Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tanklor1]

I've ran across this term in a few threads and from what I understand it's a Woman who latches herself onto an English speaking man for the purpose of learning English. Is this right? Or is it wrong?

[Guri Guy]

Actually it is a mispelling of "leech". You act like a language parasite. You attach yourself to another person for the purpose of extracting language. Eeewww....

From www.Dictionary.com

7 entries found for leech.
leech1 Audio pronunciation of "leech" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lch)
n.

1. Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part.
2. One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.
3. Archaic. A physician.


v. leeched, leech�ing, leech�es
v. tr.

1. To bleed with leeches.
2. To drain the essence or exhaust the resources of.


v. intr.

To attach oneself to another in the manner of a leech.

[tanklor1]

[Guri Guy]

Sure. Better English can lead to better job opportunities. Making more money is a powerful motivator to hook up with some Western schmuck.

[tanklor1]

[Real Reality]

[tomato]

Guru Guy is right.
I looked up "leach," and found that it referred to a liquid with which a mineral could be moistened in order to extract a metal.

Tanklor1, if you want to, you can change the title of the thread by clicking "edit" on the original post.
I once made a mistake in typing the title of a thread, and I was able to make the change with no problem.

I've never heard the term.
I'll have to remember it.
I hereby coin the term 외국어 거머리 as a Korean equivalent.

I avoid language leeches because I want to practice Korean.
That makes Koreans think I'M a language leech!

[Ya-ta Boy]

If your job promotion is dependent on your ability to pass an English test (and for many, this is a fact of life here) and your only access to English instruction is to pay around W100,000 a month to sit in a class with a dozen or more other people and the teacher is an untrained teacher in any subject but does have a degree (or not) in art appreciation and medieval Church philosophy, wouldn't you be at least tempted to latch onto a native speaker for free lessons?

[tomato]

If:

■ you grew up as the youngest in a nuclear family, where everyone else was bigger and better and smarter than you were

■ you were old enough to have grandchildren and you have never felt like an adult

■ every time you walked into an office and try to speak the second language, all the girls gathered around to 낄낄 at you, as if you were a cute little puppy dog

■ you couldn't even read a comic book after being in a foreign country for 6 years

■ people in the host country assumed that you are linguistically challenged, just because most of your other compatriots are

■ you were destined to spend the rest of your life in that foreign country, because back home, you couldn't even get a job as a dishwasher

wouldn't you be at least tempted to latch onto a native speaker for free lessons?

I hear what you're saying, Ya-ta Boy, but all is fair in love and war.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

Except unlike the natural leech the language leech ain't gonna be doing no sucking.

[SuperHero]

could it be similar to a language rapist?

[chronicpride]

I agree that I think 'Language Rapist' is the word that the OP is looking for. Expats in Japan sometimes call them 'eigo bandits'.

[oldfatfarang]

And, the opposite of a 'Language Leech' is a 'Sleeping Dictionary'.
A Sleeping Dictionary was the name the Colonial Brits used for native girls who taught the local language to (and cared for and bedded) single colonists working for Her Majesty in some far-flung mosquito infested jungle hole. Nobody ever thought badly of those British men for using the 'inferior' race Sleeping Dictionary girl for language (and other) instruction. So why all this fuss about Korean Language Leeches???

[poet13]

I don't haev as many issues with language leeches as some, but there are situations which I have really resented.
1. Go out with a friend to a bar. He says he invited his other friends (2). They arrive, and spend ten minutes practising the little english they do know, and another twenty trying to rather blatantly extract an english lesson out of me. I came out to drink and eat with my friend, not teach. If you want to know me to know me, great, I wanna know you too. But to use me like that in my leisure time is not cool.

2. Ambushers. I used to go to a PC bong every morning to talk to my family. I met this fellow there. After that, every morning, while I was talking to my family, he would come along and start talking to me. Finally the owner saw me trying to politely ignore him, and told him to leave me alone. After that, he started to appear on the street beside me when I left the PC bong. I put a hard and fast stop to it a couple of weeks later when my family had arrived, and he sidled up and tried to engage me.

Those are the two kinds I have experienced more than a few times.

If you want to chat with me on the street, just cause you see me, I'm happy to meet you. I've met some relly nice people that way. Other than that, I dont really care much about it...

[ajuma]

Hey! A girl's got to do what a girl's gotta do!! Can't blame them for trying!! (And most guys love it!!)