomed foreigners with open arms. Imagine a Korea that had more foreigners than us, the GI's, the expats and the 3D's. Wouldn't that be great? Why accept one of the worst aspects of this country? It's a chicken and the egg argument. Why is English useless in Korea? Because Koreans are useless at learning English.
The fact that they call themselves language students and put zero effort into their courses and then expect to be taken seriously on a global level IS hurting their economy. Korean university degrees are useless internationally and Koreans are increasingly linguistically isolated. Their tourist industry is non-existant, their economy is missing out on global trends and Korea is increasingly seen (by those who have heard of it at all) as a blinkered country obsessed with the past. Have you ever been in a Korean university? Do you know how little emphasis is placed on English learning? Do you know why there are so many graduates out there that cannot demonstrate a single thing that they studied in their majors? Because that's the way it's always been.
Saying that the Koreans have it all figured out, their educational system is great and that they should be lauded for their efforts to defend their language ignores the trenchant realities of Korean life. Koreans are overworked, manipulated by their government and media and constrained by their insular nature. Why? Because they can't understand the news in English, they have no influx of progressive ideas. Why don't things get better? Because this is all they know. Korea needs to improve and move forward. They ain't getting the job done this way. |
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Zenpickle
Joined: 06 Jan 2004
Location: Anyang -- Bisan
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| jurassic5 wrote: |
well damn...if these people are so mad about outside billboards...
how come it's so hard to find T-shirts written in Korean? i went to yonsei...the only thing they had written in korean in the gift shop was a bumper sticker. al their shirts and sweaters etc, had everything in English. For being so nationalistic and having great pride in korea, you would think more things here in korea would be written in korean (store signs, shirts etc). |
I have T-shirts written in Korean on my web site. 
[/shameless plug] |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| chiaa wrote: |
Maybe we can sue them for "mental damage" for signs in bad English!
We would all be rich and never have to work another day in our lives...
http://www.whatthebook.com |
I like this idea.
"Dear Sirs,
While I love your restaurant to death, your name, "Donkey Fried Chicken," insults me. It's just sooooo stupid. I'll see your ass in court."
Sparkles*_* |
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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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| Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2004 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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You people do realize that this is an attempt by the government to set up a massive class-action lawsuit against all the native English speaking teachers here.
They've said that English causes mental damage... guess what we're teaching? Oh... this could be very bad for all of us.
Anyway, in the northeast corner of DC and Maryland, there are signs all over the place in a dozen different languages. If you can't read it, you walk in and ask what their business is. If you're too lazy to do that, you go elsewhere.
Stop complaining about signs Korea... maybe you could try doing something useful like providing trash cans around the cities or god forbid, keep your economy from going the way of the dodo. |
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marista99
Joined: 05 Jun 2004
Location: Incheon
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| Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2004 12:12 am Post subject: Re: yes |
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| chiaa wrote: |
| Companies should be allowed to advertise any way that they want, in any language that they want. Why does any democratic government have to control in what language these companies advertise? If an American company advertises in Chinese and not able to get good branding because of it, it is the companies problem, not anyone elses. For them to do so would be stupid, but it should be their right to do so. I bet there are a million sign only in Korean in Korea town in NYC. It is their choice to do that. |
Ah, my Western friend, but haven't you figured out yet that Korean concepts of free speech, and of freedom in general, are different from the first amendment entitlements that I (and maybe you also) grew up with?
In my experience, there doesn't seem to be much of the attitude that we find so often back in the States that you "should" be able to do pretty much whatever you want. They really just don't think like that here. Plus I'd guess there's a whole other level here that we, as native speakers of THE current international language, would have a hard time understanding. And it probably has a lot to do with people in high places feeling threatened by the English they see all over the place, and wondering if someday Korean will disappear completely. Irrational or not, these laws are a reaction to that fear that English is edging out Korean as the main language of Korea. |
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