Korean outside Korea

[maxiewawa]

I've been a little quiet for the last few weeks, I was back home in Australia for a month. I'm back now!

I was amazed how much Korean is spoken in Australia. Maybe it's because I haven't been back since learning Korean, but there's really a lot. It seemed like every time I went on a bus or walked around any busy area, I'd hear the lilting language that we all love so much. I'd say that Korean was one of the most spoken languages in Sydney, other than English.

I even had a chat with a nice 어머니 at our local market who politely chided me for dropping off the 요 at the end of all my sentences (that's the intimate politeness level, right?) She wasn't shy about telling me in English "in Korean, when we wish to be polite, we say 요". Oops.

To be honest, when I first started learning Korean, I didn't picture myself being able to use it much outside of Korea, or maybe East Asia. But it seems that Korean is much more widespread than I thought. Without exaggerating, I could say that I overheard a Korean conversation every day of the week. I heard Korean spoken more than many other "major" languages like French, Italian, Cantonese, and probably just as often as Standard Chinese, Arabic etc.

I'm just wondering how much Korean is spoken throughout the world. Is there much Korean spoken where you are? Do you find yourself regularly overhearing Korean conversations on the bus/train?

[usakorjb03]

I live in the US, so korean is all over. Being the US, all languages from all over the world is spoken here. LITERALLY. The State that I live in though, i'm sure it's safe to say that other than English, Korean is the 2nd most spoken language here. Spanish would be 1st. LIke I said, it's other than English. There are more korean people living in the city i live in than there are Chinese people. So, Koreans are the Majority of Asians in my State.

[Keith]

usakorjb03, you must live in california

Being from New York, there are a lot of Koreans. But I'm sure you all know that from listening to the podcasts.

But here are some places where you can find many Koreans:

Hawaii, Texas, Seattle, New Jersey, Germany, China, New Zealand, England, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Canada, Toronto, Vancouver, and many other places.

[the_haunted_boy]

I am from Idaho, and surprisingly there are a lot of Koreans. I have been in public places many times and heard several little kids babbling in Korean.

[steved]

I hear Korean everyday as well. But that isn't fair since it is spoken in my home . But whenever I am out in a public place I typically hear Korean if I am paying attention.

[Pamela246]

usakorjb03, you must live in california

Being from New York, there are a lot of Koreans. But I'm sure you all know that from listening to the podcasts.

But here are some places where you can find many Koreans:

Hawaii, Texas, Seattle, New Jersey, Germany, China, New Zealand, England, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Canada, Toronto, Vancouver, and many other places.

I was quite surprised to see England as being a place to find many Koreans!! I live in UK and have problems finding anything relating to Korea - including Koreans! ( well apart from London where we found a restaurant in China town!) I would love to be able to meet up with a Korean and disscuss the language!

[Bouks]

Koreans don't make up a very large portion of the population here, but I have found a few. There are Korean churches in the area, so I know they're around.

I personally know one Korean immigrant and one Korean-American. None of us has much time, but I see them and practice when I can. I wish we could meet regularly but we all have our busy lives. There is one other Korean immigrant that my mother knows and sees occasionally...but again, no convenient time to go and meet her.

Two days ago I was out shopping at Ikea, and heard a Korean couple speaking English (I can tell by the accent that they were Korean). Too bad that it would be horribly inappropriate and weird for me to run up to them and say, "Koreans! Hiiiiiiiii! I love you guys! Put down that home decor merchandise, and come to my house! Do you have a Coffee Prince DVD?" (Don't worry, I didn't actually do that. I just thought about doing it )

[James]

...run up to them and say, "Koreans! Hiiiiiiiii! I love you guys!

aahha. I can totally relate. Everytime I shop at the local Korean supermarket I feel like announcing "Listen up everyone. I can read this package of 라면! Adopt me!"
Last time I was at an eatery I asked the 아저씨 to help me answer my Korean workbook. He sat next to me while his son manned the counter. I have no shame I have to tone down my enthusiasm a few notches.

