Korean Job Discussion Forums

adventureman · Joined: 18 Feb 2003

For those of you who are currently studying Korean, do you ever "force" koreans to communicate with you in their native language?..I am referring to those who want the chance to learn english by talking to a forigner or assume you almost no Korean ability (most of country)...If they only respond in English do you keep reponding with �� over and over or do you ask them straight out to only speak to you in Korean?....How often do you do this?

Also, Do you only seek out freinds who have a lower of english than you do of Korean?

mithridates

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

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

Nope... for two reasons.

1. If they figure out you can speak korea they will not STFU.

2. If someone is making an effort to speak to me in English to make feel more welcome I'm not going to slap them for that effort by 'making them' speak korean to me. Plenty of others here that don't speak english that I can practice with so why force the ones that do and take the effort to speak it out of that mold?

SPINOZA · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: $eoul

(�̰�) �ѱ��ι��ؿ�? might be the best phrase there folks, but I'm not 100% sure.

Sometimes a Korean person's English - even though they're trying really hard and their effort is very commendable - is not understandable to me (especially when they say numbers in English). In that case, I'll say "in Korean please?"

Sure, it happens sometimes, but I'd have to be pretty confident that I knew what they meant but just wanted clarification. My Korean is hardly brilliant but it's better than most Koreans' English.

I met a Korean doctor last weekend who thought his English was great! Sadly it wasn't (he worked near Itaewon too) and I had to ask for the Korean version a lot. Sometimes I understood and sometimes I didn't have a clue. There you go.

adventureman · Joined: 18 Feb 2003

thursdays child · Joined: 21 Sep 2005

Got a big slap in the face yesterday from my Doctor (not literally) - he informed me how shyte my Korean was compared to patient x,y,and z who had been here for half the time. Patient x,y and g were mostly from the Phillipines - and hence need Korean to make a living - unlike me.

But still, the OP is right you need to be almost pushy to get people to use Korean with you - and I feel I'm putting the guy down if i insit on Korean.

Feeling a weee frustrated at the slowness of my learning.

Demophobe · Joined: 17 May 2004

I don't care what language they use to speak to me, but they are sure to get Korean back.

I have many shopkeepers near my house who think it's a fun exchange. Never met anyone who got upset at me for speaking Korean, nor anyone who "forced" me to speak English to them.

Usually, if I can see they are really trying to work through it in English, I will give them some back...until the conversation takes the turn where they just start to really run out of steam. At that point, they seem relieved to speak Korean.

Either way they want it, it's no big deal. I have more than enough opportunities to use Korean...I don't need to speak it every single time I talk to every Korean. It doesn't make me think they are using English because they think my Korean is terrible.

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

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

Depends, if they are being helpful, couldn't care less. If they are only trying to practice their English, then nope, I will continue in Korean.

tomato · Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 4:44 am Post subject:

Cedar · Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:06 am Post subject:

It depends on how I feel:

I look at people blankly.

I ask them to speak in Korean.

I say "What did you say?" to them, in Korean.

I say "I'm sorry I can't speak English." (in Korean).

But my most common response is absolutely: �ѱ�� ѱ�� ϼ��.

But I only insist on the Korean when:
1. It's obvious my Korean is better than their English (which is almost always true).
2. They don't have a good reason to speak to me in English. I mean, if I (and I am white and fair skinned with dishwater brown hair and hazel eyes) am frantically looking back and forth from one side to the other of the subway platform as both trains slow, trying to figure out which way I'm going, then it's reasonable for someone to ask if they can help me. But if I am sitting in Starbucks with my coffee and my book and someone wants to talk in English... that's another story.

Demophobe · Joined: 17 May 2004

cypher · Joined: 08 Nov 2003

This might be hijacking the thread a little. I find my experiences with trying to speak Korean fall into the following groups (with no advice to the OP):

1. People do not even try to say things in Korean, not even trying to tell me the price before hauling out the calculator. I CAN at least figure it out enough to give you more than enough, though I still have problems with hearing the difference between cheon won and i cheon won.

2. Koreans can't understand me because my pronunciation is atrocious and they don't have a lot of experience with foreigners speaking their language so perhaps can't make adjustments for that.

3. Koreans speak too quickly for me to understand and...see above.

4. I speak a little Korean, that I've practiced repeatedly in my head all the way to the doctor, pharmacy, wherever, and they give a rapid fire speech of which I understand "2", "30 minutes" and "3000 won". Ne...nod head...repeat...hope for the best.

Okay, that has nothing to do with the OPs question, but everything to do with my frustration with learning Korean.

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

Korea isn't an easy country to come and learn the language that is forsure.

With even greater importance being placed on English, it just makes it hard for us. Is it any wonder those who DONT speak English learn Korean WAY faster than those who do?

I spent vast amounts of money trying to learn Korean. The problem is: I NEVER had a chance to use it. Whenever I tried, either the Koreans couldnt understand my pronunciation, or they didn't have patience to try and listen to me.

To be fair to Korea though, this country is really good for English speaking tourists. My parents came over and had no problems. So many people can speak a little English, it's good for tourism. In Japan and China you are really hard pressed to find so many people who speak English.