Korean Job Discussion Forums

DJTwoTone

I'm working on a pamphlet for the students in my district. They don't often have the opportunity to talk with non-Koreans. When they do, it usually amounts to "HowareyouI'mfinethankyouandyou", and then a giggle and a dash for safety.
The idea I had was to give them helpful hints on how to behave in these situations. Here are some ideas that I had, but any more would be greatly appreciated.

- It��s OK to talk to non-Koreans in English and/or speak English to your friends on the street.

- Non-Koreans are not very different from you

- Do not say something, giggle and run away
i.e. Hi, Hello
What��s your name?
Welcome to Korea.
HowareyouI��mfinethankyouandyou.
Nice to meet you.

-Some non-Koreans can speak Korean. If you ask them, they will let you know.

- Remember, ��Nice to meet you�� is only used when you meet someone for the first time. After that, you should use ��Nice to see you.��

- It is common to shake someone��s hand when you meet them for the first time.

I have some others that are bubbling around in my head, but i need to put them into the right words. I also used non-korean instead of foreigner... I'm just having one of those days where I take offence to that word, I'll probably change it back.

Anyway, any suggestions would be great. I plan on having some of the kids illustrate the pointers, and we'll put it into a nice little pamphlet or something.

L8r

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Post this on the GDB and you could expect a bunch of people telling you to teach them that saying anything at all is rude. The point about not giggling and running away is very good. Most Korean kids I've had conversations with are very interested in my work - and when I tell them I'm a high / middle school teacher they're usually disappointed that they don't have a foreigner at their school. If they have had FTs (usually at hogwan) they're also interested in telling you about them; some of the candid descriptions I've got have been pretty funny. Tell them that most foreigners know nothing about Korean actors and little about Korean singers, but are interested in talking about Korea's soccer, baseball, and short-track teams.

I'd also recommend that you stress that they only approach foreigners in the right context. Passing by on the street isn't a good place. On the subway, in a bus, in line-ups, etc. works a lot better. Korean kids also feel much safer talking to foreigners in small groups, and this lets them pool their English.

The one thing to bear in mind is that some foreigners for whatever reason think that Korean teenagers are all rude little pricks (when nothing could be further from the truth) and you should try to be careful not to set them up for a bad experience with rude, bitter whities.

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

For heaven's sake,

Teach them to say "Excuse me" before trying to initiate a conversation.

There is nothing more annoying than walking down the street and having some "perhaps well meaning but naive" Korean kid scream "Hello, nice to meet you" when you are passing by. Then giggle and run away.

I am not meeting them, it just comes off as plain rude.

Why not teach them something like," Excuse me, could I talk to you for a minute"?

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

this is good, i might steal your idea...
here are two things i thought of. first, dont wait until the whitey has walked 20 feet past you to yell hi...
second, if one person in the group says hi, that usually counts for all people, dont have everyone individually say hi and expect to get 8 individual hi's in return. just one hi is enough... i hate that
korean kid a: hi
me: hi
korean kid b: hi
me: hi
korean kid c: hi
me:....
korean kid d: hi
me: (getting annoyed)
korean kid e: hi
.....

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

We should teach them its proper when addressing foriegners to give them money as a "nice to meet you" present Smile

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

and paper money is much more preferable than stingy-a$$ metal money.

peppermint · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:42 pm Post subject:

Might be worth mentioning that "crazy" isn't the massive insult that Koreans seem to think it is, at least not in English (I've had a morning of "Teacher! he crazy!!!!")

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Engage in conversation with a foreigner after you've gained eye contact with them and perhaps smiling. IF you haven't done that, then a foreigner tends to be taken by surprise and not really ready to start talking.

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

another one... one answer questions usually mean "i dont want to talk to you now..."

Peeping Tom · Joined: 15 Feb 2006

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

I will start teaching my kids "Do you want to meet my cute older sister?" That might get some of the people here's attention, and not be quite intolerant to Hi Smile

SPINOZA · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: $eoul

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

The first rule I teach my kids (and my co-teachers/Director) is:

"Foreigners" is a rude/rascist word. Look in the dictionary and Foreigners has 2 meanings (a person from another country - an OUTSIDER). The other meaning, Outsider, is a person who is not one of us, a person who can't be trusted.

So I teach my kids/Director that if they call someone from another country (tourist/teacher etc) a "Foreigner" their chances of friendship, or even conversation, are small.

For example:
"As a Foreigner, how do you like Korea?"
"No Foreigners" (eg., we don't serve Foreigners here)

We are not Foreigners, we are: Westerners, People from another country", "native speakers" , "English Speakers" or better yet, "English, American, Canadian".

My second rule is:
Don't ask Western People their age. This is seen by many Western People as extremely offensive. Koreans have to be taught that not every society is governed by slavish codes of behaviour based on filial piety and age.

Western People speak a language/have behaviour that is not based on formal respect for elders. So Koreans don't need to ask every Western Speaker their age.

If you ask someone in my country their age they are going to get really upset. Then you have no chance of a meaningful conversation with them.

Third rule: Don't ask personal questions. Like: "are your married?" "Why are you not married?" "How much money do you earn?" And the best yet, "Why are you so fat?" (asked of my mate).

I like to teach Koreans that just because you can speak a language it doesn't give you the licence to ask personal intrusive questions that are deemed rude in 99% of cultures.

These are the conversation rules I teach all my Korean students who interact with Westerners.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005