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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:28 am Post subject: |
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Oh that NA accent, how uniformly perfect it is to the Korean ear.
When I first arrived from Newfoundland, straight out of the sticks, not only was I a horrible teacher of English as a completely foreign language in a completely foreign land, but my accent was from outer space as well.
Now my accent has been modulated and homogenised enough to meet NA standards. I still suck as a teacher, but I sound OK to that well-attenuated and discernible to all accents, Korean ear. |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Freezer Burn wrote: |
Bullsh*t, it is racist and its not just Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland either its Australia and New Zealand as well.
Disregarding a person for a job the way most recruiters in Seoul do, just because we dont have an North American accent is the same as disregarding a black person because the parents are scared of black people. |
No it's nothing like that. Korean parents might be keen to send their children to the US, so it stands to reason that they are not going to want their child to have a burly Glaswegian accent. But let's not forget that in the West we also discriminate against accents. In the UK researchers proved that accents from Liverpool and Newcastle were detrimental in job interviews. It's not surprising that Korean parents wouldn't want their child to fall to Western prejudices about accents. If anything, this dicrimination against certain accents started in the West. Don't pretend it was the responsibility of Koreans. That's nonsensical.
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| We wont deny a qualified Korean worker a job in Australia or NZ if they are eligible for a working visa and qualified for the job, because they have a bloody accent. |
That's an untruth as well. If the candidate has a strong accent he is much more likely to be discriminated against.
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| Its all about suply and demand, my A$$, its insulting, it says that people with a North American acccent are more capable of teaching ESL than someone who doesnt. |
Noone is saying this. What everyone is saying is that Koreans don't want their children aquiring accents that are already discriminated against in the West by Western employers. Your "they think Yanks can teach better" card is a joker.
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| You only have to have a conversation with some NA's (because they are the majority here) to see that some are total freaks, but got a job because of this magical accent they have. |
Different variable altogether. All things being equal a standard NA American accent is the preference of most Korean people, and that isn't remotely racist. If you want to start a thread about usless NA teachers getting jobs in Korea despite being freaks then start a new thread. I'll be on your team. |
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Freezer Burn
Joined: 11 Apr 2005
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:18 am Post subject: |
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| Gwangjuboy wrote: |
| Freezer Burn wrote: |
Bullsh*t, it is racist and its not just Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland either its Australia and New Zealand as well.
Disregarding a person for a job the way most recruiters in Seoul do, just because we dont have an North American accent is the same as disregarding a black person because the parents are scared of black people. |
No it's nothing like that. Korean parents might be keen to send their children to the US, so it stands to reason that they are not going to want their child to have a burly Glaswegian accent. But let's not forget that in the West we also discriminate against accents. In the UK researchers proved that accents from Liverpool and Newcastle were detrimental in job interviews. It's not surprising that Korean parents wouldn't want their child to fall to Western prejudices about accents. If anything, this dicrimination against certain accents started in the West. Don't pretend it was the responsibility of Koreans. That's nonsensical.
Are you from down under, in Aust/NZ we have every accent under the sun, and we recruit people in most industries to help with the multi-culturalism that is growing in our bigger cities.
The only place we would discriminate would be call centre jobs or media work.
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| We wont deny a qualified Korean worker a job in Australia or NZ if they are eligible for a working visa and qualified for the job, because they have a bloody accent. |
That's an untruth as well. If the candidate has a strong accent he is much more likely to be discriminated against.
We might dicriminate, but it wont be the sole reason to deny an application, which is what I am referring to
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| Its all about suply and demand, my A$$, its insulting, it says that people with a North American acccent are more capable of teaching ESL than someone who doesnt. |
Noone is saying this. What everyone is saying is that Koreans don't want their children aquiring accents that are already discriminated against in the West by Western employers. Your "they think Yanks can teach better" card is a joker.
Have you actually had a conversation with a korean, do you not see the total hard-on they have for the american way of life, culture, accent.
Its an automatic assumption by most korean hogwan directors (and by my director) that you need an american accent to teach english effectivly/better, he has even tried to correct my very nuetral now australian accent.
Having also been denied teaching jobs because of not haveing the accent
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| You only have to have a conversation with some NA's (because they are the majority here) to see that some are total freaks, but got a job because of this magical accent they have. |
Different variable altogether. All things being equal a standard NA American accent is the preference of most Korean people, and that isn't remotely racist. If you want to start a thread about usless NA teachers getting jobs in Korea despite being freaks then start a new thread. I'll be on your team. |
LOL we could start with this one guy that lives around my neighbourhood, I get the urge to yell frrreeaaak!!!, but my tact kicks in and I just nod and smile |
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SHANE02
Joined: 04 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:36 am Post subject: |
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Korean parents might be keen to send their children to the US, so it stands to reason that they are not going to want their child to have a burly Glaswegian accent.
