Korean Job Discussion Forums

Rum Jungle · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: North Asia

I doubt it's American English but those who've started teaching here fresh from office jobs in the States feel free to say otherwise.
My Korean co-workers with good english language skills invariably say, "I think you better see your supervisor" or "I think you better go to the office" for what are, essentially, day-to-day, mundane tasks eg, pick up some mail from the office, a minor schedule adjustment etc. I thought it was some high-priority, urgent request when I first heard it until I realised it was used with every work-related direction. Back home, such directions would be, "Could you see your supervisor" or "Could you go into the office" etc.
I'm guessing, "I think you better..." is a Korean language translation into English reflecting a supervisor's or workplace's importance.
Unless...American English in offices has upped the urgency level to get tasks done immediately and "I think you better..." is standard instead of "Could you..." in the United States. I doubt it but I'm thinking of that American business saying, "I want this done yesterday"!
Cheers

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

First, they should really be saying "I think you had better..." Leaving out the "had" is bad english.
Second, you are right. They are kind of using it out of context. If someone said "You had better go see the boss", I would htink "oh shit. whats happening?" It sounds pretty serious. "Could you.." or "You should..." would be much better.

"had better" implies adverse consequences if you don't do the task they tell you to do. Nonetheless, we use it a lot in the US for these kind of situations.

poet13 · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:10 pm Post subject:

My co-teachers use a combination of, "You better...", and, "You had better...", all the while meaning, "You should....".

Missile Command Kid · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Location: Daegu

It's definitely a Korean thing. I've rarely heard it in Canada, if at all. The only context I can imagine it being said is if a teacher is talking to a student, but still, "You'd better" seems awfully formal to me.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

I've always heard/said "You'd better". American btw.

Would they use "I think you ought" in the King's English?

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

This brings up my pet peeve about Korean-style English. I struggle to get my friends, students and co-workers to stop using 'should' when they mean 'must'. 'Should' is a suggestion and 'must' is an obligation. I want people who give me a message to distinguish between the two.

I have misunderstood messages like, "You should come to work 30 minutes earlier tomorrow".

Rum Jungle · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: North Asia

Rum Jungle · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: North Asia

poet13 · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:49 am Post subject:

"I have misunderstood messages like, "You should come to work 30 minutes earlier tomorrow"."

Yup. Someone said that to me just before Christmas, and I asked, "What is the special occasion" thinking party or something. It was required attendance....

Missile Command Kid · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Location: Daegu

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

I'm from Canada, and it's a common expression, at least where I'm from. Depending on the context, it could be urgent or something mundane.

Woland · Joined: 10 May 2006 Location: Seoul

'You had better' reduces by contraction to 'You'd better'.

Word final /d/ often deletes when it occurs before a word starting with another consonant. In this, that deletion produces 'You better'. It's a regular phonological process.

My reference is: Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. M. (1996). Teaching pronunciation: A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (See p. 163).

The book is largely focused on North American English, so I can't say for certain what happens in British English. My guess, though, would be that a true /d/ does not occur. If a consonant is produced there, it would be a glottal stop. But I could be wrong about that.

Apparently it does occur in British English. I just did a corpus search on 'you better' in the spoken portion of the British National Corpus. Here's what I found:

1 o I won't. I let him use the toilet. I goes, you better get out now and I tried to hold Dempsey back
2 Dog! What's that supposed to mean? You better get your exams! Yeah. But buck your ideas
3 em says, well if you've not got cigarettes, you better give me a tenner or I'll thump you! And I tu
4 e was doing? Exactly! You see i well you, you better give me ten pound or I'll thump you! Yep.
5 Well I'll . Cos I says, when they do, you better have all the bloody jokes about that! No!
6 will find here, that they say . Yeah, so you better if you have. I haven't . You don't, oka
8 u want? You're doing . Only four. Oh, and you better make it five cos And me! Vicki can hav
9 er a corner, corner now. You better, you better mind out Felix cos I'll paint you to match!
10 know why, he come into my house and I goes you better not come in my door he'll attack you. And he
12 as up on the Friday morning and I said well you better phone the corporation and tell them that you
13 new toy? Mm mm. You wanted a cat toy, you better play with it! Got it! I've got it! Yes!
14 yeah. Just put it on one side. I say, yo you better stop feeding your pus , er your fox on whate

12 examples in a sample of just less than a million words (I've removed a few examples irrelevant ot this discussion from the list, as the missing numbers attest). It seems to be largely associated with non-standard dialects (perhaps unsurprisingly), but also occurs in largely standard speech, as examples 12 and 13 suggest.

It would be nice if English teachers knew something about English. You know, instead of just guessing. But that would be wishing for a lot, wouldn't it?

Rum Jungle · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: North Asia

ontheway · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:13 am Post subject:

It seems to me that this is a problem of limited vocabulary. Foreign language learners have a small number of words amd expressions in their active vocabulary and tend to overuse them, and to employ them in situations where a native speaker would substitute an alternative phrase with a more appropriate or precise meaning.

Travelous Maximus · Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Location: Nueva Anglia

You guys are lucky you're given slightly polite commands such as the ones posted. When I was teaching, my boss always said to me: you WILL teach this, you WILL come in early tomorrow, the guy installing your courtains WILL come to your apartment at 8AM, you WILL let him in! Yes master bosswoman, when you die, you WILL go to hell.