Korean Job Discussion Forums

[matthews_world]

[Cedar]

In 6.5 years in Korea I've heard it THOUSANDS of times. And, you know what? I agree! Of course it takes a long time and a lot of effort to speak fluently, but anyone who's in Korea on a year contract should, in my opinion, make an effort to learn polite phrases, how to understand prices, and a bit of small talk- you know, where you are from, and the food is delicious, and all that.

[William Beckerson]

I've only heard it from the girlfriend when she's tired and doesnt want to speak English.

"Okay," I tell her, "speak Korean and I'll just nod in agreement"

[crazylemongirl]

[Vince]

If you live there, you should make an effort to learn the language. What bothers me is when you do make that effort, and people get uncomfortable with the foreigner with the foothold and start purposely going over your head. I've had that happen a few times.

[itaewonguy]

man I gave up years ago..
I mastered reading and writing in the first few days...
then I tried speaking, but people would always say NE NE NE!!
I was saying it properly but it has to be sooooo PERFECT because they have no logic to guess what you are saying, even though you are holding up the beer bottle saying MEKJU CHUSAYO!! they are like NE NE NE..
so years of that, dealing with stupid koreans,I gave it up..
not I bust their balls and expect them to speak English, everywhere I go now, ok im not that bad just sometimes , I will ask, order, everything in English...hahahahaha especially to young people 20-30 because they should speak English..

I hate the ones who were English Majors in UN and cant speak English..

so when people tell me you must speak Korean, I say NO!!
you should speak English!! because if you travel to USA, or Italy, or Germany, or greece, you think they speak korean????
no they will use ENGLISH!!!

BUT you are in Korea you must speak korean?.. arhhhhhhh NO I DONT!!
because I dont need to.. I can speak enough to order food drink, if I get lost understand directions, and tell someone how I feel if Im sick...
all my friends can speak English so...
but if you want to make conversation with a korean>?
why would I want to that!!! ahahhahaahah

and then I say , well all the koreans want to practice their English with me,.. and if koreans come to Itaewon and they say you should speak English, I say HELLO!! do you know where you are now!!! this is itaewon..
THIS IS KOREA!! ummmm NO! this is ITAEWON!!! sorry buddy!!!
okok Im joking!! I dont learn Korean because I am too busy, and cant really be bothered... maybe LAZY , also If I was going to spent time in learning a language I would learn spanish or Italian, somethng that can be used around the world.. korean is only good here!
anyway I get by, I wish I was fluent, but I wont be..
I dont care..
I have a smart ass answer for them all the time...
of course I am wrong, but I wont let them no that..

[jajdude]

I am with you itaewonguy.... I know what I am trying to say often enough but even slightly imperfect pronunciation can seem incomprehensible to many people. Remember way back when before you travelled to foreign lands, though, and you probably could not understand lousy English either, right? Now as EFL teachers we become masters at deciphering lousy English, which still would be totally unintelligible to 99% of the native speakers back home, wherever that is. I've met a few Koreans who spoke what I thought was very good English, and they told me that in the US or Canada or wherever the native speakers would have trouble understanding them too! So indeed it goes to show a foreign language (and a foreign face) can make one hard..................................... lol

[The Hamster]

I have had two people tell me that I needed to speak Korean because I was in Korea. I looked at them and said "Dang she noon babo da" I told them they were stupid. It is funny--no one tells me to speak Korean anymore

I actually met a Korean who had gone to the States. She came back for a two month vacation. I was talking to her and I asked her how long she had been there (the states). She said 10 years. This woman could hardly speak English. It was mainly convuluted Konglish. I asked her why she did not learn English since she had been living there for a long time. She actually said because "I am Korean and I live with Koreans and my community is Korean." And Koreans tell us to speak Korean when we are here hahaha!! All the English speakers should create their own community in Korea, thus eliminating any need to speak Korean.

Languages are double edged swords. Somethimes they can get you. I hate it when I pronounce something correctly and they act like they do not know what I said. These same people try to get me to pronounce out the word slowly and it sounds just like I said it. I get them back by making them pronounce out words in English if they are a little off. My favorites are the words that have "r's" and "l's" in them. Or heaven forbid we use Korean incorrectly. I don't care if it's not perfect the point is to communicate that I want something!! So when they use improper English I pretend that I do not understand them.

Of course the same thing can happen to someone from Korea going abroad. My Korean friend went to New York. While there he ate out frequently. On one outing he ordered Milk. The waiter could not understand him. Mind you the guy said milk correctly. The waiter just did not expect him to know Engllish.

Another peeve, when people say that you should learn Korean because you are in Korea they just want to talk to you in English anyway so why bother?
Or, if they know that you know how to speak and read Korean they always point out things in Korean and want you to read it for them. Then they act like it is a miracle--the foreigner read Korean--and it was good!
Sometimes I feel like a puppy that they have brought home to amuse them It is at this point that I impress them even further by pointing at them and saying "Il-bone Saram." They say no. no, you mean Han-guk saram. I just say aneeyo--il-bone saram.

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

Well, I can speak Korean, and I got to a point last year where I was sick of people always staring at me in amazement when I said the most rudimentary phrase, so these days I keep it to a minimum.

A lot of the younger people (usually guys) were quite put off because my Korean was better than their English. That's why I started studying Korean in the first place. It's an ugly language, but I like feeling smarter than those around me. Like Gord

Anyway, these days I like to have a little fun with the language. It's actually gotten me a lot of strange -- sometimes evil -- stares. I expect it though. I do the same thing when some punk kid walks by with his friend(s) and speaks goofy English. The difference is that I'm deriding the entire nation in their front yard. And they don't like it. No sir, they don't.

I'd recommend this to anyone who gets annoyed by constantly being stared at. If they're going to look, at least give them a reason to look angry:

Mix your English and Korea into a sort of reverse Konglish. Here's a sample.

"That no good wonjangnim of mine is one mean gaeseaggi. I hope he rots in ohjik."

note: say this slowly for desired results (scowls and gaping pie holes)