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While it may be presumptuous to say that I am 100% bilingual, it is safe to say that I am bilingual, only not 100%. Unlike a lot of my peers who had mixed families, where one of the parents was Korean, I was lucky enough to have a mother who spoke her native language to me 95% of the time. Of course, I’m sure living in Korea gave me an advantage over my peers who lived in the states for the most part, but I’m thinking about the ones who have lived here most of the time instead.

It’s funny. At work, my Korean ahjumma co-workers keep praising me at how I’m so lucky to speak English and Korean well. Even the other day, when I went to do my hair, I was a translator for my friend, and the stylist told me that he’s jealous that I am fortunate to speak both languages. Even my mother, gets praises from her peers, saying that she’s lucky to have a daughter who speaks Korean and English instead of just the latter. I admit, being bilingual really is a useful skill, but I will admit that my Korean’s pretty weak. Sure, I can speak, read, and write Hangeul, but my speaking skills are at the level of an eight-year old, and my reading and writing skills are of those belonging to a seven-year old.

The point is, though, a lot of people want to be bilingual, but sometimes the opportunities they have in front of them are taken for granted. I look at those women (or men) who wish their children can speak their native language with them, but then I look at their situation and go, “well you reaped what you sowed”. They are the ones who chose to speak mostly English and only minimum of their native languages. They are the ones who wanted to improve their English.

Now I am aware that the mothers (or fathers) want to improve their English, especially if they move to an English-speaking country like the United States. I’m also aware that some people feared they would be discriminated for speaking their native language, especially in the earlier days and even now depending on location. Really, though, just consider the native language as part of the children’s heritage and keep in mind that being bilingual or even multilingual is a wonderful skill to have in today’s world as globalisation becomes more prominent. A parent who wants to be bilingual is fine and everything, but let the children be bilingual, too. Giving them a chance to learn about their culture is one thing parents can give to their children for free!

Ah, I’ve seen so many people like that here. It just makes me laugh, quite honestly. It’s really hilarious and ironic to hear and see such situations mentioned above. Of course there’s also the situation where the children themselves make no effort to learn the language, but that’s an entirely different story, which I’m guilty of as well!


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i wish my parents had raised me bilingual…


Aw that’s cute. How old’s your dad and what are you going to get them both?


He’ll catch up to my old self [currently 19 going on 20] in a couple weeks. Ahahaha.

I still have to get him/my dad a birthday gift :3


How old is your boyfriend Kat?


Haha cradle-robbers ftw? /high five ...Though my demi-Korean boy toy is already legal raspberry


Kibouhou - 10/16/08 1:54 pm

How old is he? 17 and a half? -.-

lord dont ask me math questions. LOL I guess he is 17 and 3/4s

*faints*


Loverly - 10/16/08 1:54 pm

Why are you dating such a young boy?

Cause I am a sucker for Kyopo boys that call me nuna. *Faints*

actually he original told me he was legal.. and then it came out he was lying about his age.. By then we just agreed to be good friends. I care for him but I wont monopolize his time. Oh did I say he was darling cute, sweet, kind, gorgeous and he sings to me?

*faints*


She likes them young!


How old is he? 17 and a half? -.-


Why are you dating such a young boy?


japangirl - 10/16/08 5:51 am

lol Yah...get an older one!

I have one of those too. LOL!


Miss.Kang - 10/16/08 5:39 am

Why are you dating him to begin with?

He told me he was 20. For a about a week he couldnt decide on his age. He used that OH im a different age in Korea thing. Now I am attached.. I dont want him to0 leave.!


Kibouhou - 10/16/08 4:52 am

I think the problem is that it’s not November. @_@

Yeah we are sorta not seeing each other til then.


TaraPopp - 10/16/08 6:22 am

@Lara—It’s a shame that your dad didn’t want your mum to teach you Chinese.  What “old dialect” is it?

I can’t really spell it… I’ll have to ask my mom later! It’s a dialect of Cantonese, I believe.


Touche. haha


Bwahaha!  I just love how this entry spanned into other interesting topics such as pedophilia. XD

Btw, how does a Fob accent sound like?  Is it like Konglish or something?

@Lan—At least your mum succeeded in teaching you the alphabet.  My mum tried, but we weren’t compatible as student/teacher X_X;;

@Lara—It’s a shame that your dad didn’t want your mum to teach you Chinese.  What “old dialect” is it?

@zinger—I LOVE IT when people presume I can’t speak Korean.  However, knowing Korean around Korean people who doesn’t suspect that I can speak their language sucks since I know when they are talking crap about me. Grrrr.

@Juliang—Sure, Korean alphabet is easy to master, but trying to write the way the words are SOUNDED is a difficult issue, at least for me. X_X;;

@Andrew—Yay for your mother for making you multilingual!  That gives us a reason to worship you even more!  *bows*

@Elena—Yeah, I’m glad globalisation is making us more aware of other nations in the world and makes us aware that it’s okay to know more than one language and culture!

@Mia—Whatever floats your boat! XD


lol Yah...get an older one!


Why are you dating him to begin with?


I think the problem is that it’s not November. @_@


lan - 10/16/08 2:11 am
MiaLerda - 10/16/08 1:59 am
lan - 10/15/08 10:14 pm

You find fob accents sexy?...lol

I use a fob accent when I talk to Korean in Konglish. Otherwise they don’t understand me. ; _ ;

You have to see the other guys I date.. (not only the underage ones) *faints*

I think you just admitted to pedophilia. raspberry

Im counting the days till his 18th birthday. LOL~! Thankgod november is soon!~


MiaLerda - 10/16/08 1:59 am
lan - 10/15/08 10:14 pm

You find fob accents sexy?...lol

I use a fob accent when I talk to Korean in Konglish. Otherwise they don’t understand me. ; _ ;

You have to see the other guys I date.. (not only the underage ones) *faints*

I think you just admitted to pedophilia. raspberry


Juliang - 10/15/08 10:44 pm

Korean is so easy to learn. There’s only like 15? syllables all together. haha

AHHAHA yeah like dude.. its Vowels in korean kill me and i still cant pronounce double consonants without a korean friend beating me in the head till I do it right and them my head hurts and i dont remember that i did it.


lan - 10/15/08 10:14 pm

You find fob accents sexy?...lol

I use a fob accent when I talk to Korean in Konglish. Otherwise they don’t understand me. ; _ ;

You have to see the other guys I date.. (not only the underage ones) *faints*


Wow, it’s great to be bilingual, and it’s evidence of changing attitudes. My grandmother came to the US from Germany, and did not teach the kids German because “they wanted to be like the others.” I’m glad that a bilingual home is more accepted now.


That’s awesome. :O I never knew you were poly lingual.


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