Another letter that Koreans have trouble saying in English is V. Often they say it as a P. That’s alright it’s not different… except in some cases!

My husband was helping the Koreans next door who are in Australia on working holiday visas. They wanted to buy some cheap winter clothes so he took them to a second hand clothes shop. In Australia there is one in particular called St Vincents which we shorten to ‘Vinnes’.

Speaking of innocent words sounding really wrong… you may have seen the video of the Korean woman trying to explain how to ask about ordering a coke in Korean. Unfortunately her pronunciation of the word ‘coke’ in English turns the word into a much ruder word. I feel really bad for this woman because many people have seen this video and laughed at her. Let this be a big warning to Koreans who are going to an English speaking country: please be careful about some words.

If you are Korean and you aren’t sure why people were laughing at that video. She is just saying the word coke right? Actually the way she is saying it makes it sound like a certain man part (think of the different meaning of gochu).

This is one of the first things I correct when Korean friends come to Australia. I warn them about walking into McDonalds and asking for a large coke (not good!). It is really tricky for Koreans so I recommend saying Coca-Cola instead. It means the same and is the proper name for coke anyway. While my husband makes funny mistakes with me, it doesn’t matter because I’m his wife and in general he has good English. But you don’t want to accidentally ask for something very different to what you actually wanted!