Articles with Korea

Thinking of Jeddah

I was going to write today about my personal computer woes, but the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah today dampened my enthusiasm. Problems I thought were big seem so trivial compared to what happened. No matter where your opinion falls on political issues, you probably agree that this incident was very tragic. I worry for my colleagues there. Fortunately, they’re all safe. No Americans were killed, injured, or taken hostage during the attack. I’m very sorry to hear that some of the local employees were killed and injured. My heart goes out to all of them. Jeddah is a very tense place now. In fact, the entire Kingdom is very tense in the run up to their first national election to be held between February and April of 2005. The Consulate had been on evacuation status earlier this year, and just when things seem to get back to normal, this happens.

I am glad that I will be heading to Seoul, Korea instead of Saudi Arabia. Granted, I will be about 30 miles from one of the most dangerous places on earth, the Korean DMZ. Seoul itself is very safe despite the DPRK mortar shells within range of the city. War is for the most part out of sight, out of mind–until incidents like these attacks occur. The road between Seoul and Kaesong in North Korea reopened on December 1, 2004, for the first time in more than 54 years. It’s part of a new endeavor by the two Koreas to establish an economic zone in Kaesong and promote economic cooperation. Perhaps this will lead the two countries to work closer together and decrease tensions in the region.

I remain hopeful. I hope that what happened in Jeddah today or far worse never happens in Korea.

Saudi Arabia free stock photo courtesy of David Mark

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This Darn Korean Language

Today is a beautiful day, and my family is out and about shopping for Christmas, but I am here studying Korean.  (OK, well I took some time out to write on my blog.)  I stayed here by choice.  Our second Korean language progress test is next Tuesday, and I need all the preparation I can get.  My wife is taking the same course, but she doesn’t need to study as much as I do.  She is a natural when it comes to learning languages.  She is also a native Chinese speaker, and it definitely helps her when Korean uses so much Chinese vocabulary.  About 60% of Korean words are derived from Chinese.  What sets Korean apart from Chinese is the grammar and structure.  Chinese is a Subject-Verb-Object language, whereas Korean is Subject-Object-Verb (as is Japanese).  Korean, like Japanese, also uses numerous levels of speech politeness, whereas Chinese uses far fewer levels.  In this respect, Chinese is much closer to English.  In Korean the grammar patterns used when speaking to an elderly person is far different (and longer) than patterns used with children (short and blunt).

Unlike my wife, I am struggling in Korean.  Much of it is plain old rote memorization.  Word association (using English to easily remember a word) only goes so far, and after awhile all the words start looking and sounding alike.  Fortunately, the Korean language system is alphabetic, so it’s much easier to write than either Chinese or Japanese.  Nevertheless, Korean pronunciation may among the most difficult for native English speakers.  The U.S. government classifies languages by level of learning difficulty vis-a-vis English, and Korean is one of the four most difficult languages for English speakers to learn (as well as Arabic, Chinese, and Korean).  It requires you to contort your voice in ways you may have never done before.  That, and the pronunciation of a word changes depending on what word follows it.  For example, water is pronounced “mul” by itself (물).  If it is a subject it is pronounced “muri” (물이), and if it is an object it is pronounced “murir” (물을).  Speaking Korean is a verbal gymnastics exercise for a native English speaker.  I have even more respect now for those who master Korean and Japanese.  I often whine about learning Korean, but I know I’ll make it through.  I just want to be able to communicate adequately once we’re in Korea.  I don’t need to be a Korean scholar.

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