What everyone is saying is that Koreans don't want their children aquiring accents that are already discriminated against in the West by Western employers |
I do think that Koreans tend to pick up English easier if they are listening to a NA accent.
However, its foolish for parents to think that their child will "pick up" an accent from their English teacher here in Korea. Surely one must be immersed in English (live overseas) before an accent will develop. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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matthewwoodford
Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Location: Location, location, location.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| stumptown wrote: |
| Generally your accents are too muddled and punctuated with so much cultural slang that no one from any other English speaking country can understand you, so I can understand his decision. |
Feel free to say that as loudly as possible in any Scottish, or Irish or Welsh, pub. They'll understand you even if you don't understand them. 
It looks to me as if the guy the OP came up against was just attempting to justify himself and put down the OP at the same time, rather than explaining an actual 'policy'. Koreans mostly don't know or care about the subtle differences between England and Britain.
I've tried several times to answer questions from Koreans about this with mixed success. The idea of Scotland being a different nation but at the same time part of the same country as England for many purposes is hard to explain. For me anyway... |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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Where? |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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Re: CANADIAN accents. It drives me around the bend to hear people claiming that I say A-BOOT. I don't, but I do consistently say A-BOAT. I've heard other Canadians saying this much more clearly since I came to Korea, and I'm convinced that this is true form of that legendary deviation of the Canucks. There are a few regional Canadianisms that keep popping up, like the way I keeping saying "supper" when I mean "dinner", and no one (including my friends) can understand what I mean.
Re: WELSH accents. I have never had a problem understanding them. Okay, let me clarify that. I find the accent not only comprehensible, but utterly adorable and quite sexy. What I DON'T understand is when they suddenly stop phoning me.
Re: NEW ZEALAND accents. Many of the Kiwis I have met have been quite articulate, but there's a girl from Christchurch who has the oddest vowels I've ever heard. She calls me a "sleppa" (slapper) and I'll be darned if I can ever distinguish between her six/sex/sucks. The Texan girl she's been living with for 10 months has become infected with her dialect and now has a real mongrel of an accent.
Re: AUSTRALIAN accents. Most yobbos can tone it down a little in the classroom, and their accents rarely cause me any problems. The biggest obstacle as ESL teachers is probably their peculiar vocabulary. Bludge a durry? Bar up? It'll be apples? Pardon?
Re: IRISH accents. Koreans should probably appreciate their use of the "r" sound, though many seem to exchange "tree" for "three" and "tink" for "think" which could be unfortunate for students.
Re: SCOTTISH accents. I must agree with previous posters in that Glaswegians are really in a league of their own, and would probably be better off using sign language or semaphor, even with other native speakers of English. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Wangja,
They only hire people with a British education.
It's not racism but from what others are posting here it's exactly the same kind of thing many recruiters are doing. I don't have a problem with it. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| There isn't an english dialect on the planet that I have trouble understanding, be it Glasgow Scots, Geordie, NZ, Aussie, US deep South, Maratime Canadian or South African. Problem for alot of people here is that they are first time out of the nest and haven't been exposed to a wide array of accents. If people took more time to appreciate the diversity of the language, we wouldn't have these trite threads. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Kimchieluver wrote: |
They only hire people with a British education.
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That's just what it says on the advertisements - in reality they will hire citizens of commonwealth countries even without the British education business (the 2 years post-qualification experience requirement can be negotiable too). |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:09 pm Post subject: yes |
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If hell freezes over and people around the world want to learn Korean, how about we only hire people from Seoul. Those Pusan-ites will get the low pay, and the rest of the cities away from Seoul can go without jobs.
Oh yeah, those Jeju-do livers, too bad. We don't want your stinkin' dialect. |
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animalbirdfish
Joined: 04 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| keithinkorea wrote: |
The true enemy of all of us English speakers is the Konglishee teachers here. Koreans want to learn English and it is our job to do it. Korean kids need to be taught to speak clearly and slowly, using a language isn't a race, it is not the quickest talker or the most vocal individual in a conversation that says the most.
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Bingo! Konglish is worse than nails on a chalkboard in my opinion. Blood-curdling sounds.
I really only work with one teacher who's a major offender, but I spend too much time cleaning up her mistakes in my students. It's become my personal mission to abolish Konglish at every turn.
Give me an intelligent Scot anyday. It's a great accent. |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 10:37 pm Post subject: Re: yes |
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| Ilsanman wrote: |
If hell freezes over and people around the world want to learn Korean, how about we only hire people from Seoul. Those Pusan-ites will get the low pay, and the rest of the cities away from Seoul can go without jobs.
Oh yeah, those Jeju-do livers, too bad. We don't want your stinkin' dialect. |
Whadda ya mean!!!!! Once the evil yanks are kicked out and reunification happens, Korea will be so powerful, we will all be learning Hankuk mal!   |
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scarus
Joined: 15 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:14 am Post subject: |
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kimcielover.
british education.... no
british passport.... most often
celta + 2 years... most of the time
not really racism |
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