|
 |
What makes Korean so difficult? | ||
Tags: Korean | Difficulty | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6231 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 33 of 37 21 May 2009 at 4:59pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree that listening is one of the harder aspects of Korean. But I am personally surprised that people let you slide even at the level you seem to be at. Nearly everyone I know in Korea hates when I speak down to them if they're older unless I've been given permission. Including when I'm drunk. And the more I learn, the more they expect me to speak with the proper speech form. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7122 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 34 of 37 22 May 2009 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't think I've ever spoken down to someone in Seoul or Busan because I imagine they'd be upset for obvious reasons. But out in Donghae (Kangwon-do) where I've lived the most, everyone seems to be pretty casual.
From my experiences, many conversations will slip into banmal* the second or third time you talk to someone; irrespective of age. Actually, outside of total strangers, only a few people persisted with jondaemal with me. And even one of my friends' mum's calls me 'oppa' and insists I speak like we're friends. A new experience for me. I actually read recently that Seoul National University (I think it was SNU anyway) conducts field research on dialect out in Gangneung and Jeongseon (next to Donghae), so whether the regional dialect has this informal feature embedded I'm not too sure. I haven't discussed it with my wife or friends but maybe it shares with the Jeju dialect when it comes to formality. [* to clarify, by 'banmal' I'm assuming this is understood as polite and respectful, not just a stock-standard informal..] Edited by andee on 23 May 2009 at 2:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aegi Diglot Newbie Korea, South Joined 6030 days ago 33 posts - 41 votes Speaks: English*, Korean | Message 35 of 37 22 May 2009 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Honorifics are much more complicated than most think. There are many intricacies, and 'formality' is inaccurate. Who's speaking to whom? About what or whom? What's the relationship between you two? You must know age, gender, place, time, length of acquaintance. Do you work together? In what capacity? How do you want say what you want to say? Are you friendly and respectful? Angry and respectful? Reluctant and insolent? The list of factors is very long. Nowadays, North Americans and Europeans tend to be unrelentingly and annoyingly informal, while Koreans live in a tight, complex web of social roles.
I wouldn't take 반말 as a sign of 'informality' or closeness. In this case it seems that, as a foreigner, you're being taken less than totally seriously by Koreans, who wouldn't talk that way to another Korean. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6231 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 36 of 37 24 May 2009 at 1:54pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I agree with aegi. Perhaps 98/100 Koreans I meet who are younger than me use 반말 after the first or second conversation. The backwards thing is that every single person older than me, with the exception of some people I've become close with, insists that I use 존대말. However if I request 존대말 then they oblige. In fact there was a recent incident during our school festival where a Korean approached me and said "에반! 하나 먹어," telling me to buy pineapples from his booth. I asked him if he knows me and he said he was just in my room with my roommate the other day when I was studying. Thing is we hadn't even exchanged a greeting yet and he dived right into 반말. The next day he did it again and I demanded that he speak to me in 존대말. This happens with Koreans of all ages. Why? The two reasons I get most often are these:
- They want to be close with me because I'm a foreigner, and 반말 is the fastest gateway. - I'm an English speaker, and English has no speech levels (they tell me this in Korean), therefore they are magically excused. I've let it slide a lot, but in a year when I'm attending Korea University my Korean will be a lot better and I plan to insist to every person younger than me speaks in 존대말. The way I see it, I'll learn more culture that way. And by the way, 교포 get the same treatment unless they have a native Korean accent. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JamieAnderson Newbie Canada uregina.ca Joined 5551 days ago 5 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* | Message 37 of 37 30 October 2009 at 9:07pm | IP Logged | ||
|
At first the pronounciation was difficult for me but using a shadowing techinique has greatly improved it. Words that have silent letters or are pronounced differently because of consonant changes seem to stick in my brain as exceptions. However, it's become clear to me that I need to both read these words and listen and speak them to appreciate their differences.
My Shadowing technique 1) First I read through the text that I will be listening to before showdowing, this ensures that I know all the vocab words and grammar. If there is any grammar that I don't understand I look it up along with new words. 2) I then listen and repeat what is being said on the CD while reading the text. I am sure to be careful not to let the text slow me down - If I am reading a word and it sounds slightly different then I just focus on the audio. I find reading the text helps words that have exceptions in them to be cemented in my brain. 3) After a couple of read throughs I begin to listen to it without the text. 4) Lastly, I review the material afterwords without the text. Sometimes I will forget an exception or a point of grammar, at this point I will quickly consult the text and seeing the dialouge written helps refresh my memory. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2025 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
