Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

These days, taxi drivers are generally the only people who have difficulty understanding my Korean. I've got down left, right and straight perfectly, as well as train station. But, it never fails that I must repeat. Also, I'd say at least 70% of the time when I say "oreunjjok" and point to the right, the driver will say "wenjjok?" and start turning left. I'm completely serious, too, about the percentage.

The other day I needed to get somewhere that was in downtown Shintanjin and near the train station. He asked me where to go, and I said "Shinnae". "Odi shinnae??" "Shintanyok keuncheoeh issoyo." "Ahh.. Shintanyok?" "Ani ani, shintanyok KEUNCHEOEH jom gaseyo." "Shintanyok?" "Sigh..." So then we get near the station and I say "shintanyok majeunpyeoneh oreunjjok gaseyo", and what does he do? Stops in front of the station. Then I repeated it to him, he still didn't understand. I pointed to the right and said "gaseyo". He got flustered and pointed to the station and said "Shintanyok!!" So I asked him if he speaks Korean, then repeated the sentence very slowly to him saying "arayo?" after every word.

Ohhh he was pissed. He went off on me the rest of the ride and when I paid him he yelled at me to get out of his cab. I recalled the scenario to my Korean co-teachers and they both understood exactly what I meant.

It's weird. I think cab drivers also don't know what an address is, but that's another story.

So, I voted 3 times, since that's the average times I must repeated anything to a cab driver.

[thekingofdisco]

That's quite funny! I don't really have any problems with the cabbies. Perhaps it is your pronunciation? I find the children and the grandads/grandmothers to be worst - they just look at you and assume you can't speak Korean, so you have to be completely spot on with the pronunciation and say it twice.



Once I came across a cab driver who couldn't understand what i was saying, it turns out I was saying the place name perfectly correctly (he was only familiar with the busan dialect though, and the name was really different!) Somethings you just can't get right!

[blunder1983]

I can vouch that Quinella's spoken korean is the best I've heard from a foreigner since I got here.

I find that they do TRY but seem to find my accent unintelligable. EVERY time I goto Carrefour I have the following conversation.

Me: Annyonghaseyo
Me: Car-re-poo
Taxi man: ???
Me: CAR-RE-POO
Taxi man: ???
Me: Sigh, Inha Dei
(we go past Carrefour on the way)
Me: (pointing) CAR-RE-POO!!
Taxi man:AHH Car-re-poo!

GRR, 90% of them are friendly and try to be helpful, but a foreigner person speaking the language seems to be too much for them!

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

I have the same problem....I think they are just initially shocked. Now I just write my address in Korean and show it to them because it has become quite a pain repeating it and I just want to get home quickly.

[pet lover]

If they don't see me get in and don't turn around or look in the mirror, they understand me perfectly the first time. If they see me, I always have to repeat it at least once....or confirm when they repeat it.

[astroboyfan]

Rarely have a problem and my korean sucks.

[komtengi]

[junkmail]

[Gopher]

I carry a cheat sheet that a Korean friend wrote for me. Easily intelligible written phrases. Very big writing.

It still confuses some of the drivers.

I've also shown my ARC to several of these confused drivers. Two of them had no idea where to go, even though Korean friends assure me that the ID clearly states my address, and it's on a well-known street, in a well-known marketplace...

I think your typical everyday Korean simply cannot wake up and think outside of his or her day to day, unconsicous life routine...langauge or pronounciation has little to do with it. Most people sleep through their lives and only confused or angry if you ask them to actually think about something. Korean taxi drivers seem to be firmly planted in this group.

Luckily, I sort of know my way around and can get by with just pointing with some of the more churlish drivers.

One taxi driver, though, spoke a little English. He asked me what other languages I spoke and I told him Spanish. Wereupon he said the very worst "hola" and "gracias" I've ever heard in my entire life. It was something like "glah-see-us-ee." I didn't have the heart to correct him. "A" for effort.

[pet lover]

Well, I say my address many, many, many times...so I've got it down pat. Plus, my address now is just ONE syllable different from my address at my previous job...so I've had over a year and a half of practicing this one particular phrase.

[schwa]

Can I suggest simply adding -yo to a taxi request?

I think it signals to the driver youre confident about stating where youre going. ("Shi-nae" is too blunt. "Shi-nae-yo" is nicer & suggests you know your way around.)

[rapier]

Yes..they cannot understand the simplest direction, even if you have rehearsed and practised the correct pronunciation for years. They will ask you to repeat it..without fail! Why is this?


a) They are not used to hearing foreigners speak their language.
b) They are too shocked to have a foreigner sit in their cab to pay attention to what you're saying.
c) They want to assert themselves over any passengers in their cab.
d) They automatically respond with a touch of beligerence to any invading foreigner in their country.
e) There are always several places nearby with identical or near identical place names.
f) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

[saw6436]

My wife and I were just talking about this very thing. My Korean is not all that great but I speak well enough to get around. I do have a Chollanam-do accent which confuses some people. The wife (Korean) tells me she usually has to clarify directions 3 or 4 times during the ride.
I think alot of this business with Taxi drivers is that since IMF in 1998, alot of people turned to being a taxi driver as a way to make a living with minimal investment. In short, alot of drivers are NOT professional taxi drivers. Pretty much I find that few drivers here in Daejeon actually know where anything is or how to get there. Personally I have never had a problem in some of the smaller cities anywhere in Korea.
This whole idea extends to alot of businesses beyond taxi drivers. A couple of years ago I was remodeling my kitchen and I needed a pipe adaptor. My new faucet pipe connections were 15mm and the actual water pipe was 20mm. Made a nice drawing for what I needed, drove over to the biggest hardware store in the city, and had the owner laugh at me saying that no such thing exists all the while he is trying to show me how to install a faucet. Grrrr.
Just walk around (this has been commented numerous times and on numerous threads) and watch these small shops open and close in a matter of months. Korea seems to be the land of the turnkey business and taxis are no exception. People get an idea they want to do XYZ. They do a little study. Then they throw in and open a new business without any real knowledge of their product or how to run a business.
It seems to be the way stuff gets done here.
Korea, the land that planning forgot.

[keithinkorea]

[Hyeon Een]

Are the numbers for 1 and 2 (sino-korean style) really so similar? I can understand people misunderstanding 30,000 and 40,000 coz they sound so damn similar ("sam man" and "sa man") if spoken very quickly, but I would have thought "il" and "i" were quite different.

I lived in ABC "1" building, NOT 2

I used to get in a taxi and say: "ABC il cha yo"

The taxi driver would say "ABC i cha yo?"

And I would say "Anieo, ABC IL cha ga chu sae yo"

And he'd say "Ye, ABC i cha" again.

I'd then say "Anieo, ABC HAN-cha" (Should that be 'hana?' I don't know, but I think the 'han' was correct.. please tell me if I'm wrong..)

And he'd say "Wae?" and I'd say "A B C HA-NA cha".

And he'd say "Ohhhh ABC one cha, ok!"

How do "il" and "i" sound so similar when pronounced by me.. I don't get it.. sigh.

-HE