Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ilsanman]

As anyone who has studied Korean, you know that there are 'levels of speech.' Lower and higher, depending on relationships of the people speaking, age, and other factors.

Anyways, I get this mentality that speaking 'jondaemal' (���븻), or the higher level of speech must be very difficult for Koreans. It is so hard to throw a 'yo' on the end of sentences to save disrespecting someone.

I was at Yongsan today, and the 1st guy I talked to was good and nice. He spoke half Korean and half English. He treated me like a customer, and as an equal.

The 2nd guy spoke down to me. I know why. Because I'm a foreigner. It pissed me off. I asked him '�������� �ݸ��̾�?' and walked away.

The moral of the story is, if you can add a 'yo' on the end of your sentence, you might make a sale. The 1st guy got my business.


The kids too. They seem to want to speak down to me. I am talking between 8-13 year old students. I have kicked so many kids out of class for it. I have written it in my teacher's book and shown it to my partner teachers. They react like 'oh my God, I can't believe it!!!'. But it happens.

Something about being a foreigner, I guess, we don't deserve respect.


Juts a rant. Reply if you wish.

[The Kung Fu Hustle]

I try to instill it in my kids as much as possible, just to save them a beating when they do it to a Korean in later life. They're just kids though and still learning, sometimes it's because they feel so close to you it's like you're a friend so they use �ݸ� habitually.

Same goes for me, I'm a beginner in Korean and when I feel close to a person or I'm having fun, i just somehow automatically drop off the ��s. People are understanding about it to me so unless it's as vicious as the example you quoted above, I think we should all just let it slide a little.

[billybrobby]

[Hater Depot]

A 5th grade girl once bowed to me very deeply and intoned, "�ȳ�".

I chewed her out. Didn't smack her but I should have.

[Swiss James]

before you start hitting 5th grade kids, why don't you cast your mind back to the West and think of whether you've ever noticed kids forgetting to say "Please" or "Thankyou"?

[peony]

korean kids/people are taught that in the west, age isnt a factor in who can be friends (unlike in korea where your 'friends' are people your own age and anyone younger or older is given a different title)

also, in english there is no honorific form of speech

instead of thinking that its because they are out to disrespect you (although im sure that is true sometimes as well) you might also keep in mind that they might be thinking in terms of you and your culture and that the normal honorific spoken to another korean might not be necessary with you

[Gwangjuboy]

Good post. I happen to know that your Korean is quite advanced, and those who don't really speak Korean past ordering beers shouldn't really be commenting here. Many times, Koreans speak banmal to me in a customer service environment. Of course, many foreigners might not be aware, but even older Koreans should not speak banmal to customers in that situation. (especially big franchises like KTF etc). I have been told by Korean friends that some Koreans speak banmal to foreigners because they think the foreigner won't understand. There is also a perception that we don't have joendaemal in English, so they feel that can speak in banmal to us (even though they are speaking their own language) This is what I say,

�� �𸣴»�� ���׹ݸ� ����? �ѱ����� �̷��� �ൿ�ϸ� ���������ʾƿ�?

[SuperHero]

[chronicpride]

[JongnoGuru]

[Privateer]

I get the feeling sometimes one of the problems for Korean students is the lack of explicitly formed speech levels in English. On the one hand they might think 'There's no speech levels or honorifics and age isn't important? Cool! It's like a language with only panmal!'; or on the other hand they might think 'I want to come across as educated and well-mannered but how on earth can I do it in this language when there's no jondaemal?' so they just freeze up.

This is pure speculation on my part and could be horse excrement but I sometimes wonder if the thought process doesn't work something like that.

[chronicpride]

[Zyzyfer]

Sheeit, I'm happy if they speak �ݸ� to me, because then I can figure out what they're saying. And if kids do it, I figure they're down. I'd growl at a kid for a pretentious �ȳ��Ͻʴϱ� long before I'd growl at a kid for a cheery �ȳ�!

Now, customer service, another story, and I refer to what chronicpride said.

[Ilsanman]

Do you honestly believe I am wrong? So if he spoke politely to the korean before me, and spoke rudely to me, what is the #1 difference between me and the other customer.

[crazylemongirl]

I don't tolerate that much banmal from my kids. But if they don't say please and thank you then they are in for an earbashing. My boys know better than to ask for something without a 'please' and recieve something without a 'thank you'