Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dodge7]

Ok, maybe not so dramatic. But anyway...

I went home on vacation after two years away, and 3 of my relatives said that I sound "different."

They said they don't know what it is, but one of them did say that I didn't finish my words at the end of sentences thoroughly. Like I stopped short of completing my sentences or words and trailed off.

I had no idea that it was happening to me, but now that they pointed it out (and granted this was mentioned by 3 DIFFERENT family members, who didn't know any other family members made the same claim about me prior) I DO notice that my tongue is going a bit limp at the end of my sentences. It's kind of weird, I AM trailing off when as before I never did.


Is this because I'm not interacting or hearing English from other people and having normal conversations everyday??


I am a very observant person so I notice and can pick up on things like this.

Did anyone go back home after an extended stay in Korea and have family members say they sound different or talk different?

It's very interesting to me.

[PeteJB]

It will pass after a while. You just need to learn how to integrate both English and Korean into your daily life.

[Mix1]

^
Will it pass or will it get worse?

The scary thing is the teachers are talking with other teachers, many of whom have altered their speech too, so it maybe becomes a feedback loop.

I have some teacher friends who talk really loud and slow and state the obvious in really basic English. I always have to remind them "Dude! I'm not your student! Time to talk like a native speaker now!" And then they snap out of it. Must be habit (either that or they really are just "slow").

[ayahyaha]

Ha! It happens, but it's not permanent. I do know some lifers who definitely speak English strangely, but if you leave Korea (or whatever foreign country you're living in) and head back to native-English-land, your "normal" cadence, vocab, and pronunciation will return.

The longer you stay abroad teaching ESL/EFL speakers, the more your speaking will be affected. Language changes by necessity, though, so as soon as you don't need the simplified version on a regular basis you should snap back to normal (though it will probably take a bit of time).

I highly recommend counteracting this phenomenon by reading lots of books, watching movies, and writing/journaling/blogging while you're here -- the same thing you would recommend to your students to improve their own language skills.

[krazijaanu]

does anyone have any experience living in South Korea with diabetes?

[detonate]

teacher money goooooooooooood!

Dropped articles, where art thou?

[pkang0202]

In time, you will talk like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFiHaMdPPZE

[The Floating World]

Don't worry, you'll find him.

Mine often doesn't come home for days.

[Insidejohnmalkovich]

Heh. I have the opposite problem. When I first came to Korea in 1999, Korean was necessary to communicate with most of the Korean staff at work and at most places in the street.

Now everyone speaks English at work. My students speak nothing but English to me. Even their mothers talk quite fluently to me in English. My Korean language skills are evaporating. And all my Korean friends are fluent in English (language exchange experiments always end up in English since it is so much easier for my friends).

<blushes with embarrassment>

[schwa]

I like what years of teaching in Korea has done for my english. My speaking is more to the point & I've developed strength in voice control & modulation. If anything, friends & family back home compliment me on the changes.

[pkang0202]

My friends back home told me to stop talking to them like I'm in Seasame Street.

[kvacum]

Any language should be supported by native environment.
That's main reason of loosing language for expats.

[madoka]

[kvacum]

[happiness]

thats nothing, korea took my american soul, and thats something that living in japan even could do. i speak both K and J well enough, and I think I just became Korean more than I knew. Good point is Im exceptionally good to my parents, which I was before, but now Im even more, its just ingrained into me. Bad point is Im critical, blunt, and other things and I have a hard time relaxing with my friends. I have a hard time articulating things sometimes. Its weird, but i have a nice fat account and a bunch of cool things I love. Ive never been able to convince myself it would be better to go home and be in the swing of things there though.

take the good with the bad, but I wish I could be relaxed....