tomato
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: I get so little foreign language experience, I must be in Koreatown, Los Angeles.
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 Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:38 pm Post subject: the Cadillac syndrome |
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I can tell you what these signs mean.
They mean "flowers," "medicine," "used cups," and God loves you."
Now aren't you impressed!
You have probably heard stories about a low wage-earner spending most of his money on a prestigious automobile. While he is behind the wheel, he thinks, "Never mind the fact that my wife and children are starving. Never mind the fact that we can't move out of a slum apartment. I've living in luxury here and now. So I feel important here and now."
I don't know how much truth there is in that stereotype, but now that I am struggling with the Korean language, it makes sense to me. When I see a sign which I can read, I channel all my thoughts on that one sign. Then I say, "Gee! I am reading Korean with 100% comprehension! Right here and right now, I am a perfectly fluent reader of Korean! Maybe I can extrapolate these statistics over all Korean reading matter and say that I am always a perfectly fluent reader of Korean!"
Is that true? Of course not. But that's the way my mind works. |
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