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This woman speaks Korean better than you

 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
19 messages over 3 pages: 13  Next >>
Arekkusu
Hexaglot
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Canada
bit.ly/qc_10_lec
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 Message 9 of 19
09 February 2012 at 3:23pm | IP Logged 
British student has tongue lengthened to speak Korean
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Northernlights
Groupie
United Kingdom
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Studies: Italian, French

 
 Message 10 of 19
09 February 2012 at 3:47pm | IP Logged 
Arekkusu wrote:
British student has tongue lengthened to speak Korean


Having read the article it sounds as if she had tongue tie, the condition usually corrected soon after birth. I had originally envisaged something more invasive and was wondering what sort of surgeon would do that. Operating on tongue tie is good though I'd have thought, it's just a little odd hers was left till she was a teenager. Typical of the British press to present everyday things in such a 'shocking' way.
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Leighbee
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 Message 11 of 19
17 February 2012 at 4:31pm | IP Logged 
Oh wow! This girl lives in the next town over!

And I think one of her relatives is my teacher.
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Leurre
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 Message 12 of 19
27 February 2012 at 7:59am | IP Logged 
She doesn't speak Korean better than I.
She speaks pretty well though.
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druckfehler
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Germany
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 Message 13 of 19
29 February 2012 at 1:28am | IP Logged 
I like how she describes that the feeling of learning Korean was like falling in love for the first time. I think that probably explains her achievement and it's a good thing to keep in mind when studying languages.

IronFist wrote:
These white people learning Korean to this level of fluency blows my mind. Fantastic work, you two!


Why don't we read that kind of statement about people from other language families who speak Indo-European languages well more often? Maybe because there are many of them who do and we're so lingocentric that we don't realise how difficult our own language can be? And by the way, what does being white have to do with anything?
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Raincrowlee
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 Message 14 of 19
29 February 2012 at 3:43am | IP Logged 
druckfehler wrote:
I like how she describes that the feeling of learning Korean was like falling in love for the first time. I think that probably explains her achievement and it's a good thing to keep in mind when studying languages.

IronFist wrote:
These white people learning Korean to this level of fluency blows my mind. Fantastic work, you two!


Why don't we read that kind of statement about people from other language families who speak Indo-European languages well more often? Maybe because there are many of them who do and we're so lingocentric that we don't realise how difficult our own language can be? And by the way, what does being white have to do with anything?


Possibly because, as native Indo-European-language speakers, it might come off as a bit patronizing to cheer on someone speaking one of 'our' languages.

At the same time, for those of us coming from the IE sphere, Asian languages are among the hardest, and are an aspiration and challenge for many of us 'white' (Western) folk. When Iron Fist complements these people, I get the feeling there's the undertone of "I wish I could do that," (since he studies both Japanese and Korean) rather than any lingocentric notions.
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Arekkusu
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Canada
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 Message 15 of 19
29 February 2012 at 3:29pm | IP Logged 
Raincrowlee wrote:
Possibly because, as native Indo-European-language speakers, it might come off as a bit patronizing to cheer on someone speaking one of 'our' languages.

Right. Go talk to an Asian person on the bus and say "wow, you speak our language very well" and see how they react.
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druckfehler
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Germany
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Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Korean
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 Message 16 of 19
01 March 2012 at 9:47pm | IP Logged 
Arekkusu wrote:
Go talk to an Asian person on the bus and say "wow, you speak our language very well" and see how they react.


True, but maybe complimenting a stranger on the bus on their language skills isn't the best idea. Who knows, the person might have lived in your country for 20 years or so and if he/she gets those compliments just because of the way he/she looks that would probably just make them feel like an outsider (especially if you say "our" language ;)). And from what I read many white people in Korea feel that way when they're complimented for the 1000th time that they speak Korean well (and eat Kimchi), even if they lived in the country for a long time already. That's why I questioned the "white".

But yes, I get that Iron Fist probably meant that it's an impressive achievement for someone who didn't grow up or live in a Korean-speaking environment and that it's said from a personal perspective because he knows that learning Korean is difficult. I just wanted to add that there are many people who do achieve such things, which doesn't take away from the achievement, but puts it into perspective.


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