Comments on: Extra Large

By: Bev

Bev — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 13:13:00 +0000

My ultimate word here is “bus.” I get a blank stare whenever I say this in a Korean phrase. I have to painfully remind myself to try saying it the Korean way. This also gets me all the time when reading out loud in Korean..스가프, 에그…etc. I have to reread aloud a lot of times only to figure out that it’s an English word after all!

By: Nicole A

Nicole A — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 11:37:00 +0000

I have the same problem here in Japan. Actually, I think the first advice someone gave me the first time I came here was that if I was going to speak English, I should do so in Japanese, otherwise nobody will understand what you’re saying.. It’s true to. I remember following another foreign friend to charge her pre-paid phone. We walk into the store and my friend says “Pre-paid”.. The staff just stares at her and shakes his head. She repeats herself “Preeee-paid!”. The staff starts looking around and repeating “No no”. Finally I say “Puriii peiido”, to which he responds “Aaah, puri peido! Yes, yes!”. It’s nice to see that it’s not just a Japanese thing, haha. It doesn’t matter how perfect your English is, most people won’t understand it unless you have Japanese pronunciation.. And I have heard from some of my Japanese friends that they find certain accents, especially Aussie or Scottish ones really difficult to understand, even if they have an okay grasp of English..

By: eleanor

eleanor — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 10:39:00 +0000

In reply to LoonyLizard. Good thing they didn't...nothing close to it in fact ^^

By: LoonyLizard

LoonyLizard — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 10:06:00 +0000

In reply to eleanor. Still, I would have tweeted the blazes out of a video where they thought you were trying to order Baekhyun. XD

By: eleanor

eleanor — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 08:28:00 +0000

In reply to Nic (MyKoreanHusband).

Haha yes. Even though you know other Koreans have understood exactly what you’ve said the last time you ordered/said the same thing. I get it though – people who aren’t used to talking to people who aren’t native speakers in whichever language, they sometimes panic ^^ it’s all good, it gives me good stories to encourage my students to be brave and still try and speak even if they aren’t perfect.

By: Nic (MyKoreanHusband)

Nic (MyKoreanHusband) — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 07:22:00 +0000

In reply to eleanor. Haha yeah and then even saying something in Korean and they think you spoke English so they don't understand...

By: eleanor

eleanor — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 16:09:00 +0000

Oh my goodness! This happens to me when I forget to Konglish-ise some words. And then I have to think, now how would this word be said by a Korean…the funniest one was once with bacon. I didn’t want it with something and was able to order everything else in Korean just fine…except for the word bacon. I was new to Korea and hadn’t figured out how to Konglish-ise words that were English. They have to get another waiter who spoke English, and then they “taught” be how to say it. What was a bit annoying was that they seemed to think I was the idiot…when I was like: BUT IT’S ENGLISH!!! haha. Now I just Konglish-ise stuff though occasionally I do forget. Sometimes people just get a panicked look on their face if they see I’m a foreigner and assume I won’t be able to order or ask for what I want, even if I can. haha. oh well.