[KS] Why should Korea try to convince people to learn its language?

[jrpking at interchange.ubc.ca]

Yuh Ji-yeon wrote: 

>I must stand by what I wrote and disagree with Ross King here... 

Well said, and point(s) taken. I need to retreat a bit from some of the positions I staked out. 

>Please note that I do not say that one needs a "mystical feel" to learn a language. 

Fair enough. I think what I meant was that too often, many of those teaching KFL seem to hold such a view. (Elenor Jorden has written about this with respect to Japanese teachers of Japanese; the subject of covert language ideologies held by Korean speakers has not yet been explored...)

>Too many students of Korean, heritage learners or otherwise, simply do not make the effort … You can't blame the lack of resources and materials for this. 

True, but one CAN bemoan the lack of even basic incentives or exchange infrastructure (on both ends – from the US side or the Korean side), and do whatever one can to try to ameliorate the situation.

>I would say that our American students of Korean are profoundly unmotivated, even apathetic and lazy. This is not necessarily their fault or the fault of Korea, but a result of the contemporary  political/historical situation we are in. Bemoan this situation as much as you want, but please don't place so much blame on Korea for not pouring resources into Korean language education for North Americans.

I’m not so much ‘blaming’ as agitating/lobbying in a situation where it looks more or less hopeless that Americans and American institutions will get off their duffs anytime soon without a little prodding (though there is ray of hope in the recent ‘cricital languages initiative with respect to Korean, about which Sohn Sung-ock at UCLA knows the most), and where the Korean funding agencies have at their disposal the resources, but perhaps not the political will anymore, to provide substantial assistance in the way of incentives/prodding – priming -the-pump-sort-of-thing. Without it, things’ll take that much longer.

I agree completely that the contemporary political/historical situation dictates who learns what foreign languages, but by the same token, don’t think we should just roll over and wait a century for Korea to be the leading light of East Asia before we try to promote Korean language education and knowledge of Korea. 

>it may also be that Koreans really don't have the wherewithal to convince Americans of Korean's importance. 

If by ‘wherewithal’, you mean financial resources, I don’t think anybody could claim that Korea is too poor to make these sorts of investments. If you mean ‘inclination’, I think you’re right – the mood is very much away from directing resources to the USA. But in conjunction with many of us on this list, Koreans and Korean organizations do nonetheless have some significant cultural (and other) capital to make inroads into/create beachheads (yowza, sorry for the military metaphors) in the midst of American ignorance about Korea and Korean. What worries me is the complacency or sense of resignation I am seeing on both sides.

>Let me remind all of us that China and Japan did not become important in the Western consciousness because Chinese and Japanese people/governments tried to convince the West of their importance. 

But by the same token, this is precisely why a tiny ‘shrimp among whales’ needs to make extra efforts to put itself on the intellectual map of Americans. And these two countries both invest heavily in promoting knowledge of C & J language and culture in North America.  

>So sure, maybe Koreans should go around trying to convince Americans how important they are, but really, it's not going to have much effect unless the world political/economic situation changes and Americans themselves wake up and notice. 

Then I guess I’m more of an idealist than you; I’m a bit more optimistic about the possibility of chipping away at American ignorance of Korea.

>Isn't it up to the U.S. govt to support foreign language studies? 

Of course it is, and it is our job to lobby for that, too. But let's admit, it's a harder sell in the US than in Korea.

>Why exactly should a foreign country spend its limited resources trying to convince reluctant people to learn its language?

Because all countries need friends, supporters and sympathizers beyond their borders -- this is what many, many governments do… Also, your (admittedly rhetorical) question seems to be premised on the notion that nobody in the USA really wants to learn Korean. I would maintain that there IS significant pent-up and unmet demand for instruction in Korean and about Korea, both within the Korean American population and without (as well as across diverse age groups) – but resources at present are inadequate.

>(Does the U.S. spend money to support English language education in Korea and to promote English language education in Korea?) 

You bet! If Horace Underwood is following this, I bet he could outline at least one major program that falls under the aegis of Fulbright.

>So perhaps SK is making strategic and wise investments for future friends and allies. Who are North Americans to criticize this and demand more attention for themselves?

Easy – North Americans who care about Korea and see it in everybody’s interests for North Americans to have more and better opportunities to get to Korea and its language. 

Thanks, 

Ross King

Associate Professor of Korean, University of British Columbia
and 
Dean, Korean Language Village, Concordia Language Villages