Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

I've been in Seoul for a week now, after having lived in a small city for the past year. In the city where I came from, it was pretty much expected of me by the locals to understand Korean. If I didn't seem to understand, they'd just stare at me, or sometimes even become aggravated with me.

Now that I've spent a little time in the big city, it seems the people at stores automatically assume, almost 100% of the time, that I can't even understand Korean numbers. I had a lady today who actually refused to even quote me the price of my purchase, and instead requested (in Korean of course, because if I can't understand Korean numbers, I can probably understand a full sentence) that I just look at the cash register. That's so absurd! So I insisted she say the price to me, and made a few comments to her in Korean, and of course she started in on the whole "Ahh! Hangugmal jal hasineyo" bit, at which point I cut her off before she could even start and just walked away with a "Yeah, yeah..."

Last week, before I had my computer put together, I was, unfortunately, at a PC Bang. When I was paying to leave, the dude told me the price, 3,400 won. I laid my bills on the counter so I could count the change out first, and he started fingering one of the 10,000 won notes saying "dis-uh, dis-uh." I looked at him like he was crazy and said can't you see I'm counting my change?! Don't be rude! He was like, oh, so-ri, so-ri.

One last absurd incident... I went to sign up at the local gym the other night and was talking with the guy on staff about hours of operation, locker room status, showers, and of course the usual array of questions Koreans want to ask a foreigner. After talking with this dude for like 5 minutes, it comes to the part about the price, and he hesitates, digs inside his head for how to say yuk man won in English, and finally hold up four fingers and two thumbs. Uh..

Sometimes when I go into a store now, I'll strike up a conversation with the person at the register just to avoid the whole I-don't-think-this-foreigner-understands-numbers routine, and still, even after I've been conversing with this person in Korean, they'll hesitate before saying the price, and then point to the register and/or sputter out some horrid English attempts. Uh.. sree sousund...

So I'm wondering... is it really that rare for us westerners to know Korean numbers? I'm aware that a poll at Dave's isn't very representative, but I'm really curious to know.

And yes, this is a lame newbie Seoulite rant, and yes there are more things to worry about in life. Consider this catharsis.

Q.

[laogaiguk]

A lot of people actually do have problems with the number system. Even when they know the numbers, thinking in "man" wons is a bit different that thinking in "thousands". I've seen some pretty good Japanese speakers who would still mess up big numbers or good English speaking Koreans and Chinese that would mess up the numbers.

Combined with the fact that many foreigners actually don't speak Korean and only know the basics, these people are probably just trying to make sure you absolutely know the price. You gotta admit, price is usually the most important thing, and they don't want a misunderstanding.

[pet lover]

[JAWINSEOUL]

I understand the numbers when paying for things. My issue sometimes is when I eat a huge meal with my fiance and they say 5800 Won in Korean. I've always thought I didn't hear them properly.

[mindmetoo]

I have to listen closely and stop listening after the first significant grouping. So if they say "ee man o chun pal bek" I'll give three man won bills.

[jinks]

Of course I understand the numbers - to a point. I usully know how much my stuff is going to cost and I rarely spend more than what can be counted in man or ship man won. Millions do my head in though. I have also noticed that my Korean friends, some of whom speak excellent English, will try and tell me that their new computer cost one thousand seven hundred, or that the petrol for the trip to Busan cost three hundred thousand. It is not the numbers that present difficulties, but the numbering system; something I have looked at a few times, but still not really got my head around.

[Hater Depot]

I am good with numbers up to the tens of millions. After that I have to really think about it.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Any time someone tells me a number in English I check it by repeating it in Korean. It's the only way to know if the number was accurate.

[Privateer]

[Qinella]

Yeah, I'm sure the large numbers would give a lot of people trouble, when you start getting into the millions, but I was more or less referring to general walking around purchases, which usually fall somewhere under 500,000 won, I would imagine. For the really large purchases, I'd almost expect the salesperson to pull out a calculator in order to begin a sort of bargaining routine, as they often do in Yongsan electronics market.

The poll so far shows 9 saying yes, 1 saying no. I was talking to someone the other day who told me that almost every westerner he knows in Korea speaks no Korean at all, or can barely stutter a hello and thank you, let alone say numbers or read the script. I told him that polls here on Dave's indicate that a lot of us do at least read script, even if we don't understand it, and he said that's probably because people at Dave's have more of an interest in Korea, evident in their participation with an online forum about it, and therefore are more likely to participate in Korean culture, which includes learning to read. I don't know if that's true or not, but it sure seems to me that there are a lot of people walking around Seoul who can't understand numbers like 15,320 if spoken in Korean, because why else would such a large percentage of shop owners expect me not to understand?

On a more positive note, today is not my birthday.

Q.

[eamo]

It's down to the Korean perception that their culture is so 'special' and 'different' that foreigners couldn't possibly understand anything about it.

I'm still trying to work out if they believe this in a sense of feeling inferior or superior.

[laogaiguk]

[SPINOZA]

I find the Sino-Chinese numbers easy enough - hey, that's because we use them all the time, right? Understanding them is a necessity in every day life. But I can never remember the PURE BLOOD ( ) Korean numbers above 5 (apart from my age in Korean - 29 and the pure korean for 18 ).

However it doesn't matter how many times you demonstrate fluency in numbers with the same shop assistant...they always use hands and the register to help and are amazed when you show it's not needed. Every single time this happens with at least 3 shop workers I know. The reason is probably that most of the foreigners they've come across in the past have shown no understanding of numbers or Korean language at all.

[ajgeddes]

[zappadelta]