Some Thoughts on Learning Korean and English
Here are some of the most common grammatical errors made by my students, both adults and children. By the way, I don't mean to make anyone feel awkward; I'm sure any group of people speaking any foreign language are bound to get things wrong. I just find the patterns I've observed during the last 10 months here to be interesting.
Incorrect passives: "He was died."
Incorrect present progressive / continuous: "He's swim."
Incorrect gender: "She [about a man]...."
Incorrect 3rd person singular: "He eat pizza everyday."
***
I was in Kyobo bookstore the other day looking at books for adults learning English and Korean. I was simply shocked at the superiority of the English books for Korean learners. The chapters all featured color photographs, off-set boxes for grammatical highlights and reading texts, and appendices containing lists of irregular verb tenses. The books were visually appealing, and appeared to have the goal of internalizing English structures.
The Korean books, on the other hand, were all two-toned: black and white, or green and white, or grey and white (my own Sogang University book). There were no photographs, only little cartoons. Often, and this is most unforgiveable, there was no handy chart showing at a glance the various tenses or irregular forms. My own book, again, is far from ideal, and does not present the material well or systematically. It is imperative that I have somebody explain to me what the book does not. For example, there's a possessive suffix the book introduced at the end of a page. However, in all the chapters before and after, I have yet to see a single example of this possessive suffix! And this is in one of the more popular books for learning Korean! I should also mention that the prices of the English books are similar, or better, which is surprising, given the expense of color ink and shipping costs! Sometimes the mickey-mouse level of things just gets to me--but I don't want to start a rant.
***
Many people will tell you that Korean is written exactly as it sounds. It's easier than English in that regard (I think), but I have found the following interesting points, quite apart from the standard rules governing changes in sounds when certain combinations of letters come together:
ㅁ "m" being pronounced like "b"; ㄹ which can be an "l" or something between an "l" and an "r," or even, at times, a "d," being pronounced like an "n"; ㅓ (short o) being pronounced like ㅗ (long o); and finally, ㄴ(n) being pronounced like "d." This is very confinusing to a beginner, but I guess one just presses on. I'm ashamed that I've put in so little effort into learning Korean; it's too easy for a foreigner to get by armed only with two or three phrases and a pocket dictionary (which is often suspect--when it's not ommitting what should be common words!). I've finally started some flash cards, and am amazed at how much Korean vocabulary I would know--if I had been memorizing properly. Well, that's about to change for the better.
Incorrect passives: "He was died."
Incorrect present progressive / continuous: "He's swim."
Incorrect gender: "She [about a man]...."
Incorrect 3rd person singular: "He eat pizza everyday."
***
I was in Kyobo bookstore the other day looking at books for adults learning English and Korean. I was simply shocked at the superiority of the English books for Korean learners. The chapters all featured color photographs, off-set boxes for grammatical highlights and reading texts, and appendices containing lists of irregular verb tenses. The books were visually appealing, and appeared to have the goal of internalizing English structures.
The Korean books, on the other hand, were all two-toned: black and white, or green and white, or grey and white (my own Sogang University book). There were no photographs, only little cartoons. Often, and this is most unforgiveable, there was no handy chart showing at a glance the various tenses or irregular forms. My own book, again, is far from ideal, and does not present the material well or systematically. It is imperative that I have somebody explain to me what the book does not. For example, there's a possessive suffix the book introduced at the end of a page. However, in all the chapters before and after, I have yet to see a single example of this possessive suffix! And this is in one of the more popular books for learning Korean! I should also mention that the prices of the English books are similar, or better, which is surprising, given the expense of color ink and shipping costs! Sometimes the mickey-mouse level of things just gets to me--but I don't want to start a rant.
***
Many people will tell you that Korean is written exactly as it sounds. It's easier than English in that regard (I think), but I have found the following interesting points, quite apart from the standard rules governing changes in sounds when certain combinations of letters come together:
ㅁ "m" being pronounced like "b"; ㄹ which can be an "l" or something between an "l" and an "r," or even, at times, a "d," being pronounced like an "n"; ㅓ (short o) being pronounced like ㅗ (long o); and finally, ㄴ(n) being pronounced like "d." This is very confinusing to a beginner, but I guess one just presses on. I'm ashamed that I've put in so little effort into learning Korean; it's too easy for a foreigner to get by armed only with two or three phrases and a pocket dictionary (which is often suspect--when it's not ommitting what should be common words!). I've finally started some flash cards, and am amazed at how much Korean vocabulary I would know--if I had been memorizing properly. Well, that's about to change for the better.
6 Comments:
I agree with your comments about textbooks for those wanting to learn Korean.
It's the same situation for people wanting to learn Chinese or Japanese. The textbooks are horrible.
I also see similar problems with Japanese and Chinese learners with grammar. The Chinese have a hard time with the certain phonological aspects of English, ie. /m/ word endings.
Having those flash cards handy everyday while sitting on a train or bus is a great learning strategy.
In my four years of studying Korean, I have not yet found a truly outstanding Korean book. The flashcards are really good for memorize vocabulary words. The other thing I really recomend is talking: girlfriends, co-workers, guys on the subway, girls at the corner store. If you don't use it you loose it.
Hi Nathan,
It was funny to read this post. Right now I'm working at a hospital in Vancouver and a majority of the staff are from Asia. I've noticed that about 80% of them consistently confuse gender. It used to drive me crazy but now I'm used to it.
Take care
Thanks for your comments, Rice Paddy Daddy, Natalie, and Wyatt! I wonder why university professors in the West have not developed better textbooks? There's less excuse for them than for the folks on this side of the world, since they know how English speakers learn and think. Anyway, I hope you're all well.
Nathan,
Nice blog.
Well, I think that most of the textbooks for non-English language learners have been written in a way that is consistent with the Audiolingualism and Grammar Translation methods.
Asian language instructors, unfortunately (and I'm not sure they even realize this) have not kept pace with modern advancements in language teaching pedagogy.
Hey - Maybe this is an opportunity for you and a Korean friend to co-author a more learner centred and "communicative" text for people learning Korean!
Have a nice day.
Yrs.
Fred Shannon
Taipei, Taiwan
Thanks for the kind words, Fred Shannon. I hope you continue to enjoy my little blog.
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