Today I went to a kebab shop in Hongdae. I had found that the people there spoke good Korean so I went there to find out more about that. There was one person there called Sharam (Sharom it is pronounced). He said he was from Turkey but his mother is from Iran. Anyway, his Korean is VERY good. He has been in Korea for four years running kebab businesses with his friend also from the Middle East. He said it took him 1 year to become a good speaker of Korean. I don't know about his reading. I don't think it's very good. He said he doesn't speak much English but he speaks enough for me to understand. He never learned Korean from an institution. He just learned on the job. He just listened to the communications that went on the shops he was working in and then went on from there. He said he really likes Korea. I think he plans on staying here forever. I didn't ask about his private life but I gather he's not married though a brochure about restaurants and notable spots in Hongdae said he was married to a Korean woman. He said that was a mistake and he had no control over what they put in that brochure.
This is not the same kebab shop I went to. This is just an image I got off the Internet.
He was nice and he spent the time talking to me. He said he wants to learn English from me. He lives in Itaewon. He socializes mostly with his Turkish friends.
I was just amazed at how confident he was with the Korean language and it was more than just being able to talk about restaurant related matters to his customers, he was able to converse in Korean on diverse subjects.
After talking to him, I think that immersion is the way to go to be verbally fluent in the language. Not only that but it is a faster way to help one read and write. You pick up the grammar and vocabulary from immersion so when it comes to learning to read and write, a lot of what you must learn you already know or your ear knows it so you have a headstart over people who have never had immersion.
I asked him if it's OK to do language exchange. He said he was willing to do it. He suggested I give him a ring - he gave me his card - and we might go to Itaewon in the evening and eat dinner in a restaurant. I might like that and maybe go to a hof afterwards and practise my Korean.
I think when you have a personal teacher, you can learn the language fast. The good thing about this guy is that he can't speak English that much. We did spend a lot of time speaking in English and only a little time speaking in Korean though.
I think I will try and get the ad translated and go from there. I will post it up tomorrow and see how it goes. I will also contact Homestay and see how it goes. Or make my own ad. I think I should be more outgoing and meet more people. I need to get a part time job.
It's SOO hard in the English teaching industry to learn Korean. There are many English teachers who have spent lots of time learning Korean and I don't think any of them are as good as this Turkish guy.
Koreans are just HOPELESS at teaching English. I am watching TV and they butcher the language. They are giving certificates to kindergarten on children and they write "Good focus of attention" which is wrong and "improving eating". I just wish these amateurs wouldn't try. Some people have an idea they are good at speaking English when they are not. The only ones that are reasonable are the ones who have spent some time abroad or who have studied on their own. Those who have gone to hagwons and never been abroad and never studied on their own are just hopeless.
I really can't stand these people. They get hired over people like ME. That's why the state of English-speaking is so bad.
I really don't like the stupid way Koreans learn to speak and write English.
I think I can be fluent verbally in a year. With an hour everyday of immersion, I think after a year I will be quite good at it.
The key is to speak to people who cannot speak any English. That's the key.
I have to pay someone. Because otherwise the commitment isn't there. And I don't want to waste time.
I definitely don't want to spend time with people who are interested in learning English from me. I find that their speaking habits are fossilized and they are kind of boring to talk to. If they haven't been able to study and learn on their own when there are so many English-learning materials for self-study in Korea, talking to a foreigner isn't really going to help I think.
I shouldn't be down so much on these people. There was a youngish woman that I shouldn't have dropped, but she annoyed me because she was hard to contact. And she didn't really make much of an effort for me. She didn't repeat words patiently for me. She just talked what she wanted to talk about and didn't care whether I understood or not.
Anyway, I think I shouldn't really blame others. I could have been more assertive. I DID say gently that they have to talk to me like I am a child learning to speak the language for the first time, but they forgot this, and I didn't want to be more forceful. It's not my nature. And I think this woman recognized I wasn't getting much benefit out of it. She said that maybe I wasn't really learning much during these sessions.
I don't think she really wanted to practise that much. I wanted to spend a lot of time chatting with her but she was unavailable except for the exact time of the appointment that was planned. So I felt she wasn't flexible enough.
I think she lost a good opportunity. She didn't have to pay anyone and was getting a solid hour of English immersion every time. You normally have to pay a lot for that. But she didn't think about her commitment and neglected that side of things so things were one-sided. It was just take and take on her part and give and give on my part. I think she was really keen to improve her English as it was vital for her career. However, she blew it as she ignored my pleas to lower the level and just chatted on as she wished.
There aren't many people around who want to learn Korean like me here in this area so she lost a good opportunity.
I am enthused about immersion after meeting this Turkish person. I didn't give him my number because I was shy but maybe I should have. Then I don't have to initiate contact with him. At least if I go to Hongdae I have a friend. I can always buy a kebab from his shop. The kebab was delicious. He knows I don't eat meat now. I think he liked me. He was slow to warm up to me and then when he realized I was knowledgeable about the Middle East (I had a lot of ME friends back home), he opened up a bit.
I feel a bit relaxed. I knew there was something "wrong" with Korean people and it wasn't just me. If I can have an hour conversation with a stranger, a Turkish guy, who isn't that friendly, how come I have never been able to do that with Korean people. It's the Confucian system. It prevents strangers from getting to know each other when they meet casually. This is why I haven't been able to pick up Korean. Koreans aren't cold, they are just not used to having casual conversations with strangers.
Some older people are better at this than younger people -- you would think it would be the other way around.
Anyway, I just think that Korean people isolate themselves a bit much. I know ME people are much warmer. You would never feel lonely living in a ME nation, but you could easily feel lonely living in Korea.
Maybe it's different in the big city, I don't know. Or if I joined a church group, which I am not going to do just for the sake of belonging somewhere, as it's a hypocritical thing to do if I am not a Christian. I don't really like many of the churches here especially the evangelical churches. Anyway, I feel hypocritical going to a church if I don't believe in the religion. I know some people do that but I can't really do it even if I get many social benefits from doing so.
I will just have to find my own social group. I think this Turkish guy is OK. I might visit him once a week and we might go out in the evening once a week or something. At least I will have made a friend. Korean people are strange. They aren't that friendly. They are too shy. I am shy as well but I make an effort and I can 'fake' it to the point where people think I am outgoing (they don't know the real me).
I am just naturally warm I think. I think it's impolite to be cold in my opinion so even though I am shy and feeling a bit awkward when meeting people for the first time, I try and be friendly and show a happy face in public. I am not the most friendly person by any means but Korean people are just not that friendly in my opinion and that's one factor I haven't been able to pick up Korean. They seem consumed in their work even the single ones.
And I have heard a similar thing from other people who have lived in Korea. They say they were able to pick up Chinese living in Taiwan and China in one year but in Korea they have been having trouble picking up the language even though they have been in Korea for longer. Korean people are just not open to talking with strangers. They never invite you to their home for example.
