[KS] the Korean language

[jaynee]

Hello JooBai and all,

I'm not sure if these questions were meant to be rhetorical or not, but
I'll take a stab at a few.

> Is there a measure of how scientific a language is?
> Is it even a relevant question to ask?

I think you answered those questions later on in your email.

>
> Were there to be an answer and were it to prove to be
> that language K is not as scientific as language
> Y, will the questioner find it a blow to her self confidence?
>
> Or, should it indeed prove to be that language K is
> the most "scientific" of all languages, will she
> be rushing to sign up for the courses in language K?

Hmmm. Probably not yes to either.  Pride/Nationalism runs deeper than one
phrase and the need to learn your ethic language isn't too compelling if your
friends, including other Korean-Ams, don't speak it or understand it
either. ... I just asked the question to figure out a random nagging
question.  I also have a random question about a fable.  I'm not sure
if it was my mom's translation of a traditional Korean fable or if
my mom 'Koreanized' a traditional American fable.  Does anyone happen to
know a lot about Korean fables?  I asked my mom already and well,
it's been a long time since she told us fables....

By the way, I'm not sure quite how to handle Korean Nationalism.  One of
my Taiwanese-Am friends once told me about how her other friend, who's a
Korean exchange student, wore a shirt that said a F*ck U.S.A!  She wore
this around her U.C. campus without hesitation.  It was during the World
Cup, but I'm not sure she made that clear on the shirt she made.  I
didn't know what to say.  It was clearly not in the best of taste, but
what do you say when your friend looks at you with questioning eyes? Is
Korean Nationalism at a boiling point right now?  Is it from all
generations or only the younger generation?  If there is a gap, what are
the reasons for this gap?  (Besides the conflict with the U.S. military or
is this the reason for the spike?)


> And if the language K is a mixture of languages KO,CH, and EN
> in the proportions of 20%, 70% , and 10%, respectively,
> should the "scientificness" be the weighted average of the
> "scientificness" of respective languages?

Yes!

>
> It is not clear that the question is one that can be easily
> answered and possibly one really belonging with the questions
> of how "beautiful" a language is.
>
> On the face of it, the question may not even be deserving of
> an answer.  But it would be interesting were there to be such
> a measure.
>
> It is also a very odd question on the face of it as I suppose
> the most important question one would ask in learning anything
> new would be "How profitable is it to learn it given that the
> learner must make an investment of precious time and effort?"
>
> Were the question be one of profitability in the modern world, the
> answer is unquestionably English.  Why bother with anything else?
> What other country would give tenure to a foreigner or allow a
> foreigner to participate as fully in its social and economic life?
>
> And among the East Asian languages, the profitability scale would
> be from the top to bottom, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Thai,
> and Korean.
>
> But then, is the question really about why should anybody study
> Korean?

Personally I eventually want to study Korean to learn more about my
*family history*.  If the future plays out as I would hope, then I'll be
starting in a year and a half, two years at latest.  But, I do know a
good number of Korean-Ams who think it's more important to do well in the
place they are living, i.e. America, than it is to take the time to learn
their ethnic language.  Not that we don't hang our heads in shame when we can't
understand someone speaking to us in Korean, but we aren't taking Korean
courses after work either.  Some of my friends are close to 40; they have
a family already, a full blown career, so I think it's understandable.
Perhaps that's not where we find our 'Korean' identity (in language).
Why?  Hobbies. The American Dream.  Not sure.

I think cultural influences are other reasons why someone might learn a
language.  For example, Anime's influence on Americans, who now want to
study Japanese.  Korean doesn't have as much of a mainstream influence,
so maybe it is a matter of birth.

>
> I do think Korean is beautiful, poetic, and scientific.  And
> surely it would be porfitable for you to learn it if you have
> the time and are willing to make the effort.
>
> For most people, the attachment to a language is a matter of
> birth.  For everyone on the list, it is also surely a matter of
> attachment.
>
> And on the face of it, the question does not allow for an easy
> answer, and yet it surely deserves a considered answer.
>
> Regards,
>
> JooBai Lee
>

That's my $0.02.

-Jayne