Westerners and 한국어. Probably not a match made in heaven.

We’re not required to learn Korean for this job. We’re not required to do almost anything, really, except be born and bred in an English speaking country (yes, my hard work really paid off on that one), and carry any degree from any university. Like Bowling Chasing Management at VU (an actual degree, not kidding).

But the idea of plopping down into another country without a clue about how to communicate was never really too appealing to me. And, on a more serious note, I think it is important to understand the ins and outs (at least in part) of a native speaker’s language if you’re going to try to teach them another one.

Korean is so… different, though. It’s exciting and fascinating and weird and challenging… but so different to a western mind and tongue. “Engrish” is everywhere here, but something we don’t really think about is that it goes both ways. I’m not sure how long I’ll last before the Korean police are after me for numerous counts of murdered pronunciation.

But anyway, here are some great clips of westerners and korean together. Some fails. Some wins. and some… Jim Carrey.

Emma

This is a delightful clip in which Emma Watson attempts to disuade (in a friendly manner) Korean speaking people from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rather than saying “안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseo– hello), please go to the theater and watch my film,” Emma says 아니오 하세요 (Anniyo haseo — something to the effect of ‘don’t do’). So, Don’t go see the film. If you speak Korean. Love, Emma.

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Johnny

It’s not all a hopeless cause, though. Here’s Johnny succeeding at “안녕하세요” during an interview.

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Jim

There is not much I can say to introduce this one. Jim Carrey speaks Korean for “Yes Man.” All goes as expected.