Jen Watches Fireworks and Compares English and the Korean Language

Here's a special video I did specifically for Mom since she asked to hear my voice more often (oh, Mom, in all your years did you think you'd ever make such a request?). A bunch of us went to Gwangalli Beach on Saturday to watch the 5th Annual Busan Fireworks Festival. We had to get there early because there would eventually be over 1 million people on the beach (and all the beaches I've seen here are relatively small crescents of land, not long coastlines like in Barcelona, as you can see in the video)

Notice that Hannah calls me what sounds like "Jenna", but really it's a joke because one of the differences between the Korean language and English is that their words are basically not allowed to end without a vowel sound. That's why there are joke tee shirts around that say "I'm a Englishee Teacher", and why my principal will ask me if I've had 'lunchee' yet. It's just one of those nuances that makes the Korean language of Hangul different from English, and what makes teaching language interesting. But it also makes it hard for native Koreans to go from one consonant sound to another (example: sub-u-way and ice-u-cream) without inserting a vowel sound.

Incidentally, someone asked me why we Westerners butcher the Korean language, and I said I thought it was funny because I could ask the same thing about my students and English. The answer is simple - there are sounds in Korean that we just don't have in English, so after a lifetime of never having pronounced these sounds, it's really hard to learn now that I am set in my ways of speaking. And vice versa. For example, a commonly known mistake when Asians speak English is pronouncing R sounds like L's. That's because an R sound is pretty hard to pronounce if you have never had to do it before, and you may not think an L sounds like an R, but the way your mouth is shaped when you do it is pretty similar. Another thing I hear a lot is pronouncing F like P. As in "Jenny-Per", which I hear in the hallways constantly. There is no F sound in Hangul, but I find that this mispronunciation is less common in adults, and I think the reason is that it's much easier to correct because you can easier show what you're doing with your mouth. "Put your top teeth on your bottom lip and say F-F-F." I tell them. If you're going to call me by my first name, at least you're going to pronounce it correctly!

Or when the tables are turned, there are some sounds that English doesn't have (think the rolling R's in Spanish). There is a sound in Hangul that is closest to a combo of Z and J (which maybe sounds crazy but try it), and for some reason the only example of for this is when Moms say Target like Tarzjay. And by Moms, I mean my mom. And me - who am I kidding?

Another example that is really prevalent in Hangul is the a G sound that's sort of like a K sound, but softer than both. The softness is really hard for me to grasp since American English specifically is so harsh and guttural. So I butcher the language, but practice makes perfect, and I've only been here a month. At least that's what I keep telling myself.