Mastering English ― the impossible dream?

There are over 6,000 international organizations around the world and all of them need a place in which they can set up camp and carry out their mission. Recently the headquarters of the Green Climate Fund, located in Songdo, the new city that is forming near Incheon, was opened to much fanfare with many dignitaries present including President Park Geun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-Seok and even World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

The United States is home to 3,646 international organizations, Belgium with the European Union hosts 2,194, and a little closer to home, Japan has 270 and Thailand 133. Then what about Korea? There are 27. However, at closer inspection, aside from the International Vaccine Institute, which has about 160 employees, all the other international organizations are basically offices with a signboard and just one to three employees.

Now, Korean workers are well-known for being diligent, highly skilled and highly intelligent. In fact when foreign executives come to work in Korea, they often praise Koreans for their work ethic. So one would think that international organizations would be scrambling to set up headquarters in Korea, especially since Korea is an OECD country and has gained enormously in its international standing. Then why is that not so? I believe that the main reason is the language barrier. Foreign diplomats who are stationed in Korea receive a hardship allowance because communicating with Koreans in general is not easy.

Learning English in Korea is a national hobby, a national obsession, almost a national craze. English is part of the official curriculum starting from elementary school but overzealous mothers send their children to English kindergartens before they can even speak Korean. It is one of the three most important subjects on the college entrance exam and also in job interviews or exams, sometimes even when it has nothing to do with the job. Recently, I attended a forum and during the coffee break, a well-known Korean actor who has even starred in a Hollywood movie asked me what he could do to improve his English!

As a conference interpreter and teacher of interpretation, I am often asked the “secret” to learning English. Of course, we all know that there is no shortcut or easy way to learn a language ― if there was, whoever discovered it would be very, very rich! My advice is always to read lots of books. It’s been said by many people and this is not just for English but for all languages ― the only surefire way to improve language skills is to read a lot, read voraciously. It should not be an obligation or duty, but a part of your daily routine, pretty much like showering, brushing your teeth or putting on makeup. Reading books is something that individuals can do.

For the general public, I believe that dubbing on television should not be allowed and the speakers be left to speak in their original language and subtitling should be provided for the viewers who do not understand the original. It is very important to learn the musicality of a language and not just the words and grammar.

Whenever a famous Korean goes abroad and speaks in English in public, the Korean public seems to be more interested in whether that person speaks English well rather than the message itself. When Kim Yuna, the famous figure skater, won first place in international competitions, there was as much interest in her medal as there was in her English interview. When Psy swept global music charts with his catchy tune, “Gangnam Style,” Koreans were as impressed with the fact that people from other countries liked his song as they were by the ease with which he conversed with his interviewers.

In May, when President Park Geun-hye gave a speech at the U.S. Congress, there was a lot of talk about whether or not she should have spoken in English and also how good her English was. The discussion became more heated when she visited China, and spoke Chinese, and then France, where she spoke French. Though I cannot vouch for her Chinese, I can say that her English and French speeches were perfectly comprehensible to native speakers. I do understand the arguments against a president speaking in a foreign language at an official function, and as an interpreter, I should side with them. However, when considering the impact that a foreign leader can have when speaking in the language of the country that he/she is visiting, I believe that there is no contest. I asked a few French-speaking businessmen what and how they felt about President Park speaking in French and they all responded that, first of all, they were completely surprised because it was unexpected, and second, they were appreciative that she made the effort to speak in their own language and that she did it so well.

Koreans, in general, have very high standards regarding English, often the standards are even higher than those of English-speaking people. In order to be considered “good,” word choice, grammar and pronunciation have to be “authentic” while English-speaking people are more magnanimous and are mainly concerned about understanding the message.

Of course, the ideal is to sound like a native, but barring perfection, one must consider one’s objective. Many times, getting the message is more important than sounding native.

By Lim Hyang-ok

The writer is a professor at the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. ― Ed.