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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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34 Comments »

My mom tried to teach me and all she got me to learn was the alphabet. smile

I learned most of my Korean and Vietnamese from my friends and my Japanese from Anime. hahaha


My mom wouldn’t talk to me unless I spoke Korean or “Konglish”.


Yes most of my Korean friends are happy to know both. Only a select few do not explore Korean as a langauge due to that they do business and work and live here. But for most knowing both is beneficial

Although my friends who are more fobbish do have confidence issues with accents and such. However I think its sexy.


You find fob accents sexy?...lol

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


I wish I was bilingual. My mom knows an old dialect of Chinese but never taught me how to speak it because apparently, my dad didn’t want her to. Very odd but it would’ve come in handy.
I’m learning Mandarin on in college now and of course, I know a few phrases of Japanese from anime. xDDD


I know Japanese but it’s really bad. I’m starting to take classes for it.


My parents THINK I don’t speak Mandarin but I do. Its fun to hear them talk about me.


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


I read and write English, Mandarin, Cantonese (dialect), Taiwanese (dialect) and Malay. Now worship me girls! Just kidding smile

I have my mom to thank for that. She forced me to go to a Chinese school when I was growing up.


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


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.


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*


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.


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


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!~


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


Why are you dating him to begin with?


lol Yah...get an older one!


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


Touche. haha


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.


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.


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.!


japangirl - 10/16/08 5:51 am

lol Yah...get an older one!

I have one of those too. LOL!


Why are you dating such a young boy?


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