Sunday, June 3, 2012

Letter from Korea

A few days ago I got an email from Yousuke, a Japanese student who is studying for a year in Korea. I thought it was very interesting so with his permission I am posting it today. I just made one or two small changes.


"Hello! I'm now having very interesting days in Korea like having a camp with Korean students and studying economics in Korean or watching difference in culture between Korea and Japan. So, from now, I'll write about what I came to recognize through living in Korea. Politeness I think that Korean has much strong polite words like ‘Keigo’ than Japanese and Chinese. Compared with Chinese and Korean, both of which I studied at University, I think that if looked only at language , I think that Chinese hasn’t much polite language because it is very similar to English. In Korea surprisingly, among very close friends, if they have difference of ages, the younger one must use polite words to the elder! It is also among children. They must use polite language to their parents in Korea. And even if Korean people have any fight with each other, they also use polite words if they are not close nor have the same age friend. If a Korean got married, wife should use polite words to husband even she is elder than him.

"Polite things in language also appeared very much in other behavior in Korea. For example, at a convenience store in Korea, customer usually uses polite language to the shop’s person because they are not close. But it is a really strange thing to a Japanese because most Japanese thinks that customer has a strong advantage to the shop’s person and the customer usually doesn’t use polite words to the shop’s staff even if the customer is younger than the shop’s staff! Korean people have pay attention to use polite words or normal words even if very close person. And if the one suddenly use normally words to the other, it may be a little rude thing to the partner. And I think that there is a different appearance of polite meaning in conversation even if the Korean and Japanese are in same situation.

"The different thing among Japanese and Korean is as below thing: in Korean language, most polite meanings appeared in ‘what something is called and is also in the kind of verb used to the speaking partner. But in Japanese language, polite meaning sometimes appears only in a ‘what something is called’ without appearing in the verb. The relation of parents and children is one example of the situation. In Korean families, the children must use their parents by the proper form of address, but also they must use a term of respect in their verbs. Contrary to that, in Japanese families, although the children usually call their father ‘Otousan’ a meaning a polite word for a father in Japanese, children doesn’t use a verb of respect like ’saremasuka?’, the polite word for ‘do?’, to their parents. In this way, I felt that there are many points of difference between Japanese and Korean about 'polite' in conversation and behavior. I also feel that Japanese arrogant manner of a customer to the clerk is not so good thing and it is a sign that Japanese lose a little by little taking care of other person, I think. Maybe difference of politeness between Japan and Korea comes from strongness of Confucianism in Korea. Like that, I think that religion has a strong effect on one country's language. And apart from religion, like custom also strong effect on language. So Americans don't have terms of respect in language, even Koreans grown up in America.

"By the way, I was really surprised that the average English level of Korean students is very high. In Japan, I took TOEIC test and I usually gets a score of around 700-points. I noticed that in Korea, average skill of using English of Korean students is like me or higher than me! I think that it is higher than in Japan. But through English taking class in Korea, I knew that the student's skill is very high here! And they seems to have almost no difficulties to have a conversation with English speakers. I don't know why they are so skilled English even though maybe they don't have so many times to touch with English speakers compared to me. And I honestly felt that their hearing skill is averagely very high . For example, even when I can't understand the English teacher's order in English, almost every Korean student understood it after only one hearing. I felt that it is a sign of how Korea is using the power of English education compared to the Japanese."

4 comments:

  1. Hello! Thanks for the posting. I happened to see this and would like to correct few things. I'm pretty sure Korean langues has well-developed honorifics, but there is no 'should and must'. In this letter, the Japanese student writes "the younger one must use polite words to the elder! It is also among children" It's not true. People use honorifics when they are not close enough. And among young children, (especially elementary students) they do not use honorific each other. (e.g 8 year-old student does not speak politely to 12 year old student) Also this person writes "They must use polite language to their parents in Korea" Oops. too many musts! Even I don't speak politely to my parents nor use honorific. I just speak to them just like I do to my friends. ALSO, "If a Korean got married, wife should use polite words to husband even she is elder than him" is totally a mess. That is so untrue! It makes me feel like I am back in 1900. There is no rule like that! and no must again!
    I wonder why this Japanese student writes with so many "must", but you may know that there is no must and no definite rule in a language. I agree that Korean is a language which has complex honorifics and polite rules, but in this letter, I'd like to point it that it is too overgeneralized.

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    1. HI Kelly, It's great to have your feedback about this.

      Interestingly, when my student first wrote to me I sent the email to four Korean friends, one who lives in Seoul, one who lives in Thailand and a couple who live in Hawaii. They all had different opinions, some agreeing more with your stance but some more with my student's findings.

      I actually come across this kind of controversy in English too. One native speaker will say very confidently Oh yes, we always say this. But we never say this. Another will say Well I do say that actually! b I never say this! In this case, of course, the data comes from a nonnative speaker so it is inevitable that there are inaccuracies and overgeneralisations. And as you say, there are no definite rules in language. Still, I thought Korean might be a bit more predictable than English, given that it is mostly spoken by people sharing a similar culture and territory, but it seems to be no more monolithic than English.

      What I would be especially interested to know is (1) How has the use of honorifics changed over time in Korea? (2) How do ROK and DPKR differ in their use of politeness? and (3) Do Koreans start to change their politeness patterns when they live overseas - even when they are living with other Koreans? My Korean friends in Hawaii told me they don't use polite language at home between themselves - except when their older Korean relatives are visiting!

      Anyway, thanks for your interest and suggestions.

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    2. P.S. Just for your info, in Japan a student who is one year junior to another uses polite language (but not vice versa, of course). According to my experience, this practice applies even when the senior is younger than the junior, as in a 20-year-old freshman addressing a 19-year-old sophomore. But this tends to apply mostly in seminar groups and sports teams. I wonder if Japan is more 'Confucian' than Korea on this point? Sometimes I am glad that English has a widely-accepted neutral form!

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  2. If someone asks me what is the most difficult part of Japanese, I would definitely answer "Keigo". The way to express politeness in Chinese such as using words like “请(please)” or “您(you)”is much simpler. We often hear such phrases when we take public transport or when we are dining in restaurants rather than in daily conversations. This is because sometimes it sounds distant and detached if close friends or even family members use these phrases. Usually, when we first meet someone of an older age, we use them to show respect, but after we become familiar with each other, there is no longer such need. From my own perspective, "Keigo" does symbolise the degree of civilisation. However, using it extensively may sometimes hinder a relationship from getting closer.

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