English is a huge industry here. Korea spends an immense amount of money on teachers like myself every year. Most signs have English, including restaurants and stores...the first time I saw "Starbucks" written in Korean was last week when we went to a tourist street in Seoul. We've even been to restaurants where the menus were only in English. My friend recently started a new job where they repeatedly asked her about her English skills as it was clearly an important part of the hiring. She was hired, but uses zero English in the job. If she wants to transfer her 2-year degree to a school with a bachelor's program, she will have to take an English test, even if it would be unnecessary for her focus of study.
One of the most prominent places English dominance can be seen is on clothing. Korean is very difficult to find on T-shirts. I've only found it in the tourist areas or from the flee market advertising some sort of club (sports team, camp, college, etc.). If you go into a regular store, nearly all of the writing will be in English (rarely in French or Italian). While this strikes me as odd and a little sad, Amy and I have derived much amusement from the choice of words on many of these fashion statements. Unfortunately, most of the really good ones are too difficult to take in time, but here are a few that we've managed to take (sneak pictures of):
Sometimes they just don't make sense:"Fifth May Good Time"
or sort of make sense: "Jewel of the Cinderella Shines Bright"
or are friggin' awesome: "World's Greatest Blue Muffin Go For It!"
Sometimes the geography is strange. Great Britain seems to include the US
and I hope this purse is self-explanatory.
People often just don't know what they're wearing. One of my 4th grade girls was wearing a shirt with "Hades" in large block letters. This girls seems to be a Mit Romney supporter...
and you don't get the same reaction when you say "Go Cubs!" to people in Korea. Usually, they just look at you like you're crazy. I did manage to buy a Kerry Wood jersey dirt cheap at our flea market, though.
This isn't bad English, I just wanted everyone to know that this guy is FABULOUS!
[EDIT - September 09, 2011]
I loved this shirt, so I had to add it. Like I always say, "Blue Wash in the Box" - "Go!"
And, the most shocking of anything I've seen yet, this shirt was being worn by my 4th grade student. Is it too much to ask of these major department stores (this was purchased at NewCore Outlet) to have a native English speaker check the content of fashion being sold to 10 year old girls? The shirt says "I wanna make love to you in New York".
One of the most prominent places English dominance can be seen is on clothing. Korean is very difficult to find on T-shirts. I've only found it in the tourist areas or from the flee market advertising some sort of club (sports team, camp, college, etc.). If you go into a regular store, nearly all of the writing will be in English (rarely in French or Italian). While this strikes me as odd and a little sad, Amy and I have derived much amusement from the choice of words on many of these fashion statements. Unfortunately, most of the really good ones are too difficult to take in time, but here are a few that we've managed to take (sneak pictures of):
Sometimes they just don't make sense:"Fifth May Good Time"
or sort of make sense: "Jewel of the Cinderella Shines Bright"
or are friggin' awesome: "World's Greatest Blue Muffin Go For It!"
Sometimes the geography is strange. Great Britain seems to include the US
and I hope this purse is self-explanatory.
People often just don't know what they're wearing. One of my 4th grade girls was wearing a shirt with "Hades" in large block letters. This girls seems to be a Mit Romney supporter...
and you don't get the same reaction when you say "Go Cubs!" to people in Korea. Usually, they just look at you like you're crazy. I did manage to buy a Kerry Wood jersey dirt cheap at our flea market, though.
This isn't bad English, I just wanted everyone to know that this guy is FABULOUS!
[EDIT - September 09, 2011]
I loved this shirt, so I had to add it. Like I always say, "Blue Wash in the Box" - "Go!"
And, the most shocking of anything I've seen yet, this shirt was being worn by my 4th grade student. Is it too much to ask of these major department stores (this was purchased at NewCore Outlet) to have a native English speaker check the content of fashion being sold to 10 year old girls? The shirt says "I wanna make love to you in New York".
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