(no subject)
Today I had an epiphany regarding Koreans and the English language. I have met many Koreans who speak English very well, but none who sound natural. They often sound like an academic textbook or something. I never understood this - don't they study, like, day-to-day speech? The only Korean I've met who speaks English like a native is a guy at my gym who spent 4 years in San Diego, smoking pot and eating mushrooms and chasing Latina girls. That guy (I actually don't know his name and feel bad about it) could pass for a first-generation American, no problem, and while he doesn't use a lot of slang or expressions, he understands almost all of mine. No one else, though, sounds natural, even people with very little accent and a huge vocabulary.
I've wondered about this since I came to Korea. Well, this morning on the subway, a guy was standing next to me, reading a small book on learning English. It caught my eye, and I read a page over his shoulder. The page had a header which said "COMMON EXPRESSIONS", and beneath that it said "Goodbyes". Here are some of the so-called common expressions from the page:
"I will be looking forward to seeing you again at a later date."
"You must give my kindest regards to both of your parents."
"This has been a very enjoyable time, and I hope we may repeat it."
There were more in the same vein but I forget what they said. Suddenly, I understood. The Korean language is extremely formal, with as many as seven different variations on a given word depending on the station of the person you're speaking to, relative to your own station. And Koreans - this is just my hypothesis, but I think it's pretty solid - Koreans want to learn the most formal English possible. Looking at these "common" goodbyes, I was thinking, sure, I might say that, but only in a letter to a lawyer or if I was talking to the President or something. I wouldn't actually say that stuff on a day-to-day basis. But that's how most of the English-speakers I've met here talk, not quite that extreme, but in a much more formal and stilted way. And while I've been asked by students and adults for all sorts of different English words, no one has ever asked me to teach them a slang word or a curse word. I think that's pretty telling, especially when I think back on my Spanish classes in high school and college, and what my classmates wanted to learn the most.
Anyway, I'll have to ask some other English teachers and see what they think. Maybe this theory is full of holes. But it would certainly explain a lot if not just their classes but their learn-english books were very heavy on the formality.
I've wondered about this since I came to Korea. Well, this morning on the subway, a guy was standing next to me, reading a small book on learning English. It caught my eye, and I read a page over his shoulder. The page had a header which said "COMMON EXPRESSIONS", and beneath that it said "Goodbyes". Here are some of the so-called common expressions from the page:
"I will be looking forward to seeing you again at a later date."
"You must give my kindest regards to both of your parents."
"This has been a very enjoyable time, and I hope we may repeat it."
There were more in the same vein but I forget what they said. Suddenly, I understood. The Korean language is extremely formal, with as many as seven different variations on a given word depending on the station of the person you're speaking to, relative to your own station. And Koreans - this is just my hypothesis, but I think it's pretty solid - Koreans want to learn the most formal English possible. Looking at these "common" goodbyes, I was thinking, sure, I might say that, but only in a letter to a lawyer or if I was talking to the President or something. I wouldn't actually say that stuff on a day-to-day basis. But that's how most of the English-speakers I've met here talk, not quite that extreme, but in a much more formal and stilted way. And while I've been asked by students and adults for all sorts of different English words, no one has ever asked me to teach them a slang word or a curse word. I think that's pretty telling, especially when I think back on my Spanish classes in high school and college, and what my classmates wanted to learn the most.
Anyway, I'll have to ask some other English teachers and see what they think. Maybe this theory is full of holes. But it would certainly explain a lot if not just their classes but their learn-english books were very heavy on the formality.