Korean Job Discussion Forums

Trinny · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

KOK raised some good points.

I wanted to add to his post a little bit. Translating Korean to English takes a lot of logical thinking as well as solid knowledge in English language, as written English seems to be more to the point and lucid, as opposed to the Korean's written tradition of "beating the bushes around."

I am writing this at the risk of being anal or critical of Koreans. I've have seen very few Koreans with decent writing skills in their first language. They usually write one thing and then expect the English translation to be something different, but to begin with their writings in Korean are more than likely bunch of babbles that need substantial editing.

mokpochica · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI

That's interesting Trinny. I've never translated something from Korean to English, but have edited a lot of papers (for teachers at my school) in English (some of them translated from Korean/some of them originally written in English or Konglish). Most of them are very literal translations of the Korean and I find that I have to correct not only mistakes in syntax, but also lots of punctuation errors. I also have to group ideas into paragraphs, and sometimes add an introductory or conclusive statement/paragraph. Then I wonder if it sounds like the original Korean at all?!

I've wondered if this was just considered acceptable writing in Korean--if it was a different style of writing? Or if I'm just dealing with people who aren't very good writers. I have to agree though, the majority of Koreans whose work I have edited seem to not have good writing skills in their first language

What are Korean classes like in Korea schools? Do they focus more on reading than writing? Is it important for Korean people to be able to write research papers, etc. in Korea?

And why do they often write like this.

Making a new paragraph for every sentence.

I've tried to tell my students to group the sentences that have the same idea into paragraphs.

But they just don't seem to get it.

Just wondering where they are coming from...

Trinny · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

Seth Gecko · Joined: 11 Feb 2003

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

From a self confessed buffoon that I am, I have a question regarding the Korean language: Why is it Koreans always seem to be contradicting themselves?

My Korean girlfriend does this all the time. She will say some thing like," this is really terrible, but it's not that bad at all".

I can't think of any other examples at the moment, but I often have to step back and say, what the hell is she trying to say?

Anyone else notice this kind of thing?

As for Korean being longer than English, I think (my own theory) that Koreans associate wordiness with intelligence. They think that if they can say something in a really long drawn out way, it will make them sound intelligent.

Have you ever used "Korean through English"? If you have, you will remember several times when you were reading the "English" explanation for some grammmatical point or other. After reading it, You think, What the hell is this? You read it over and over, trying to figure out what the author was trying to get across. After you think about it for a long time you realize that he was just trying to sound "educated". He could have said the same thing much more simply, in one sentence but instead, he chose to write a short paragraph in which he tries to elaborate his position.

Often, I find words that are not really English at all, pseudo- grammatical terms that don't really even exist in any grammar book I've ever read.

I am not trying to be critical here, just wondering if anyone else has noticed this.

Cheers

Seth Gecko · Joined: 11 Feb 2003

Hey! I think I made my up my mind to quit working in March ('04) and start taking Korean classes at Sogang University! I'm going to get my Korean friend to check out the details for me after Chusok, but I'm ready to put two years of hard work into this.

So, in March 2006 I will be fluent. Woo-hoo!

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

Please criticize me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me Koreans pick up at best two-thirds of what another Korean says to them -- there's a lot of vagary built into the language. I've tried to help edit numerous thesis abstracts & 'vague' is the operative term. Vague, wordy, & obtuse. Paragraphing & punctuation? Forget it. I'd love to see some incisive korean writng in english, but havent yet.