Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

3 Out of 4 Workers Use English: Survey
Three out of four office workers use English for business purposes, a recent survey revealed Wednesday. More than 92 percent of the respondents said that reading is the most required language skill, followed by speaking with 76.9 percent and then writing with 76.7 percent. Almost seven out of 10 workers had to prove their English proficiency when applying for jobs by taking English tests such as TOEIC or TOEFL. Approximately half of 10 employees went through a separate English interview besides submitting test scores and 13.8 percent of workers took an extra written exam for the jobs.
By Kim Cheong-won, Korea Times (July 20, 2005)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200507/kt2005072019352453460.htm

[jajdude]

Wow! Where are all these speakers of English? I'd like to meet one or two once in a while.

Actually I have on a few occasions met Koreans who did not speak English.....


until they got comfortable with me. They were inhibited about their less than perfect ability I suppose.


And some of them were actually pretty good speakers, but they always seem to compare themselves to native ability. Like "I can't understand everything on the BBC or Oprah!"

A bit unrealistic.

[keithinkorea]

A few Korean folks speak great English but have no confidence. Korean people like the TOEIC and other BS tests, why? It baffles me really but I think that those tests are pretty useless compared to a good oral test administered by a native speaker.

I hate people trying out their English on me, but as happened the other day youngish Korean person comes up to me and says 'Please can you help me? I don't understand this bit here (points).) I admired him for his courage-audacity but mostly for his guts in asking a random stranger to help him.

I've been on the subway with lots of Koreans studying Korean and on occasion a kindly ajoshi has leaned over and helped me, it's nice.

Language is all about communication and that is why TOEIC is nonsense, it's all one way traffic. I had a great taxi driver the other day and we had a weird conversation in half Korean-half English, I told him the shortcut to get back to my house and even though the route was a little further the time was a lot less. We talked in his terrible English and my worse Korean for twenty minutes and communicated in a practical way. He said his grammar was good but about his conversational skills 'no good'.

My illerate rubbish Korean got the message across, which junction to take and why. I was carting a load of stuff in the car and got him to drop me off right outside my front door so I wouldn't have to trek it too far.

Language is about communication and not TOEIC scores, many Koreans are really worried about making mistakes in English and looking stupid, when in fact the truth is in language and just about everything else you learn from mistakes.

There is hope yet![url]

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/07/21/200507210005.asp[/url]

[just because]

Are these people who say hello and television...

What level of proficiency are we talking here????

man 100% of the country speaks some form of English

[jajdude]

It seems to me at least 95% speak almost zero English. But maybe if they absolutely had to, they would utter something. Not like I would either if foreigners were simply not part of my life.