Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bigfeet]

College dude with name of: Kang We-suck

[catycat]

I have a student named Lee Key Bum!! I can never say her name with a straight face!!

[Hanson]

I was asked to write a unit in the textbook my uni uses for Freshman English in which I used the very common name Bum-seok in dialogues. The powers that be didn't like that, so they changed it to another, less interesting name.

[A2Steve]

at my old school, i would tell the troublemakers their mother called and gave them a new name:

MUNK HEE BOI



that seemed to never grow old with the kids. the good ones anyways. the trouble makers who earned it, no so much.

[Lekker]

I asked my students last year at my previous school to give me a Korean name, since they all had English names. They named me Ko Lung Nei (smell from the foot/toes) so now when someone asks me my Korean name (they are usually playing around) they are quite surprised when I respond in Korean that my name is smell from the foot.

[The Grumpy Senator]

My students named me Han Mek-ju.

[i4NI]

Yoo Suk Wang

[A2Steve]

[Intrepid]

I've taught several male students named Yoo Suck.
Two of them had spent time in the US, poor slobs; one was actually born there! You can bet they picked up nicknames very quickly, and a slim regard for their parents' naming ability.

[Rob'sdad]

There was a kid named 이호선 (subway line #2) and then another kid named 이세종 (that's the guy on the 10,000 note) so occasionally I called him 마마 which is an honorific for a king.

[Donghae]

There was a Korean foreign minister in the 80s who often made fun of his own name with English-speaking journalists, insisting that they call him (Lee) bum-suck, even though it should've been pronounced more like bomb-sock.

And that's why most of the above are not really that funny when you realise that the correct pronunciation of these names doesn't sound particularly amusing to English speaking ears at all. And without wanting to be too much of a killjoy, isn't giggling at funny sounding foreign names something you grow out of at primary school? Or perhaps I'm just getting old.

Much more worth a laugh, I found, were some of the bizarre English names adopted by Korean kids. I once knew a kid whose English name was Green - not that remarkable, although together with his family name, Park, it didn't make for the best choice, surely. I used to know a great elementary school kid who was really into English and really nice to teach too. His English name was Pop, though, and I struggled to keep a straight face when I saw on his name badge that his Korean family name was Song!! For his sake, I hope he changed it and went on to introduce himself in English as Danny Song or something.

[Otherside]

[earthbound14]

Pak You-ho
Mi So-young
Bum-suk


And never give a Korean student the name Jill. If your name is Jill....change it!

[i4NI]

actual lol @ park you ho!

Yoo Young Ho

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Mate's ex GF called Yu In Me. Very apt, too.