I think I’d like it if they did an interracial storyline, maybe a Korean guy going to study in US, falling in love with an American girl, then bringing her back to Korea and teaching her about Korea. I don’t like romance comedies, but for that type of drama I’ll make an exception 🙂

Maybe like others mentioned, maybe actually doing research about overseas Koreans and be realistic with their characters and storylines.

Regarding bad English, I remember how in “Love Story in Harvard” (one of the few dramas that I got hooked on), character Alex Hong was supposed to have lived in America since childhood but his English was sooooo bad….it was almost unintelligible. And he was supposed to be a law student at Harvard!

One of my students who has come to be a close friend graduated this year and had to return to Korea, and he was very nervous about it. The last time I saw him I told him if he wasn’t happy there I would sponsor him for immigration, and then he texted me as he was boarding the plane to say, “remember you have to sponsor me if I don’t like Korea anymore!” He loves his home country, but the anxiety of reintegrating after 4 years is very real and perfectly legit.

Oh, and a few days after he got home, he told me he felt like he couldn’t speak Korean properly anymore. “Now I’m not a native speaker of English OR Korean!!” kk ^_^

And Korean-Americans speaking flawless Korean is definitely not as common as many seem to think. To be perfectly realistic, most Korean-Americans (of which I am one) hardly ever speak native-level Korean (although many are quite good), and usually speak Korean with a mild to strong distinctive “western” accent, sometimes called the gyopo accent. Native Koreans made fun of my gyopo accent a lot (they also make fun of the gyopo accent on variety shows and comedy shows often).

There was one unintentionally hilarious drama (I forget the name but someone please tell me if they know) where the producers actually made the effort to have the native Korean actor portraying the Korean-American character use a strong gyopo accent when speaking Korean. It was really funny to hear the way Koreans perceived the way I speak!

I personally never got offended though because despite any lighthearted pokes at my expense, native Koreans always considered me to be fully one of “them” — meaning they considered me to be a full and “real” Korean even though I kept insisting I was actually an American.

I get the opposite reaction in the USA sometimes, where if I say I am American, other Americans will insist I’m not a “real” American and want to know what country I am “really” from. Overall though, I think it’s way easier for foreigners to assimilate in Western countries then in Korea, because Korea is so homogeneous. Isn’t it fascinating when cultures and ethnicities mix?

Sometimes I agree with the dramas because everyday at work im doing my duties, a passenger comes to my desk to be checked in and give his American passport I automatically speak in English asking questions like “Which flight Sir ?” “How many bags to check ?” and the person just keep staring at me !!!! the next thing I do is check where he was born on the passport and its written Pakistan/Russia/India/China/Taiwan/HongKong/etc ..

So there many people who was born in US and cant speak nothing at all , I ask “do you speak English” the answer is always the same “A Lirru” seriously Just say that you cant speak the language from your second citizenship I have the Italian passport because of my nanny and I don’t speak a word in Italian!! grazie is the only word I know !Its okay if you don’t speak. However they insist that speak and in the end as much as I try to I cant understand , its like you said in another post that they learn English and when they meet somebody that speaks quite well they just freeze and stares.

So the dramas overdo but is a reality there are American Korean that don’t speak English very well , the koreantown here in Sao Paulo most of the colony don’t speak Portuguese unless the person is teenager and go to regular school , not the Korean school that we have here.I think they keep comfortable in the colony interacting only with Korean people ,going to Korean places after some years the Brazilian citizenship is granted and they don’t know how to speak Portuguese.

My Korean Sonsengnim lives here she doesn’t speak Portuguese just Korean but she really tries to communicate to others ! she writes some word in Portuguese using the Hangul system, I go to the Korean church , restaurant with her and we quite understand each other.

I think they always use US because of this interest they have in the western culture, but if they will spread this idea of American Korean at least use some actors who actually speak a satisfying English, they have good actors that do like Oh taecyeon , Daniel Henney,Park Boom ,Sunny ,Ailee, Kristal ,several … The only drama that I saw and shows this problems is Creating Destiny (인연 만들기) is about a girl living is Australia who has western habits ans she is forced to go to Korea because of a arranged marriage…

Anyways … Im writing to much to read ….

I’d like to see Korean from another country some Europeans or Canadian like Julien Kang !!!! or even south american, maybe a Brazilian !!! LOL !!

(Please don’t misunderstood me, im just sharing my experiences,sorry if I sound rude)

Haha I love that scene 😀