Thanks, I really appreciate the apology. And for my part, I probably would have been better able to accept the hyperbole in the spirit of humor in which it was intended if I didn't have my own kneejerk reaction of, "Hey, that's my language you're talking about!" going on. ^^;
Noooo, the Korean women I've met take a definite pride in their language, from what I can tell, and even if it feels like sometimes I was being quizzed (if not outright tested: "now, say hello to her, too!") by women who could make me feel like a six-year-old with That Look.
I've found this to be generally true of the immigrant community I grew up in as well. My mother gets excited whenever anyone asks her how to say something in Korean and will provide long explanations with extensive cultural commentary, and whenever a non-Korean guest says something in Korean to the people at my church, they instantly win over the audience. From what I can tell, I think the difference from, say, Chinese and Japanese immigrants probably has to do with the fact that there's much less general awareness of Korean language and culture in the U.S. mainstream, so it's always nice to get someone who is actually interested in learning your language. Also, one can't discount the legacy of Japanese colonialism--depending on the person's generation, the mere act of teaching Korean to anyone probably feels like a minor victory.
Just another minor correction: modern standard Korean actually isn't tonal. There are certain regions in the southwest province that have tonal dialects (and it's quite possible that the women at your local deli happen to be from those regions), but the Korean one generally hears on the news or Seoul isn't tonal at all. (My father is also tone-deaf and agrees with you on the hopelessness of ever hearing the difference between tones in Mandarin.)
Then the woman who owned the place dyed her hair to cover the gray and I spent the next week repeatedly screwing up and giving her the hello you'd give a woman in her twenties. I was seeing no-gray and thinking, "young!"
Hee, well, if you ever make that mistake again, you can smoothly turn it into an excuse to flatter her about how young she looks! ^^ (Best way to butter up elders!)
I can see resistance as an issue if it's a translated work or the author is of that culture (even if writing in English), but I'm not sure quite what to make of things in this instance.
Nod, I agree that it tends to hinge on whether the writer is an insider or outsider to the culture in question and probably doesn't apply to Rowland's case.
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Date: 27 Aug 2010 08:30 pm (UTC)Noooo, the Korean women I've met take a definite pride in their language, from what I can tell, and even if it feels like sometimes I was being quizzed (if not outright tested: "now, say hello to her, too!") by women who could make me feel like a six-year-old with That Look.
I've found this to be generally true of the immigrant community I grew up in as well. My mother gets excited whenever anyone asks her how to say something in Korean and will provide long explanations with extensive cultural commentary, and whenever a non-Korean guest says something in Korean to the people at my church, they instantly win over the audience. From what I can tell, I think the difference from, say, Chinese and Japanese immigrants probably has to do with the fact that there's much less general awareness of Korean language and culture in the U.S. mainstream, so it's always nice to get someone who is actually interested in learning your language. Also, one can't discount the legacy of Japanese colonialism--depending on the person's generation, the mere act of teaching Korean to anyone probably feels like a minor victory.
Just another minor correction: modern standard Korean actually isn't tonal. There are certain regions in the southwest province that have tonal dialects (and it's quite possible that the women at your local deli happen to be from those regions), but the Korean one generally hears on the news or Seoul isn't tonal at all. (My father is also tone-deaf and agrees with you on the hopelessness of ever hearing the difference between tones in Mandarin.)
Then the woman who owned the place dyed her hair to cover the gray and I spent the next week repeatedly screwing up and giving her the hello you'd give a woman in her twenties. I was seeing no-gray and thinking, "young!"
Hee, well, if you ever make that mistake again, you can smoothly turn it into an excuse to flatter her about how young she looks! ^^ (Best way to butter up elders!)
I can see resistance as an issue if it's a translated work or the author is of that culture (even if writing in English), but I'm not sure quite what to make of things in this instance.
Nod, I agree that it tends to hinge on whether the writer is an insider or outsider to the culture in question and probably doesn't apply to Rowland's case.