[KS] The Other Finishing Touch on HanJa...

[David Jensen]

From: Dave Jensen
dj362 at gorge.net
White Salmon, WA

Quote:
" The streets of L.A., N.Y., and Boston are littered with failed
    Koreanist-in-training, already few to begin with.  And the belief
    is firming that Korean is an impossibly difficult language to
    learn, and one without a great payoff."

I have enjoyed reading the comments on the main topic of hanja 
education issues.

Apologies for commenting at length on a minor tangent, but this payoff 
concept is interesting, as is the subject of "failed" Korean-ists 
littering the streets. There are also a few such failures cluttering up 
the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest. Currently being one such (or at 
least very near borderline) myself, I like to think I know something 
about this.

An argument (based as usual on dangerously over-simplified general 
assumptions) can be made that the type of individuals drawn to Korean 
studies include a fair number who are not primed from the start for 
success, or even survival, in many fields. I base this assumption on 
the fact that these people, myself included, are devoting their efforts 
toward an endeavor without the aforementioned clear payoff (and if that 
is not the dictionary-definition of "impractical," it should be). At 
least the rewards are generally of a different sort than one might earn 
for studying some other subjects: business, law, finance, plumbing, 
etc. It also seems a large percentage come from blue-collar families 
and find the university environment, and world of professional 
scholarship, an exciting yet frustrating new experience. When faced 
with financial realities after graduation, it is often easier to return 
to familiar ways to make a living, or else continue other studies with 
a more-certain professional agenda.

Practical-minded undergraduate students of Korean expecting to later 
complete legal or business studies might well question the necessity of 
studying hanja beyond the usual introductory material. It's a valid 
concern. A professor of Korean is a scholar and understands that a 
complete knowledge of Korean requires more than a general familiarity 
with Chinese characters. Some student will see this emphasis, perhaps 
correctly in the case of an aspiring purchasing agent or 
import/exporter, as something akin to becoming "more Korean that the 
Koreans."

That Korean is interesting to a student is often based on the fact that 
Korea is felt to be an exciting, exotic place, often introduced (or 
re-introduced) by some recent, limited, experience or personal contact. 
This pre-supposes to a certain degree, unfamiliarity with, and limited 
access to, serious financial and professional opportunities where 
knowledge of Korean could be advantageous professionally. And I would 
point out that scholarly and creative altruism is perhaps even less 
respected, or rewarded, in Korea than in the west.

Perhaps professional failure should be announced to Korean studies 
students as the expected norm at the beginning of each semester. This 
is done often in journalism courses. "Get out while you can! 
Starvation, danger and ridicule await...unless you're going on to law 
school," was the chant throughout my undergraduate studies, and I have 
always appreciated the candor of my professors in this regard.

The only positive point I can see in all this is that the field of 
Korean studies benefits greatly from those scholars whose emotional 
compulsion and fascination with the subject is strong enough to 
counter, if not overcome, the financial, social, and professional 
realities they are faced with. And these realities make mastering hanja 
look like a cinch.
DJ