This woman speaks Korean better than you (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

This woman speaks Korean better than you
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

19 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3 Next >>

IronFist
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6246 days ago
663 posts - 941 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Korean

Message 1 of 19

09 February 2012 at 7:11am | IP Logged

Possibly a repost, my apologies if so. Vid at the bottom.

Quote:

American teen places 2nd in Korean speech contest

In the summer of 2007, then seventh grader Alyssa Donovan was walking along the her school`s hallway when she momentarily froze after seeing a Korean-American boy. This was the first time for her to express interest in the opposite sex and Korea.

Four years later, the American girl became the first non-Korean to win second prize in a Korean speech contest Saturday, which was hosted by the U.S. National Association for Korean Schools in San Francisco.

In a phone interview with The Dong-A Ilbo Tuesday, Donovan spoke Korean as if the language was her mother tongue. She used difficult words in putting on a surprising performance for an American with no Korean relatives.

She lives in Maine and is in the 11th grade at Deering High School in Portland, Maine.

“I started to study Korean because I had a crush on a Korean boy. But what drove me further was the beauty of the Korean language. Korean can be spoken very smoothly and is full of lyricism. I like Gyeongsang dialect the most probably because I have many Korean friends from that region,” she said.

Her parents and friends had criticized her for learning Korean. Her mother Linda Douglas recalls wondering why her daughter wanted to learn Korean instead of Japanese or Chinese.

Donovan came up with her Korean name “Han Min-a” by herself. “Min” means people in Korean and “a” means beauty. Impressed with their daughter`s enthusiasm, her parents started to appreciate her learning Korean. Douglas said over the phone that she is proud of her daughter because of her outstanding capability in language and that she understands Korea better thanks to her daughter.

Donovan said her personality went from being passive and reserved into positive and enthusiastic after learning Korean. Her grades also improved as she was ranked second in her class of 300.

The teen said she wants to major in Korean at a Korean university and become a diplomat specializing in Korea to popularize the language throughout the world.

source:
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=060000&biid =2011072187278

Here's the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZGrhu _jOHgQ

She slurs her words together with much skill. Great Korean.

This guy's pretty good, too, and has very noticeable intonation (as opposed to being monotone). I have no idea what he's talking about, though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKVvm3kMbGg&feature=related

These white people learning Korean to this level of fluency blows my mind. Fantastic work, you two!
4 persons have voted this message useful

newyorkeric
Diglot
Moderator
Singapore
Joined 6188 days ago
1598 posts - 2174 votes

Speaks: English*, Italian
Studies: Mandarin, Malay
Personal Language Map

Message 2 of 19

09 February 2012 at 7:47am | IP Logged

Without even looking at the video I can completely agree with the title of this thread.
16 persons have voted this message useful

Spanky
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 5765 days ago
1021 posts - 1714 votes

Studies: French

Message 3 of 19

09 February 2012 at 8:42am | IP Logged

newyorkeric wrote:

Without even looking at the video I can completely agree with the
title of this thread.

BLOTD* If I could vote twice, I would!

(*BLOTD: best line of the day.)
1 person has voted this message useful

newyorkeric
Diglot
Moderator
Singapore
Joined 6188 days ago
1598 posts - 2174 votes

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Personal Language Map

Message 4 of 19

09 February 2012 at 9:27am | IP Logged

IATP*

(*IATP = I aim to please.)

8^)
1 person has voted this message useful

Northernlights
Groupie
United Kingdom
Joined 4484 days ago
73 posts - 93 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

Message 5 of 19

09 February 2012 at 10:30am | IP Logged

Spanky wrote:

BLOTD* If I could vote twice, I would!

(*BLOTD: best line of the day.)

newyorkeric wrote:

IATP*

(*IATP = I aim to please.)

8^)

LMAO

PWDV*

(*PWDV = posts which deserve votes)
1 person has voted this message useful

이희선
Groupie
Australia
Joined 4778 days ago
56 posts - 97 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Russian

Message 6 of 19

09 February 2012 at 12:16pm | IP Logged

Wow, thats wonderful. Very nice to see a true story of people who have succeeded in a language learning endeavor. I
hope all her dreams come true for her Korean studies :)
3 persons have voted this message useful

Arekkusu
Hexaglot
Senior Member
Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
Joined 5190 days ago
3971 posts - 7747 votes

Speaks: English, French*, German^C1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto
Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian

Message 7 of 19

09 February 2012 at 12:57pm | IP Logged

Is it just me or this reeks of propaganda?

Just like the other girl who had her tongue lengthened to speak Korean and whose parents also couldn't
believe their daughter's interest for Korean...
3 persons have voted this message useful

Northernlights
Groupie
United Kingdom
Joined 4484 days ago
73 posts - 93 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

Message 8 of 19

09 February 2012 at 2:50pm | IP Logged

Arekkusu wrote:

Just like the other girl who had her tongue lengthened to speak Korean

Pardon??!

1 person has voted this message useful

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