[bialun]

Even though very few may know what it is, in Belarus there are officially about 1,5 thousand Koreans, but, unfortunately their language level depends for most on what they've learned at local community courses or by themselves.

[Keith]

[quote I can read this package of 라면! Adopt me![/quote]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA, that's hilarious!

[SiEd]

Two days ago I was out shopping at Ikea, and heard a Korean couple speaking English (I can tell by the accent that they were Korean). Too bad that it would be horribly inappropriate and weird for me to run up to them and say, "Koreans! Hiiiiiiiii! I love you guys! Put down that home decor merchandise, and come to my house! Do you have a Coffee Prince DVD?" (Don't worry, I didn't actually do that. I just thought about doing it )

Wow - Ikea - the ideal place to "stalk" people who speak a foreign language you're interested in! This happened to me the last time I was at the Ikea in San Diego. The language wasn't Korean, though - it was Indonesian. There was a woman with her parents (presumably) and they said some key words in Indonesian. I'm a bit audacious when it comes to meeting people who speak a language I know, so I just slowly approached her from the side, looking at merchandise, and I uttered a soft "Dari mana, Bu?" (Where are you from, ma'am?). And we (along with her folks) started conversing in Indonesian at that point.

I've also conversed in Korean to the manager at one of my favorite Korean 식당 in the area, and she was really excited to talk to me, even though at the time I only understood about 20% of what she said. I also conversed with a 1st gen. KAm businessperson on the train en route to San Diego - I asked him about some grammatical points in Korean. Again, blame my gregarious nature - all I said to start the conversation off was "실례하지만 좀 묻겠습니다..." [Excuse me, but may I ask something?]

[just1world]

Here in New York, i encounter korean WAY too often, and i don't even live in the city (just outside). Whether it be in a store, at a class, on the street. . .everywhere, i am bound to either hear or notice some koreans, major reason why i got interested in the language in the first place.

When i started learning korean i would practice my comprehension by trying to decipher conversations around me (esp. on subway) and i secretly had this kinda twisted wish to catch people talking about me . . . but now that i'm much more progressed i've come to realize, somewhat sadly, that koreans conversations are largely just as banal as any English speakers would have and surprisingly, i also realized that most of the normal/easy-to-understand krn convo's i hear now get put into the background chatter (just as most other normal convo's i hear would).

NYC, as well as the surrounding areas, has a massive korean population. Its a great environment to develop your korean skills and meet tons of koreans, for anyone who is planning on making a trip over here. . . but then again what languages AREN'T spoken in new york .

[cmiras]

i study here in hawaii and in my university, there are a lot of koreans...i so love them and they are so nice and helpful...they patiently teach me their language and they are always willing to help...

i just attended the last korean festival here in hawaii and i was so amazed with the korean culture...the food, the language...everything...i just so love koreans...and everything korean...

i am so grateful to everyone... so love them...

[rooraa]

"Koreans! Hiiiiiiiii! I love you guys! Put down that home decor merchandise, and come to my house! Do you have a Coffee Prince DVD?" (Don't worry, I didn't actually do that. I just thought about doing it )

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ!!!!!!!!

Everytime I shop at the local Korean supermarket I feel like announcing "Listen up everyone. I can read this package of 라면! Adopt me!"

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI know!! I love going to the korean market and trying to read all the different packages, I may not (and usually don't) understand what I'm reading but at least I can read it

[ryans_class]

I was amazed how much Korean is spoken in Australia.

Yeh Maxiwawa, I know what you mean. Next wednesday I am moving to Korea, so I went to a souvenier shop yesterday to buy some Australiana for the people I will be staying with, and the girl in the shop was selling Ugg boots, roo skin handbags and t-shirts with the opera house on it, and was speaking korean the entire time. Then last night I heard a mother and duaghter arguing about her school grades, everything was in korean except for "I'm not dumb mum!". There is definately plenty of opportunity to hear Korean in Sydney.

By the way, what is Korean for Ugg Boots anyway?

Ryan