Language Thoughts

I have been thinking lately about language, its uses, it's purposefulness, the pitfalls and benefits of being unable to speak the dominant language in a foreign country.

These are interesting considerations.

I have been considering these things because in spite of 3 or so months of Korean lessons, the language is still very much closed off to me. I know when there is or isn't something (itda, opda), I know when people are talking about food, (mogori?), or something that is happening right now (chigum) or even tomorrow, (nay il), I understand and can count in both number systems (yes there are two) but really aside from that the main things just slip right by. I can say doctor (oo-ee saa) and priest (shinboo) though, which surely will be helpful...never...

I grow cynical. But such is my way.

So not being able to communicate=highly annoying for me.

But at the same time it saves me from a lot of bullshit at work. When shit's going down, ie: the principal is having his monthly "My constantly blowing off meetings is catching up with me, uh oh who can I irrationally get angry at and blame" tantrum I slide beneath the radar b/c innocent doe eyed lil' ole' me don't speaka the Korean. The other teachers look upon me with a sort of envy and despair, I apologize to them, and they tell me not to, I still do, then scoot out that building right quick, leaving the problems behind b/c I can't partake as I cannot understand and really no one wants to translate--it's a huge bitch. This language is not easily translated into English as it is we simply conceptualize sentences in entirely different ways. Sometimes the things you want to say just don't exist in Korean so you have to find other ways to logically say them without sounding ridiculous. And likewise with Korean to English.
For example I had a coworker who was talking to me about having gained weight and how she's bummed, she was trying to tell me she wanted to lose weight, but the way she said it was that she needed to take off some weight. Some small part of me envisioned a jacket made of fat just sliding right off. It's the kind of phrase that logically makes sense. Sure take off weight, but to hear it you're like, "What? Ohhhhh you mean lose weight." I don't say these things, I quietly wait for my brain to compute then rearrange the language in my mind.
I often find myself correcting the students when they make mistakes like this, by explaining that technically what they are saying is in fact right, but that it is not commonly phrased that way in English. Then I tell them that they're doing great, and English is hard. Because it is hard damn it, these poor overworked children...but thats a different rant, for a different day. Anywho...
Korean and English are different in so many ways. Korean is a language of greater simplicity. There are significantly less words overall, but especially prepositions. It's funny because I am coming to realize just how much motion is involved in the English language. Learning German gave me a sort of disdain for how disorganized English is--and believe me it is an imprecise unspecialized language in comparison to the sort of linguistic precision that is inherent in German. But in comparison with Korean I recognize that while Korean is sort of direct, cut to the chase in it's simplicity, it lacks the motion and direction of the English language. Prepositions are words that send language spinning. Korean just doesn't use them as often, and it gives me a feeling of a sort of greater stasis in the spoken language. So much is implied in this language, so much is already understood. Korean is language that it is rude to use the pronoun "you" in. So people don't. As a matter of fact they rarely use pronouns at all. They either don't directly state the subject or use the proper name. Interesting.

Interesting too how some part of me is just giving in to not understanding the language. I am still learning, but languages are vast complex things full of nuances and subtleties, and these things take years and years and years to learn, and while Korea will get probably a couple years out of me, it won't get enough for me to really ever feel at home in this language.

But perhaps some other country will. We'll see I suppose.