I think language does shape the person who speaks it. Especially for me, Konglish is sort of a metaphor for who I am. I'm not a 100% Korean, nor a 100% American. I'm a mixture of both. I've lived half my life in one country and half in the other. Both cultures have influenced me and shaped who I am, and language has been a part of that influence. Speaking two languages itself has defined me, but also what languages I speak, how I use them, and what they add to my knowledge has made me the person I am. For example, in Korea, being fluent in English is a big advantage in school and in society. Parents in Korea spend so much money on their children's English education. Companies hire people with high TOEFL or TOEIC scores. I made easy money tutoring middle school students solely because I was good at English. Foreigners from English-speaking countries pour into Korea because they can earn big bucks by just teaching their language. They don't even have to know Korean. Korean parents like the native speakers best.
The English craze in Korea has made me think a lot about how important English is, and how that is influencing Korean; whether Korean is slowly disappearing, what with kids learning English from the very early ages (some mothers listen to English educational tapes while they're pregnant); whether English will soon become the official international language; why Koreans seem to be more crazy about English than its neighboring countries like Japan and China.
I wrote much more than I first intended :p, but I guess this is why I enrolled in PSYCH 17N and why I'm interested in language and its influence. I hope I can learn a lot from this class and also share my thoughts. :)
And finally... Countries I've Visited! (not that many... hope to visit more)
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
EDIT: I just noticed that the right side of this map doesn't show... FYI, Korea is in East Asia! And I've also been to Mongolia, which also doesn't show up on the map.
3 comments:
hi zenas! So i totally relate with you on the "Konglish" aspect, except for me, it's "chinglish." This summer while I was back east visiting relatives, i'd noticed that in mid-conversation, i would completely blank out because i had no idea what the chinese word for what i had in mind was. i'd been so reliant on chinglish that when removed from the environment, i found a big void where that word (english, usually situated in an otherwise all-chinese statement) would be. has this ever happened to you before?
Yeah, that has happened to me quite a few times. That's why I think I'm most comfortable when I speak with someone who knows both Korean and English well. I also sometimes can't think of the English word for a concept I'm thinking of, either because there is no appropriate word for it in English (but there is in Korean) or because I've only used it in Korean. For example, I didn't know "saline solution" because I never needed it when I lived in America 8 years ago, but after I started wearing contacts in Korea, I used it constantly. When I came here, I didn't know what to look for. I still don't know if "saline" is exactly right, but I think that's what I'm talking about.
Just received a payment for over $500.
Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them about how much you can earn by taking paid surveys from home...
So I show them a video of myself getting paid $500 for filling paid surveys to set the record straight once and for all.
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