Comments on: English is Scary

By: Cassie

Cassie — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 08:05:00 +0000

In reply to Nic.

not fluent, no. I’m intermediate. My husband says I’m improving every day, but I don’t feel like it! lol, just have to keep at it!
화이팅!

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 06:01:00 +0000

In reply to Cassie.

Yes, very true. I’ve seen it time and time again when Koreans come to Australia thinking they’ve studied Korean enough and then once here they realise they can’t hold a single conversation in English. My husband improved his English the most by talking to native English speakers. His writing skills aren’t that good, but that hardly matters.
Are you fluent in Korean by the way? I’m only a beginner.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:16:00 +0000

Here’s my experience with teaching English in Korea: schools focus almost exclusively on grammar and passing tests. Very little emphasis is put on speaking, and even as a native teacher it’s nearly impossible to get them to speak to me in English. It’s twice as hard if they know you speak Korean, too. Once they’re done cramming for tests, they forget a majority of what they’ve learned, and even if they retain the information, it’s next to useless because they don’t understand how to use it in a conversation. My husband, having gone through this style of school himself felt very angry when he came to America and found his English to be worthless. So now, we both work at the same school in Korea teaching kids in a better way, by actually engaging them in conversation as much as possible. Unfortunately this is not the case with most schools.

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:36:00 +0000

In reply to JMK. yes :) Maybe about 1 or 2 pages in microsoft word, how you met, how you became a couple, interesting things and highlights about your relationship.

By: JMK

JMK — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:29:00 +0000

In reply to Nic. sure, that would be fun! when you say story, do you mean how we met and got together?

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 03:20:00 +0000

In reply to JMK.

I’m not so scared of speaking in front of him but more like scared if he puts me on the spot in front of other Koreans. Like if he says “you can say that! just try!” I freeze up and hate it.

By the way, I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a guest post? So for one post on my blog it’s your story. Just talk about your own story and what it’s like being married to a Korean man? With a few photos if you’d like. I think people would be interested in seeing some other people’s similar but different experiences. But it’s okay to say no if you don’t want photos or your story online 🙂

By: JMK

JMK — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Do you find that it’s easier to speak Korean around strangers (obviously Korean strangers) or around your husband? Maybe you won’t really know until you move to Korea… Since our whole relationship has been in English and I’ve only just started really learning Korean in the past year or so, I find myself extremely shy to speak Korean to other people in front of my husband. It seems really irrational, but whenever he wants me to order something or speak by myself I tend to make him go away so I don’t feel like he’s listening to me haha! Also I speak a lot more Korean around his parents when he’s not there…

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:53:00 +0000

In reply to Astrid. Oh really? That is cool :D My husband learnt English in The Philippines several years back.

By: Astrid

Astrid — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Hey, I’ve come across your site searching about Korean culture over the net. I’ve been going through your posts and I find them very nice and funny. =) By the way, I also have some Korean friends here in the Philippines, they are exchange students who are now learning English in the university I’m going, my school is located in Manila =) Thanks!

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 02:42:00 +0000

In reply to Joselyn. Thanks :) Glad you like my comics. And don't worry I can understand you just fine :)