Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mindmetoo]

Now, if you were writing a textbook and a newspaper was doing an article and they were sending a photographer, would you wear a tshirt that tells the world you consider yourself a male ho:



http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200602/kt2006022116103067670.htm

Now, I'm no Brad Pitt but if I looked like that guy in the picture I wouldn't go around trying to tell the world I'm a mackdaddy, especially when I want to attract the attention of publishers and respectable professor types who will use my book.

Does this guy look like a pick up artist? Would you believe he was a mackdaddy from that picture and tshirt? I mean, I'd be more inclined to believe his tshirt if it said "I was hatched from an egg."

[Big Mac]

Well, if he's mastered Korean, German, French, Spanish and English at 25 he's a genius as far as I'm concerned. He might have poor fashion sense because he's had his nose buried in a textbook his whole life.

[Peeping Tom]

I'm not shy about it...that's me in the picture. Actually, when I saw it today I was a little confused why they would choose such an ugly picture of me to put in the paper, but since I can no longer do anything about it, whatever. I prefer the camera angled down at me, as you'll notice on my webpage http://cyworld.nate.com/darrell. You'll also notice that I haven't added many pictures lately except those related to Korea's, Japan's, and apparently my own obsession with poop.

You liked the "mackdaddy" shirt? I specifically wore that for the picture, actually. If you read the article, you'd realize that I'm not looking for a publisher or any professors yet. In fact, it'll be at least a year before I'm at that stage, and I highly doubt any publisher will remember that picture from the back pages of a year-old newspaper.

Anyway, on a side note, I must be the first person to ever have a newspaper article written about them for planning to write a grammar book!

[vox]

Hey it's great that you're writing a book geared to the English speaker learning Korean. I learned a lot in my first year even though it all came from memorizing phrases and polishing pronunciation to sing in a Korean choir. But I wanted to ask your opinion about something I like to speculate on...

In the article you suggested Korean shares so little with European languages. Yet the Portuguese were here (in the 16th century?) and brought the pepper, and possibly the words minya (Port. menina) and bebuda (Port. bebedo) I have always wondered if they brought nothing back? If early exposure to Korean hadn't affected certain parts of European writing as well. The example I like to point to is a certain literary form used by poets where the S-V-O order is switched to facilitate rhyming. The same is done in the lyrics of old English hymns (to allow them to rhyme) I wonder if the freedom to do that might not have come from encountering Korean grammar, (e.g. a sort of early-fascination-with-the-East form of imitation.) Here's an example of a modern poet evoking that old way of speaking.

Frost
Ethelwyn Wetherald

When the sun is growing weaker,
And his look is meek and meeker,
Comes the frost-- the pale betrayer--
Light of foot, a stealthy slayer.

In the night abroad he stealeth,
For each trembling leaf he feeleth;
Something softened by its pleading,
Kills it not but leaves it bleeding.

Just speculation but what do you think? Is the second stanza not close to the way it would have been said in Korean? Because there are tonnes of old lyrics formed this way.

[mindmetoo]

[Demophobe]

[voth]

It does seem odd that they would choose to write an article about someone planning a book. As for the other posters comments, if you're going to be interviewed for anything, try not to wear a t-shirt for an interview.

Off topic: Personally I would like to see a textbook that focuses on writing Korean from a childs perspective. Written in English that slowly builds vocabulary and that is followed by simple sentence structure, and completed sentences and/or phrases. In addition in the early chapters I would like to see step by step strokes for writing Hangul.

[jinju]

[xtchr]

I've never even heard of the term 'mackdaddy' (American slang?) before, so I assume that neither will most of the readers of the newspaper article.

And given the nonsense that many Koreans wear on their own t-shirts, it seems a little bit precious to complain about the 'mackdaddy' one. Although I agree that wearing a t-shirt at work never seems very professional, regardless of the message emblazoned on it.

[Hater Depot]

[Peeping Tom]

[mithridates]

[jinju]

[mithridates]

[jinju]