Korean Faces

[maxiewawa]

Can you pick a Korean face? I have a Korean friend (Hyunwoo!) who gets picked as Korean in Chinese taxis. I have trouble picking Korean faces, but watching the Olympics I'm getting a bit better. I can pick men though, they all have a similar shaped face. I can usually pick Korean tourist girls too, they have similar fashion sense.

[rooraa]

Hmm I don't think I can pick a korean face very well.
But the funny thing is, two different korean people thought my vietnamese mom was korean

[Bouks]

I like to try and decipher all Asian faces that I see. I can separate Korean faces easily from Southeast Asian faces...from Chinese, a bit less easily, from Japanese, with more difficulty. Some faces are harder than others to pick out...it depends if they look like a "classic" example of their ethnicity to me or not. I can't explain it with words very well.

I got into this habit because I've got some family members and friends who tend to just say "Chinese" when they see an Asian face, much to my annoyance. So I began correcting them. It's good practice, although it doesn't do much to train said family members and friends

That having been said...can Asian people distinguish different ethnicities of Western faces? Tricky with Americans I think, because many of us are so mixed. (I have Irish and Hungarian in my ethnic background, but I have been told I don't look "typically Irish" at all, except for my lack of sun tolerance )

[Chriss]

I've got big trouble, to tell you the truth. I'm ok at distinguishing people from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand, because they are the most common Eastern Asians here. I can't see the difference between Japanese, Koreans, or Chinese very well. I guess it's all what you're used to e.g., I can sometimes see differences between Scandinavians.

[Keith]

Korean people can definitely tell the difference. But a lot of it has to do with fashion style (this includes make up, hair, and clothes).

But like roora said, even asian people have a difficult time doing it sometimes too!

[austinfd]

Korean people can definitely tell the difference. But a lot of it has to do with fashion style (this includes make up, hair, and clothes).

But like roora said, even asian people have a difficult time doing it sometimes too!

Because it's pertinent:

www.alllooksame.com

There is a quiz you can take.

[sbeschke]

Wow, that quiz had a sobering effect on me. And I thought I was good at picking faces...

Although, as you say, fashion has a lot to do with it, too. And there are some types of faces where you can be 90% sure because they look so typical.

[rooraa]

wow. I only got a 1/3 of the answers right! I really can't tell faces apart then

[Keith]

I got 7 out of 18... goes to show!

[FlyAwayLove]

I got 7/18 too.



But knowing that Keith got that same bad score makes me feel a little better.

[Bouks]

Darn it, 8/18....oh well, at least I beat Keith

[xxxsatomi]

Actually for me its very easy

Its easy to distinguish for me who is Korean. Mostly Koreans are extremely white than Japanese and Chinese people. They also have squarish or wide faces and very chink eyes compared to them. Their hair are soft and brown and straight always. Their noses are often hooked shaped or edged shaped. Most Chinese people are just chink eyed and yellow skinned. The Japanese people are often chink eyed, but eagle eyed and has seldom white skin.

[gillesvdp]

[EDITED]

[holdfast]

now that i've lived in nyc for like 9 months and have spent most of my time within the korean community here, i can almost always pick out a korean person. if someone is asian but not korean, i might not be able to tell where they are from (sometimes i can), but i can almost always tell if someone is korean. not only that, but i can usually tell if someone is like korean american or if they have just come here from korea.

i can't really explain how i can tell, i just can. it has something to do with facial structure, something to do with fashion, something to do with mannerisms and the way people carry themselves, it has something to do with english accent (it is different than any other english accent).. but sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with any of that. i've seen people from behind (without seeing their faces and without hearing them talk) and knew that they were korean, then confirmed it later by hearing them speak or whatever.

and considering i've spent so long in the korean community and with korean friends, i myself have developed some korean mannerisms. i've had people wonder (outloud, within earshot) if i was korean or not, even though i am obviously not.

i can't explain it. but i guess it's like... i grew up in minnesota, and there is just something about minnesotans that i can pick out right away. i often see people other places and know that they are minnesotan. i can't explain it either.

[flitflyzoom]

That was quite a quiz. I had a hard time on some of the faces, but I got 12/18.