[KS] Re: Se habla Han'gul?

Thu Jan 27 11:38:54 EST 2000

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regarding the use of "hangul" in the names of schools run by korean 
immigrants to teach korean children the language. i don't think the word is 
necessarily being used to mean speech. it is used because children will be 
taught to read and write korean, presumably they are already learning how 
to speak it at home. teachers at these schools verify this when they say 
that their job is to teach reading and writing.

in addition, there is much controversy within the korean american community 
about using "hangul" in the names of these schools, so the usage of 
"hangul" to mean the korean language rather than just the alphabet is far 
from an accepted practice. there are many korean americans, teachers among 
them, who say that it is preferable to use "hanguguh" or even "hangugin" in 
the names of schools. and they say this precisely because they believe that 
"hangul" refers strictly to the alphabet only, not to the language, and 
they don't like to see words misused. they feel that it is a bastardization 
of the language.

in everyday speech, koreans in america use "hangul" to mean the alphabet 
and use it as a kind of shorthand for literacy, especially when referring 
to american-born/raised generations. as in: he speaks pretty well, but he 
doesn't know hangul (mal-eun jal haneundae, hangul-eun molla).

best,
ji-yeon
_____________________________________________________________
Yuh Ji-Yeon                     History Department, Northwestern University
j-yuh at nwu.edu           Harris 202, 1881 Sheridan Road
1-847-467-6538          Evanston, IL 60208  U.S.A.

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<font size=3>regarding the use of "hangul" in the names of
schools run by korean immigrants to teach korean children the language. i
don't think the word is necessarily being used to mean speech. it is used
because children will be taught to read and write korean, presumably they
are already learning how to speak it at home. teachers at these schools
verify this when they say that their job is to teach reading and
writing.<br>
<br>
in addition, there is much controversy within the korean american
community about using "hangul" in the names of these schools,
so the usage of "hangul" to mean the korean language rather
than just the alphabet is far from an accepted practice. there are many
korean americans, teachers among them, who say that it is preferable to
use "hanguguh" or even "hangugin" in the names of
schools. and they say this precisely because they believe that
"hangul" refers strictly to the alphabet only, not to the
language, and they don't like to see words misused. they feel that it is
a bastardization of the language.<br>
<br>
in everyday speech, koreans in america use "hangul" to mean the
alphabet and use it as a kind of shorthand for literacy, especially when
referring to american-born/raised generations. as in: he speaks pretty
well, but he doesn't know hangul (mal-eun jal haneundae, hangul-eun
molla).<br>
<br>
best,<br>
ji-yeon</font><br>
<div>_____________________________________________________________</div>
<div>Yuh
Ji-Yeon<x-tab>     </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab>History
Department, Northwestern University</div>
<div>j-yuh at nwu.edu<x-tab>   </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab>Harris
202, 1881 Sheridan Road</div>
<div>1-847-467-6538<x-tab>  </x-tab><x-tab>        </x-tab>Evanston,
IL 60208  U.S.A.</div>
<br>
</html>

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