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An example of Konglish is seen on the streets of Gimcheon. |
By Sebastian Harrisan
Examine the following sentence carefully: ``Every scarlet creation is
permeated with a spirit of excellence. Hence the attention to detail
and the research for absolute quality, typical of each product, coexist
with an innate yearn to surpass oneself and respond passionately to the
ever changing market's requests.''
When I first saw this sign lovingly crafted in the style of an ancient
scroll in the town center of Gimcheon, I rushed to go inside! What
bounty would lie within? The meaning of life itself?
Like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I dived into the shop
expecting the Holy Grail and instead found some gold watches which God
the carpenter would not have fashioned.
Many articles have been written on the curious phenomenon of Konglish,
that is English words appearing in a Korean context or even English
words being used with a Korean dialect.
Cultural differences between the languages mean that there is sometimes
no one word to precisely translate an idea or thought from Korean to
English or vice versa.
The question is, where do cultural differences stop and poor English education begin?
The paragraph above is of course grammatically wrong to an incredible
degree but all over Korea the examples of such mutilated English are
astounding in their number.
Put simply, it asks questions of exactly what is being taught to Koreans in hagwon, schools and universities across Korea.
On the other hand however, there is undeniably a kind of hideous beauty
about seeing the revered English language being tortured in such a
fashion.
Shakespeare may be turning in his grave but the enjoyment it gives to foreigners is almost
making Konglish an art form _ modern art of course.
Despite the undoubted aesthetic and humorous fun that Konglish can
bring it has been suggested that such benefits mask the deep problems
facing Korean education.
Perhaps it is a damning indictment of the English education system that
the mistakes, the flaws and the malpractice of English is engraved on
the very walls that comprise the cities of Korea.
It is something of an irony that the only people who can appreciate
Konglish are usually the very English teachers who are teaching English
to Koreans.
In Gimcheon, any attempts to change the status quo to proper English
are met by laughter. I even tried to point out to the owner of a PC
bang that ``Brain Zon'' should be ``Brain Zone'' but he just shrugged
his shoulders.
If only those who are teaching the language appreciate and identify the
mistakes everywhere around us, it is time we started (like in China) to
put things right.
As long as there are illegal teachers and shady hagwon, the tempting
link will always be made between poor English and poor education.
Koreans are fascinated by English and will always opt to put English on
a t-shirt, on a shop window or even play English music to enter a cool
little clique and the demand will only rise in the future.
Translation is not an exact science of course as mentioned above,
particularly so between the East and the West, but surely the present
situation can be improved upon.
A good level of English can eliminate a lot of the mistakes we see
around us despite cultural differences. Perfection is unattainable but
until the rampant and unchecked surge of Konglish is at least halted,
will Korea ever be taken seriously on the international stage?
If English teachers want to leave a legacy behind in Korea they can do
better than allowing blind artists stumble from mistake to mistake,
while educating others to a masterful level of English.
Only so much can be blamed upon cultural differences. Some
responsibility also lies with the students who use the tools they have
been given but they do so in blind faith and it is the education that
is ultimately to be scrutinized.
There are some brilliant English teachers and institutions in Korea but
they are more than balanced by a large number of poor institutions and
poorly trained teachers and the connection with Konglish is becoming
more valid as each day passes and as the world creaks toward a single
culture through globalization.
Even if it is modern art, there is a stage that will come when life can
no longer imitate art and proper English must be taught.
In some sense, Korean shops have become a canvas for the poor standards
of English in Korea. No one can deny the fun of Konglish and butchered
English, but at what cost?
se61_harrison@hotmail.com
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