Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

Does this bug anyone else?

Listen to a phone conversation from one of your Korean coworkers some time. It'll go something like this:

Oh hi. This is <insert school name>. hehehe
English teacher. hehehe
I'm calling about Min Sook. Yeah, yeah. hehehe
Oh, yeah, he's doing really well. hehehe but I think he's having trouble with the new book. heheheh Yeah, yeah.

Sometimes the laugher is injected before the sentence is complete, like this:

Well he's heheh coming hehe late hehe to class a lot hehe. (Yeah, yeah.)


It's not only from coworkers that I hear this. I think it only happens when the person is calling someone to whom they'd have to speak formally. I guess it somehow conveys.. what.. a lack of confidence? Some element of confucianism that is necessary so that the teacher doesn't sound like an arrogant prig?

Either way, it ranks right up there with slurping soup and clacking gum on my short list of annoying sounds. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I envy you.

Q.

[flotsam]

Chauvinist.

[Qinella]

I'm not a chauvinist; I just think that some people ought to be shamed into silence for their beliefs.

[Corporal]

Yes, it bugs me, but not the nervous laughter part as much as the lying about the little genius and how well he's doing in the foreign teacher's class, and the foreign teacher says he's a hard worker too, yes, whatever keeps you putting those nice green notes in the envelope every month.

grr. pass over that phone.

[jmbran11]

This drives my husband crazy! He associates it with being stupid, so he thinks his co-teachers are idiots, because every time he tries to discuss something with them they giggle while they speak. Of course, they are trying to speak English, so I explained that its probably just nervousness. Maybe someone could shed a bit of cultural light on the practice.

[Qinella]

One thing I've noticed is that when I call customer service numbers where the people speak English, they never do the laughing thing. They sound almost rude in their frankness. I speculate that they see speaking to English speakers as a welcome break from the required subtleties of speaking to Koreans.

[eamo]

Yeah. I've noticed the little laughter thing in formal phone conversations. Is it a way to break the ice and establish a relaxing tone?

[SPINOZA]

The head of our English department has GOT to be the worst for the giggling in the whole of South Korea.

She could break you the news that all of your family have been tortured to death and she'd still giggle nervously.

Very annoying at times I'm afraid.

[laogaiguk]

Well, you see, it's like this... My brother was once like, "Will you please stop using 'like'." and after that he was like really mad when I kept using like like I normally do. I was like all in his face, "it's part of me." So I was like, "No one is going to tell me what to say." And I was like all in his face.

[ronnie]

teehee

[periwinkle]

Huh- and I thought guys liked that sort of thing- I figured guys thought it was cute and charming. Er, not that I do it, mind you.

[Qinella]

[laogaiguk]

[Mashimaro]

Never noticed in particular, but I do hate it when people laugh at their own jokes, or fake laugh at other's bad jokes

[Kimchieluver]

Note to self: Laugh intermittently when talking to the vice principal.