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essexboy
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: close to orgasm
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 Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:13 am Post subject: Isn't it rude to live in a country + not learn the language? |
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I have been here for 6 months now, and i am learning the language as fast as i bloody well can. I think it is incredibly ignorant and rude to actually live in another non-English speaking country and not at least try to speak the language. What are the opinions of others on this?
The reason i posted this: I feel incredibly uncomfortable when people apologise to me for their lack of English knowledge when I am speaking to them. Why should they have to speak English if they don't plan to leave their country? |
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Ron Stevens
Joined: 10 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:19 am Post subject: Re: Isn't it rude to live in a country + not learn the langu |
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| essexboy wrote: |
I have been here for 6 months now, and i am learning the language as fast as i bloody well can. I think it is incredibly ignorant and rude to actually live in another non-English speaking country and not at least try to speak the language. What are the opinions of others on this?
The reason i posted this: I feel incredibly uncomfortable when people apologise to me for their lack of English knowledge when I am speaking to them. Why should they have to speak English if they don't plan to leave their country? |
i couldn't give a *beep* what other people do
obviously if you intend to stay in a country for any length of time then you are severly disadvantaging yourself by not learning the language
but why worry about other cunts? |
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essexboy
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: close to orgasm
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:21 am Post subject: |
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| consideration. |
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tiger fancini
Joined: 21 Mar 2006
Location: Testicles for Eyes
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:21 am Post subject: Re: Isn't it rude to live in a country + not learn the langu |
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| essexboy wrote: |
| Why should they have to speak English if they don't plan to leave their country? |
I hope you don't approach your students with this attitude!!
Seriously though, I think that if you are planning on staying in Korea for more than a year then you ought to make an effort to learn the lingo. If Korea is not for you though, and you only plan on seeing a year out just to get your severance pay and then not coming back, then I personally wouldn't bother.
However, I like it here very much and do plan to stay, so I intend to learn Korean! How are you learning? Are you on a course, or just teaching yourself immersion-style? |
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essexboy
Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Location: close to orgasm
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:23 am Post subject: |
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i am having a private lesson once a week, and i study at home every morning before work for about an hour and a half.
My grammar is excellent, but my speaking sucks. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| No. |
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maddog
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:33 am Post subject: |
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I study a little at home, and try to pick up little bits here and there from my K friends (whom I studied with in London), but I don't think it's a big deal. I mix mostly with foreigners and my K friends speak impeccable English, better than my Korean could ever be.
As long as you can get by, and don't EXPECT Koreans to speak English, it certainly isn't rude not to speak the lingo. |
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drkalbi
Joined: 06 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| yes. |
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ChopChaeJoe
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:45 am Post subject: |
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I have a good Korean friend ho advises me not to bother learning Korean. he says that it is vry stressful and I'd be better off just speaking English. He rfuses to teach me Korean.
I don't agree, but I have noticed that when i speak only English, and am persistant, I can get better prices just by playing the dumb American. They just want me out of their face and figure I'm too ignorant to take a hint so they cut a deal to be done with me. As soon as I speak korean, they no longer make allowences for me.
On the other hand, understanding a bit of korean helps you understand what the hell people are saying. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:49 am Post subject: |
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Why should they have to speak English if they don't plan to leave their country?
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A mate of mine has left Korea twice in his life (both short vacations to the USA), but has to speak English everyday at work, international economy innit.
You're right people should try...but I think as useless as most of us foreigners are at it very few people IMO come over with the intention of refusing to learn. Truth is it's a time consuming task that is made difficult when one does hagwon work (8 hours a day and all that).....foreign businesspeople who do 12/13 hour workdays are in a worse position to learn it.
There was a thread about people who learned it to a high standard and they had all taken 6-12 months off to study it full time. If you want to be a long termer then fair enough, go for it but if not it's bit of an ask to readjust your finances to allow such a long period of no work. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:02 am Post subject: |
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| No |
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Ron Stevens
Joined: 10 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:11 am Post subject: |
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most countries have ethnic enclaves where many people have been for years with minimal skills in the language of there adopted country - should these people go back where they came from?
otherwise this just a bit of self-congratulatory moralising, irrelevant to those of us here just long enough to see the end of their contract |
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Ginormousaurus
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: |
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No. It's not rude at all.
Demanding Koreans to speak English would be rude. |
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Jarome_Turner
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| essexboy wrote: |
| My grammar is excellent, but my speaking sucks. |
Sounds like 90% of Korean university students studying for/in posession of an Englishy degree. 
Seriously tho, I don't think it's rude... obviously people need and will develop a basic command for the language depending on how long they stay. I've been here a little over two years and have proceeded to go through the same motions as most foriengers - purchasing of teach yourself Korean books, (attempted) lessons from my Korean girlfriend, etc... I can manage everyday life, and rarely (if ever) get caught in a situation that I can't negotiate with my semi-coherent Korean. I have a relativly large vocabulary of verbs and nouns, a basic understanding of tenses, and a general handle on very simple sentence structure.
If a person is not planning to spend the rest of their life here, why bother learning to speak/write it perfectly? I'd rather spend my time doing something more useful.
Last edited by Jarome_Turner on Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:10 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:47 am Post subject: Re: Isn't it rude to live in a country + not learn the langu |
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| essexboy wrote: |
I have been here for 6 months now, and i am learning the language as fast as i bloody well can. I think it is incredibly ignorant and rude to actually live in another non-English speaking country and not at least try to speak the language. What are the opinions of others on this?
The reason i posted this: I feel incredibly uncomfortable when people apologise to me for their lack of English knowledge when I am speaking to them. Why should they have to speak English if they don't plan to leave their country? |
I used to think the same way, but now I really don't give a rats.
I personally study Korean because I love it. Some people like
drinking until they throw up, I like learning Korean. Different
strokes and all that..
A person is hardly going to put in the 1000s of hours necessary to
learn a language such as korean well, just to avoid the possibilty of
being seen as rude. |
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