Tim,
By nature I am an
offensive person, but in regard to your comments I am not the least bit '
offended.' 저는 원래 역겨운 사람이지만 당신이 하신 말씀 때문에 제 기분을 상한 일이 전혀 없어요.
K-drama may be an addictive waste of time to Koreans but to those of us learning Korean it is an invaluable study tool. I use DVDs so I can stop the action at any time and go back over some scenes as many times as I like to catch words that I may have missed. I cannot do this will live conversation.
I can study Korean anytime using drama. With my schedule I find it hard to find a Korean conversation partner at 1:00 AM after I get home from work.
Of course live conversation is a great learning tool, but one must first acquire the basic phrases and vocabulary in order to have that conversation. Everyone says they will teach you but almost no one is willing to be a teacher. The other problem with 'going out and meeting real Koreans' is that you will find a very limited range of conversation in casual social meetings.
Four kinds of meetings:
1. At a school - this is a good place to meet Koreans, make friends, and perhaps agree to meet outside school for other fun activities. The drawback, at least here in the US, is that more than half of the Koreans you meet will have been born here and many prefer English conversation over Korean. Many don't speak Korean well at all.
2. At a Korean church - this is also a great place to meet Koreans but the conversation will often revolve around church activities. If you become a regular member then you will usually find plenty of opportunity to join in these activities. However, you will find that these people are usually very busy with their own lives and may not have a lot of time for you; after the church service they are often in a hurry to go home. Among the young people you will also find many do not speak Korean well and have little interest in Korea.
3. At a Korean business - well, the word 'business' should tell you that these folks are working to earn money. They are not there to become friends with you or be entertained by your excellent Korean skills. If you are not buying some product or service your status of 'welcome guest' will soon be worn out. Not to mention the fact that your conversations there will be limited to dealing with that product of service, whether it be buying clothes or ordering food.
4. The chance meeting - At the beach or park or some other public place you may find yourself standing in line next to some Koreans, or one may ask you to take their family picture at the rim of the Grand Canyon. You may hear some Korean, or just have a good eye for singling Koreans out from other Asians; in this case you can ask "한국분이세요?" (Are you Korean?), and when they answer something like "네. 어덯게 아셨어요?" (Yes! How did you know?) you can start in with the standard greetings. Of course they might also NOT be Korean.
Upon the initial conversation you will have to deal with 10-15 minutes of conversation that will always be the same, OVER and OVER again, whenever you, a "foreigner," meet a Korean:
You: (in Korean) 'Salutations, I'm glad to meet you. My name is ~"
The Korean: (in Korean) 'Your Korean speaking is excellent!' (they say this no matter how bad your Korean is)
Next there will be 20 questions related to how you learned Korean, why you study Korean, is your wife Korean, were you in the army, have you ever lived in Korea, how long did you live in Korea, etc.etc. until their curiosity is satisfied. This type of meeting is only fun the first few times, but after about 200 times believe me it becomes tiresome, especially if you are looking to practice more advanced conversation with a variety of subject matter.
In a group of Koreans there will always be some that just cannot seem to speak Korean to a non-Korean face no matter how fluently you speak Korean to them. They will naturally try to speak English to you. Some are just happy to have a chance to practice English and others are trying to be polite, and make you, the listener, feel comfortable. In any case don't be offended. Also, be sure to compliment them on their English. I know that in the US we native English speakers don't normally compliment foreigners on their English, but it means a lot to them. Anyway, I've reached the point where at first meetings when Koreans insist on speaking English to me (even though I am speaking fluent Korean to them) I say '죄송하지만 저는 독일사람이라서 영어를 조금밖에 못 해요.' (Please excuse me, being that I'm German I only speak a little English). So far I have yet to have any German speaking Koreans call my bluff --but I suppose I had better learn some basic German just in case. Sory, weil ich Deutscher bin ich spreche nur ein wenig Englisch...ㅋㅋㅋ
Ok, I will spell it out for you Grasshopper:
