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What makes Korean so difficult? | ||
Tags: Korean | Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Polyglot2005 Senior Member United States Joined 7233 days ago 184 posts - 185 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 17 of 37 30 November 2008 at 2:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
I also think if you are going to ask a native speaker about the difficulty of their native language, you have to take their opinion with a grain of salt. A native speaker will not have the same frame of reference as a someone learning a second language (or third etc.) later on in life. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Deecab Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6006 days ago 106 posts - 108 votes Speaks: English, Korean* Studies: Mandarin | Message 18 of 37 01 December 2008 at 1:14am | IP Logged | |||||
I actually think Cantonese/Mandarin are just as, if not more difficult, than Korean if you're talking in terms of vocabulary meaning variety of things. Chinese use rigid syntax to define their word meaning because shi4, even with the correct tone usage, can mean dozen different things depending on context. If you became lazy and decided to place it in wrong word order, you might confuse the listener. With Korean, wrong word order doesn't matter much to us. It might show that he's not yet completely fluent but if someone speaks in a bit weird word order, we will still get the point. In Chinese, word order really matters so in this regard, I say Chinese is probably even more difficult. Edited by Deecab on 01 December 2008 at 1:17am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ChrisWebb Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6308 days ago 181 posts - 190 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean | Message 19 of 37 03 December 2008 at 10:06am | IP Logged | |||||
I think this just depends on your starting point, Korean might not have strict word order but that is only because of all the particles used to identify the various parts of a sentence, you wont necessarily still get the point if we attach the particles incorrectly even if our word order is reasonably natural. From an English speakers point of view there is nothing particularly easy about identifying a word's function in a sentence by particle rather than word order, in fact it's a source of difficulty because we simply are not used to doing this in our native language. Edited by ChrisWebb on 03 December 2008 at 10:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Deecab Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6006 days ago 106 posts - 108 votes Speaks: English, Korean* Studies: Mandarin | Message 20 of 37 03 December 2008 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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After thinking more about it, I agree that flexible word order isn't easier. In fact, you have to memorize all the jumbling words to compose your understanding.
You still have to memorize the acceptable word order because I doubt there is language with completely free word order. You need to get used to more possibilities in the manner that speakers use. Even in English I sometimes cringe and think "Is this word order right or wrong". Edited by Deecab on 03 December 2008 at 8:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Oneota Diglot Newbie Korea, SouthRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5871 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, German | Message 21 of 37 12 December 2008 at 6:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree that the materials for learning Korean are generally woeful. In addition, the
teaching methods that Koreans use are not very helpful (I've had five teachers). In a few hours, I was able to learn more street-useful Chinese than I had Korean in three YEARS of living in Korea and taking over two semesters of classes. Learning-by-using is also difficult for shy people in Korea. Outside of the metropolitan areas, a foreigner who makes a single slip in one phoneme (or even just uses the wrong intonation) will often be totally ununderstandable to most people. Also, there is either a disinterest or inability to help foreigners: Often I get an English (or at least an attempt at such) word said to me when I same something in Korea (e.g., in asking for some apples, the only response is often "Apple."). This does not mean that the Korean will then speak English and tell me what the word for grapefruit it or that he'll speak any other Korean to me regardless of what I say...until I pay and leave. This often includes a refusal to speak or respond to Korean numbers (quantity or money numbers) - instead a common response to a question of how much or how many is to hold up fingers (in a finger-signing system which is different from the American one). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| skeeterses Senior Member United States angelfire.com/games5Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6663 days ago 302 posts - 356 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Spanish | Message 22 of 37 12 December 2008 at 3:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Oneta,
If you're serious about learning Korean don't despair. The first thing you need to do is find a small restaurant where the waitresses will speak Korean to you and go there on a regular basis. The second thing you need to do is get the Ganada Elementary grammar books and work your way through the drills and listen to the audio CDs. That will cover the basic vocabulary and the expressions you need for everyday use. There are people who can help on your Korean but you have to find them. If you're taking a taxi cab and the taxi driver speaks Korean with you, get his business card and call him the next time you need a taxi. Same thing when you get your haircut. Find a barber who will speak Korean with you. And when you go out to the country to visit temples, don't bring any English speaking friends with you, but just bring a small Korean dictionary with you in case anybody strikes you up for a Korean conversation. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Oneota Diglot Newbie Korea, SouthRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5871 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, German | Message 23 of 37 12 December 2008 at 6:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Skeeterses -
Thanks for the advice. I'll try it, but I don't use taxis and don't get my hair cut. I normally do go alone to temples, but I'm not approached. It could be that there is something in my posture that is negative: it seems when I first came to Korea, people would come up to me (albeit only to speak English) when I was on trips; now, when I am on the train, people literally turn their backs on me when they sit down next to me or immediately put in earphones or close their eyes to sleep. I'm not sure how to get the waiter to talk to me, though. He always dashes off to other customers, to clean up etc. Maybe I'll have to find a less busy restaurant. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| skeeterses Senior Member United States angelfire.com/games5Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6663 days ago 302 posts - 356 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Spanish | Message 24 of 37 14 December 2008 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Oneota, while you're on the bulletin board, I would recommend going over to the language log feature and write
down a small milestone to help you. It could be something like read a children's story or going through a beginner's Korean learner's book. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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