Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

I guess I need to blow off steam (getting a gym membership this week should help) I think this has been done before, but I have a short memory span- it involves the Yobaseyo game. WTF is this all about?! I TOTALLY don't get it. If I were back home, and someone who spoke a foreign language called me, I would not continually shout "Hello?" into the phone. My father told me a story once about my uncle's mother, who is from Sicily. She went to Italy, and spoke Sicilian to an Italian. The guy didn't understand, so she continued to repeat hereslf over and over again, each time a little more voluminously. Not good.

My co-worker had someone repeatedly saying "Yobasyo?" to him when he answered the phone the other day, so he says, "Call me back when you learn English." Heh, heh. I mean, c'mon. Why don't the thought patterns proceed like this: "Oh! A foreigner! He/she doesn't speak Korean; I don't speak English. Therefore, communication is impossible. Time to just hang-up."

Low on neurotransmitters, maybe?

Rant #2: I'm at the dept. store browsing. Salesgirl tugs my sleeve (DON"T TOUCH!! I don't like cooties), and motions towards the mirror. Aw, Christ!! These people have studied English for YEARS!!!! How is it they can't even say "Excuse me"? I studied French for 2 years, and granted, I don't remember much, but at the very least I can say, "Sil vous plait", "Merci", and "Bonjour". Don't give me the, "Well, maybe she was shy.." No, she wasn't. She touched me, smiled, and gestured toward the mirror. So I tell her I speak Korean, ask how much the dress is, and she shows me a price tag. Damn, girl! I just TOLD you I speak Korean!! WTF?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!! People with no common sense are absolutely intolerable. She wasn't mute, either. This was at the Mokdong Hyundai dept. store. I'm sure she has seen foreigners shopping there before. Anyway, she lost a sale, and I bought a nicer dress somewhere else Meh.

[Cedar]

Peri,

I am right there with you on Rant #2, and it's often my reply, too (not to give them business). On the other hand (not sure why) I've noticed I've gotten a lot more polite lately about explaining that I speak Korean, and have noticed I've gotten less idiotic responses as a result (idiotic response being to point at the price tag). So... try to be polite the first time (you probably were) and then hopefully they'll be able to process it and proceed in a normal way.

[Grotto]

With you 100% on rant 1 periwinkle
Rant 2...not so much....you asked how much...she showed you the price tag.....numbers are pretty universal.

We are in their country...if you are going to go shopping you should at least learn the basic number system. If she was working at walmart in anywhere USA and couldnt speak English then okay..babo ya.

However when you are in her country and cant even speak a little Korean then babo you!

[I_Am_Wrong]

[JongnoGuru]

Showing the price tag....

I'll often visit shops to order or buy something that requires some explaining (A/V gear, a suit, computer stuff, etc.) and the conversation is all in Korean. Comes the time to ask how much, and do they just tell me the price? No. They don't. They reach for their calculator and tap in the figure. I don't mean to say they're actually _calculating_ the price (such as adding up all the parts and totalling it). No, they tap in just the total and then turn the calculator around & show it to me.

They will do this with Korean customers as well -- though not as predictably -- so I don't read too much into it. But I did and still do find it a little awkward. But whereas a price tag suggests a fixed price, the calculator is like a tool in the haggling process. He taps in his number & shows it to me, I take the calculator and tap in a lower figure, and around we go. I tend to see numbers on a calculator as "opening bids".

[endofthewor1d]

[Grotto]

oops... I missed the speaking Korean part.

Although what I said still stands...how much is it?...showed price tag..

Her question was answered...nonverbally but still acceptably answered IMO

[steveohan]

this just in: they speak korean in korea!

why would you come to another country and expect them to speak YOUR native language?
steve.

[endofthewor1d]

[buddy bradley]

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

I agree wholeheartedly with rant #1. I hate explaining to clueless people in Korean that I don't speak Korean on a phone. Usually they are marketers and are persistent no matter what. If they don't get a clue and just keep talking to me....I just hang up on them....problem solved.

I don't care if Korean salespeople assume I don't speak Korean (because my Korean is still atrocious). If they are kind and helpful and not pushy to make a sale, then I'm friendly back. Koreans do whip out the whole calculator thing (and I do understand the Korean monetary spiel) but it doesn't bug me. Faster if better, if you ask me. I just want to get my stuff and leave.

What does irk me is when I see other foreigners who become flabbergasted and angry when a Korean salesperson or restaurant employee doesn't speak English or is struggling to understand them. It's annoying to watch some foreigners slowing down their English to a Korean employee with a rised, irritated tone, thinking the non-English speaking Korean will finally understand. Wouldn't it just be easier to just learn some basic Korean rather than just speaking slow, dumb English? Whenever I'm out shopping, I avoid speaking English. Either way, whatever language/hand gestures we use doesn't bother me. As long as the business transaction is successfully completed and I'm outta there quickly, it's all good.

***My husband doesn't speak English. Many people are confused by this. Why doesn't he speak English, they say. Well, because he's Korean and I'm in korea....why should I expect him to speak English?!!! I'm the one completely responsible for learning his language in his country, and I'll expect him to do the same when he comes back to the States (he has started studying now, by the way). I hate how people (foreigners and some Koreans) look down on him because he doesn't speak English and he has an American wife. If anyone is bad, it's me, because my proficiency level in Korean is still pretty bad for someone who has lived here for 2.5 years.

[captain kirk]

Clerks or Mom and Pop store owners who keep on speaking Korean, and with more conviction, like they're singing the national anthem, are funny. I mean they know you don't. But, in their eyes, you're some vulgar barbarian and there they stand, rattling away and maintaining a sort of stern eye contact. Is it a scolding? Why so many words from their end when it's a simple transaction, buying a pack of smokes? Going on like Jehovah's at one's door. Can't speak Korean so can't get a word in edgewise. It's kind of amusing.

Like they don't really want you in their store. In a topnotch organic health food store I was drawing a wheat plant and repeating the word for wheat in Korean. And going through grass growing and juicing motions . Well this lady was offended (possibly by my juicing motions) and started precisely rattling on with a prim and properly stern look.

Today I went to find a razor at Emart and there was a lady in uniform stationed on every aisle. She's going to help me buy a razor? No. But she's hovering around at my elbow like a big bee. So I place my rear end in her direction intercepting her every move to be at my assistance. She's right behind me trying to get around my rear end and to my aid. She veers, I veer, blocking. She said the Dorco are on sale in a twin pack, two packs taped together. Dorco's carve your face.

[jajdude]

I think most store people will assume you know zero Korean unless you prove otherwise. I find it amusing when they speak slowly and carefully, like they are teaching a small child.

[Qinella]

Periwinkle, I can definitely relate. I love it when I make it clear to someone that I don't understand Korean and they decide it would be helpful to speak more quickly and more loudly with increasing anger. The only way to make them stop is to go off on them in English.

Here's a funny and relevant story. This morning I was awakened by that annoying song that's played when someone is at my door. So I put on my glasses and saunter, in my boxers, over to the door. It's my landlady and she wanted to check something on my gas pipes. I was so out of it, I had no idea what she was talking about and just let her do whatever. On her way out the door, she said in an irritated voice, "�ѱ��� ���....." which means "Learn Korean....." I was so out of it, I just muttered, "Uh, hangukmal, okay, bye."

I've certainly heard a lot of people in America say, "Learn to speak English, jeez." It's strange being on the receiving end.

[eamo]