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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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 Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:22 pm Post subject: Aren't Korean EFL newbies ever amusing? |
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Yes, we were all there once and no, I'm far from a seasoned vet myself, but aren't newbies to Korea ever amusing to observe. What I've found most striking, perhaps, is how diverse people from English-speaking countries really are.
A few of my favourite newbie remarks have been:
[from a 23-year-old Canadian who'd never ridden on a subway, looking at her ticket] 'There's no time here. How do I know which one to take?'
[26-year-old South African who'd never left his home country before] 'So none of the homes here are burglar-proofed?'
[50-ish Canadian wife of a FT, staring at an ashtray with a damp cloth on the bottom thinking it's a dish to eat something out of] 'What is this?'
[from Cruisemonkey, after hearing me say 'o-beck makju juseyo' a number of times and asking the ajumma 'o-beck please'] 'You mean o-beck doesn't mean beer?'
I wonder what remarks the various waygooks who first helped me out would remember? |
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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Onee, or whatever older sister is.
In my first couple of months here. I was sitting in a little three table shiktang....being ignored. "Miss", "Mam", "excuse me", didn't work. A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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| "I'm going to Outback's. They put weird vegetables in their food in there." Said a (rather large) girl about KimbapNara. |
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babtangee
Joined: 18 Dec 2004
Location: OMG! Charlie has me surrounded!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| poet13 wrote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
Ahahahahahahahahaha. Ohhh... I'd pay to see that. |
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trinity24651
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
I don't get it.... |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:37 pm Post subject: Re: Aren't Korean EFL newbies ever amusing? |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| 'o-beck makju juseyo' |
Newbie Korean is soooo cute! |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| trinity24651 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
I don't get it.... |
Well you've never been here and don't know any Korean, do you?
The younger girls were calling her 'older sister' and then a middle-aged man followed by calling her 'older sister'. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| trinity24651 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
I don't get it.... |
He is a boy and Onee is one girl calling an older girl/sister.
A boy would correctly use nuna. |
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gang ah jee
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| trinity24651 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
I don't get it.... |
Well you've never been here and don't know any Korean, do you?
The younger girls were calling her 'older sister' and then a middle-aged man followed by calling her 'older sister'. |
Not to mention that 'onni' marks the speaker as female.
Last edited by gang ah jee on Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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babtangee
Joined: 18 Dec 2004
Location: OMG! Charlie has me surrounded!
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: Aren't Korean EFL newbies ever amusing? |
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| gang ah jee wrote: |
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| 'o-beck makju juseyo' |
Newbie Korean is soooo cute! |
Heheh. This thread is funny on so many levels. Well, at least two or three. |
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jennateacher
Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: Nonsan, Land of strawberries and rice
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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My fav is when I am taking a newbie for a tour of town and tell them stuff like you can not open the taxi's rear driver's side door. "well why not? That is just stupid" and then they try it.
Last edited by jennateacher on Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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trinity24651
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Grasshopper has much to learn... |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:04 pm Post subject: Re: Aren't Korean EFL newbies ever amusing? |
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| babtangee wrote: |
| gang ah jee wrote: |
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| 'o-beck makju juseyo' |
Newbie Korean is soooo cute! |
Heheh. This thread is funny on so many levels. Well, at least two or three. |
OK, as someone who has never studied Korean formally in any way I'll put myself out on a limb - what is so amusing about 오백 맥주 주새요? |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| trinity24651 wrote: |
| Quote: |
| A couple of younger girls kept addressing this mid twenties girl as onee, and got attention. So I did it too. Man, she just stopped dead and looked straight at me with wide eyes.....and then went back to ignoring me. |
I don't get it.... |
Well you've never been here and don't know any Korean, do you?
The younger girls were calling her 'older sister' and then a middle-aged man followed by calling her 'older sister'. |
I think it's weird that guys these days are using "oni" instead of "nuna." It's sort of self-emasculating... not unheard of, but it's a lot more literal than the pink sweater or purse-holding. |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| jennateacher wrote: |
| My fav is when I am taking a newbie for a tour of town and tell them stuff like you can not open the taxi's rear driver's side door. "well why not? That is just stupid" and then they try it. |
What are you talking about? I use that door all the time. |
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