KoreanClass101.com Blog

Alphabet.

Man, we didn’t exactly put our best foot forward in creating the English alphabet, did we? I know firsthand what it’s like to try to teach a child the English alphabet.

“Okay, this little guy is called an “E” and he says a lot of different things. Sometimes he says his name /ee/, sometimes he changes a preceding vowel from short to long so long as the word is relatively small, and his friends “C” and “I” don’t get along so he has to stand in between them so they don’t fight, but if “C” isn’t there, “I” likes to be in front of “E” because “I” is bossy. And please note that when “E” is next to “R”, he is controlled by “R” because “R” is even more pushy than “I”. Oh, and sometimes “E” says nothing at all. Come to think of it, most of the time “E” likes to sit down; when he does that he looks different but sounds the same. Don’t worry, it’s only the most frequently used letter in the alphabet so you’ll be seeing it quite often. Questions?”

The English alphabet has 26 letters divided into 5 vowels and 21 consonants….wait…not exactly. “Y” is sometimes a vowel. So then 6 vowels….well, actually, “W” sometimes acts like a vowel too……English has 26 letters, 알았지?

The Korean alphabet has 24 letters divided into 10 vowels and 14 consonants. Really, that’s it? There must be something wrong. No crazy exceptions? Well there are some, but there are relatively obscure and rare - the few high-frequency words that contain them are easy enough to remember simply because of their colloquial use.

The Korean alphabet (and language for that matter) is the only one in the world to have a (somewhat debated) date of origin - AD 1446. Although bitterly opposed at first and even almost eradicated, 한글 is alive and well today and enjoys even its own day - October 9th!

Well, ummm, English has a really catchy song! What? it has the same melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”? Copyright infringe much, Mr. Alphabet?

Speaking of which, there has been a strong push by many early childhood educators in America to lengthen a specific portion of the Alphabet song in order to make it more clear for young learners. The part in question is the ♪♪ …L,M,N,O… ♪♪ part which many times becomes ♪♪ Ellemino ♪♪ - its own new Franken-letter!

I wonder how long did it take my fellow KoreanClass101.com students to learn 한글? I mean the basics - not including super fast visual recognition but simple, time-constraint-free letter recognition? For me, it took a little longer than most - 3 days (하! try learning the English alphabet in the same amount of time). Most people I’ve met learned it well enough to sound out all vowels (simple and compound) and consonants with minimal errors in 2 days time.

I can say for me that the most confusing part of learning 한글 was the shear logical nature of it. What I mean is, the names of each 자모 correspond to how they are pronounced at either the beginning or end of the cluster. Has anyone ever seriously sat down and thought about how insanely smart that is? Even moreso, the letters were originally designed to mimic the physical shape that our mouth makes when producing the sound (although ㄹ is a bit questionable).

I don’t mean to turn the English Alphabet into the red-headed stepchild of the linguistic world - but it kind of is. It was scraped together from various Latin, Greek, Anglo-Saxon roots. Furthermore, it developed simultaneously in different regions and thus incorporated different ways of spelling and saying the same thing (think 제주도 사투리). And some letters got 86′ed altogether.

Although traditionally Korea boasts a slightly higher countrywide literacy rate when compared to America, currently the difference is negligible - wavering around the 99% range. Not bad Korea. Excellent work America!!! You really put in the hard work!

My father-in-law once answered my question of “Why do young children in Korea learn English?” with “Because after 3rd grade, there’s no more Korean to learn!”. While I partially agree with him, it does make you wonder just how much more there is to learn for college students who study contemporary English.

Thoughts?

Sorry that I’ve been absent from the blog in recent weeks…but I am returning this week with a 2-part post for your translation pleasure.  My contract is finishing in less than 7 weeks, and I am leaving Korea.  Here is the text from the letter I wrote to half of my students.  The other half got slightly different, and simpler letters.

It was a really interesting experience.  As I was thinking about doing it, I was a little daunted by the Korean I would have to use.  I wasn’t sure I was up to the task.  I couldn’t decide if I should start in English because then I could get the right emotions out, and look for translation help, or if I should just try to write from scratch in Korean….I decided to give it a go starting in Korean.  I was really pleased with the results!  KClass team, you can claim as much credit as you want for increasing my fluency to this level !^^

I’ll post the translation after a few days.

6학년 1반 친구들에게,

이제는 거의 여름 방학이잖아요.  많이 기대했죠? 오늘은 우리 마지막 수업인데요. 그래서 하고 싶은 말 있어서 이 편지를 썼어요.  여러분 4학년 때 2006년 8월에 제가 한국에 도착했잖아요.  그전에는 외국에서 산 적이 없어서 내 생활은 너무 재미있게 됐어요.

우리 첫 번째 직접 만난 날 기억하세요?  저는 학생이 거의 600명 있으니까 별로 기억 안나요.  그렇지만 날마다 큰소리로 “Good Morning”으로 행복한 표정으로 인사 해준걸 항상 기억 할 게요.  여러분 덕분에 아침마다 환영 받은 느낌이었어요.

