It might have been an English teacher from Ohio that I overheard complaining ”what’s up with these damn Koreans, none of them can speak English.” I find it incredible that foreigners could complain or be surprised that many Koreans do not speak English. I mean really..what are the chances? Seriously, people in America can’t even speak English! Yet, they are surprised that a bunch of people who lived their entire lives outside of an English speaking country can’t speak English. And before any Canadians get start waving their silly backpacks with Canadian flags, just remember this: you guys get to mangle TWO languages, know what I’m talking aboot…eh? Marde…I mean..tabarnac!
A good chunk of foreigners somehow manage to eke out a living doing something the average person never dared dream as a youngster: teaching English. The last time I checked, a lack of English was a good thing if you’re in the business of let’s say….teaching English!
In addition to being great for extending your careerexistence as an English teacher, Koreans’ lack of English provides yet another bonus: the opportunity to learn a new language! That’s right, learn Korean! It’s shocking to see the number of foreigners that have lived here for a year and still can’t count/read/order food/etc. Oddly enough, not all of them are American! Some of these monolingual mammoths call themselves…Canadians, Kiwis, Aussies and even Brits. If you’re in Korea and you happen to meet one of them, they’ll most likely be heading towards Itaewon, the mecca for non-Korean speaking foreigners in Korea.
One bonus of learning Korean is that most Koreans will fall all over themselves if you manage to say “hello” or “thank you” in Korean. They will be overly impressed by your complete mastery of their insanely difficult language. If you’re a foreign man, and she’s a Korean woman, you probably can score some digits. Note: Adoptees and Kyopos are not considered real foreigners when it comes to speaking Korean, therefore regardless of how good their Korean is, it will never EVER be good enough.
