Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mishlert]

[mssinmymind]

But isn't that the purpose of teaching ESL in the first place...To teach them to speak the words correctly ?

I learned spanish from my best friend ( she didn't speak english at all). I was fluent enough that when we were in stores people would ask if we were sisters. Then...I went to college and took Spanish classes. Even though I made all As I found out quite rapidly that my spanish was not correct, found it very difficult to correct the changes I was so used to saying. If my friend had taught me in the beginning, I would think it would have been a better situation.

Does that make sense ?

[HalfJapanese]

I wouldn't be too concerned, people will eventually get used to Konglish, just like they got used to their foreign university professors who spoke incorrect grammatical English in an Asian/European/Middle Eastern/Etc accent.

Have you ever had a friend come over from abroad to the foreign country you are living in, and when you introduced them to a native who also speaks English, your friend totally doesn't understand them while you completely understood them and think they speak good English?

Or maybe, when your foreign parent speaks English as a second language in a English speaking country to someone, the person doesn't understand them, while you perfectly do?

Well, this just goes to show that people will eventually get used to all the different and incorrect ways the English language is spoken, and still be able to understand the non native English speaker.

[Fox]

"Vision" is a word in the English language. "비전" is a loan word in the Korean language (it's even in my Korean dictionary). When a Korean says "비전" he isn't speaking English, just as when an English speaker says "pizza" he isn't speaking Italian. An English speaker who tries to correct the word "비전" in a Korean sentence is trying to correct a Korean word.

Bad pronunciation in an otherwise English sentence is one thing, but these words aren't an example of that. They're an example of Korean words which were derived from English words. It's likely the Korean language would have adopted many of these words as loan words regardless of how much they spent on English education; why make up entire new words for things like pizza when you can just modify the pre-existing word to fit perfectly well into your sound set?

[HalfJapanese]

[flakfizer]

The article was pretty repetitive and the examples used were not that persuasive. I do indeed feel that Korean English teachers often pass on poor English to their students and the same mistakes are repeated over and over (like the way many Koreans use the word "almost"). But the examples were more like using English words within a Korean sentence. I think when Koreans use the word "bi-jun", they are using it in the midst of a Korean sentence, so it's not that big of a deal to Koreanize the pronunciation imo. If Koreans use "bi-jun" in the middle of an English sentence, that might be problematic. I mean, I say "bus" when I'm speaking English, but know to say "bus-uh" when speaking Korean. Some Koreans might not know that they are using Koreanized English words, but some do know that but understand that they can pronounce the word differently depending on the situation and the hearer.

[Louis VI]

Konglish isn't English. They are words only used and understood clearly by Koreans and as such is in effect part of the Korean language as adopted words.

I tell my students that when speaking Korean with Koreans they can say "pi-ja" but with native English speakers and English as a Second Language speakers from around the world it's PiZZa"!

[Steelrails]

I'll actually care about this when English speakers get around to pronouncing things properly themselves.

[chellovek]

That was a bit of a rant, and published in a newspaper too!

[crossmr]

[redaxe]

[Fox]

[northway]

[Oatmeal Prince]

This guy's English sucks.

[NYC_Gal]

It's PEET-sa.

Some people get it, some don't. If they aren't our students, let them say it however they want. If they are, teach them. I explained that it's actually not originally English, so the spelling is different than the sound. My kids got it (especially since I promised a pizza party).