Site Search:
 
Speak Korean Now!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Learning Korean the Hard Way

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Col.Brandon



Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:34 pm    Post subject: Learning Korean the Hard Way Reply with quote

I've had a couple of funny incidents happen to me lately that I thought I might share with you all.

The first one was the other night when I was on my way to pick up my wife after work (She's a nurse.) Anyway, I'm driving over the Han river into Yeouido and there's this huge traffic jam. Now that's not so unusual, but this was 10pm on a Tuesday night. After about 30 minutes of inching my way along I finally came to a police checkpoint where they're breath-testing everyone.

A young police officer pokes this electronic device at me and says, "Who!"
"I'm Col.Brandon", I dutifully reply, but he mustn't have heard me clearly because he again says, "Who!"
"Brandon. I'm Brandon!"
"Who... WHO!!!"
And then it dawned on me; "Who" means "blow" in Korean!" Don't ever let it be said that I'm slow on the uptake. So I blow in this thing, and it seems to be happy because it blinks a green light at me and the cop lets me go on my way.

By the way Mr. policeman, thanks for delaying my journey by half an hour. You can WHO me.

--------

The second one was last week. I'm in class with a bunch of third-graders and we're talking about, "What do you like?" One earnest young student offers, "I like puppies!"
"Aha!" I think, "Here's a good learning opportunity", so I ask, "What is a puppy?"
"A dog baby", says another student.
And since I'm on a roll I ask, "And what's hangeul-mal for dog baby?"

Tee hee.

If you have a co-teacher try orchestrating this scenario just to see how much they squirm. It might be fun. By the way, sorry to the newbies if you don't get that last one.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Discussion Forum All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe
TEFL Courses, TESOL Course, English Teaching Jobs - TEFL International