수업 할 때 한국어를 거의 절대로 말 안 했잖아요.  영어를 익숙하게 만들려 그렇게 했거든요. 원어민 선생님이 영어로만 말했으면 좋겠어요. 왜냐하면 그것이 여러분들이 더 잘 듣고, 말하는 연습을 하게 하니까요!  그렇지만 영어를 많이 공부하지 않았으면 좀 힘든 거 나도 잘 알아요.  여러분 열심히 공부해 줘서 감사합니다. 수업 시간이 별로 길지 않고 계획한 만큼 못 가르쳤는데 아쉬워요.  어쨌든 여러분한테 외국어 공부 하는 것이 얼마나 재미 주고 싶었어요.  다음 학기에 새로운 원어민 선생님 오신다면서요.  걱정 너무 하지 마요.  다른 외국인 만나는 건 좋을 것 같아요.  그 선생님에 대해서 아무 것도 모르지만 우리 성북 학생 여러분들은 너무 착해서 새로운 선생님이랑 잘 맞을 것 같아요.

올해 가을에 해외여행갈 계획인데요.  중미에서 스페인어도 배우고 싶어요.  그 다음에 대학원으로 입학 할거예요.  궁금하면 여행갈 때 내가 뭐 하는지 알 수 있도록 사진과 편지들 학교로 보내줄게요.  그리고 앞으로 연락 하고 싶으면 이메일 꼭 보내줘요!

앞으로 영어를 열심히 공부할 때 틀린 거 나오면 걱정 하지 마요.  연습 많이 하면 유창하게 말하는 거 꼭 배울 수 있습니다. 부지런히 계속 하면 영어는 점점 더욱 쉽게 될 수 있어요.

마지막으로 2년 동안 아주 재미있었고 보람 있었어요. 여러분과 시간 지내서 즐겁게 보냈어요. 한국은 집 같은 나라 됐어요. 우리 성북초등학교 선생님들과 학생들이 가족처럼 대해줬어요.  세월이 흐르면 다시 만나지도 모르고, 얼마 후에 한국에서 떠나지만, 마음속에서 추억 가지고 갈 거예요. 여러분을 잊지 않을게요. 노인이 되면 여러분 다정하게 기억 할 거 예요.

사랑해요 여러분,

Mr. D 선생님 올림

And lest you think that I am a bad English teacher for writing in Korean, rest assured they will get the English version printed with it!  But in reality, this letter is way over the heads of most student’s English ability….besides writing in Korean is a bit more fun anyway!

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Here’s another Skype conversaion video ^^! John joined me and recorded this dialog with me. Thank you John for your time ^_^!

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=55bAPvIjuQw

http://www.koreanclass101.com/2008/06/16/beginner-s2-12-with

Language.

I find it so charming that foreigners can seriously slaughter a common phrase in Korean and still get a nice “한국말 잘 하시네요!”. You just don’t have that in America. Or France for that matter.

In America, even though we recognize that there are more cultures and languages represented here than any other country, we still don’t do so well in being forgiving with our language. We tend to have a mindset that if you are in America, you must speak English. The use of any other language is often subtly considered sub-par, if even acceptable.

It’s a little uncomfortable to admit all that, sure. But Americans haven’t exactly been politically correct despite our long standing history of immigration.

Phonology seems to be be a big part of what is desirable of an English speaker. Oh sure, syntax and a knowledge of the lexicon is nice, but having a heavy accent? “Geez! Go back to <fill in the country of your choice>!” If the supposed critical period (or sensitive period depending on whom you subscribe to) has already come and gone in terms of phonology, then why should foreigners even attempt to learn a new language if they will only receive blank stares are unnecessarily loud Americans in return?

So how come I can smile like an idiot with my electronic phrasebook clasped tightly, sweating bullets, all the while unintentionally murdering this poor taxi driver’s native language and STILL get a compliment? Not sure. Perhaps it goes to show Korea’s understanding of its place in the world. Mandarin Chinese holds the coveted “Most Spoken Language in the World” title with English proudly clutching the silver medal… and the little-country-that-could Korea ranked 22nd. Well, at least they still get to go out for pizza after the game.

Perhaps Koreans really are aware of their small presence in the world. Of course, venturing outside of Seoul might change your mind. It’s not so much the ethnocentricity of it, but there is something almost charming about the 아저씨 who thinks only of life inside Korea.

However, when a foreigner does indeed start to grasp the fundamentals of the Korean language and begins to venture outside of the phrasebook, a whole new set of standards exists. “Well, if this guy can say THAT, then he better well say it using 존댓말.” Granted, this can be a bit stressful at times but knowing that I got through the whole newbie phase unscathed is still something to be proud of. All things considered, I feel that Koreans can be more sensitive to the linguistic needs of foreigners when compared to Americans. Perhaps because of the close proximity and influence (scandal!) of China and Japan?

Many Americans feel uncomfortable when a language other than English is spoken in their presence. There’s that pestering , paranoid thought of “I wonder what they’re saying about me” or “At least have the decency to say it in English!” or even “Can’t this wait until I’m not in the room?”. Koreans, by and large, on the other hand will try their best to communicate even though speaking in English for some can be quite possibly more stressful than meeting new in-laws. Non-Korean in-laws.

Too far?

Regardless of the reason, as a newcomer to the language - rejoice - and be at ease! Most Koreans will likely know more about your language than you know about theirs so sit back, relax, and read those .pdfs!

Thoughts?