Third place:
GFN: the New Voice of Gwangju (by 이수경)
SUNNY! FUNNY! ANY! GFN! (by 최은영)
열린 방송 빛의 소리 GFN 광주영어방송 (by 정주연)
Second place:
꿈을 여는 젊은 방송 - GFN 광주영어방송 (by 박진구)
First place:
Listen more Feel more GFN (by 김우열)
They do understand it's the foreigners' radio station, right? That it's the English-language radio station, right? I can't see so good, tell me how many of those slogans aren't even the fuck in English? Jesus Tapdancing Christ. Well, the station's been having some problems already, and such negative press from the only blogger inclined to write anything about it can't help. But I do have to admit I'll listen once in a while if it's online, and you will too, just to see if it sucks. Since you're curious, here are the three I submitted, with a note saying it would be better to call the station "Gwangju English Radio":
* Gwangju English Radio: The Sound of Gwangju.
* Gwangju's English Voice
* Listen up.
I swear to God, if they had picked SUNNY! FUNNY! ANY! GFN! my computer would feel safer with Chris Brown.
14 comments:
Oh, sweet motherfuck.
The Seoul station is starting to show its true colors. It fired one of its hosts (gyopo) because her Korean wasn't good enough and are replacing her with a white guy (supposedly with better Korean). The ads are mostly in Korean. And behind-the-scenes, everyone knows the reality that it's no different from EBS--just another way for Koreans to listen to English, or at least play in the office to make people think they know English.
""just another way for Koreans to listen to English, or at least play in the office to make people think they know English""
- exactly. very well said
But I do have to admit I'll listen once in a while if it's online, and you will too, just to see if it sucks.
That's not a self-fulfilling prophecy, is it? ;)
Agreed that the slogans suck and they suck because the same committee-style preprogrammed method was used to make the slogan. And agreed that that may indicate that the station is fraught with other committee-style preprogrammed nonsense.
But if Anglophones and other internationals in Kwangju take an active interest in it, over time they can effect some change with it. I'd sit down over Starbucks with the manager and express my concerns over any problems with the station before I bashed it in my blog. Maybe I'll do that the when I'm in Kwangju over the summer.
As I've said before, the cost of these things is justified in part by the expanded English exposure that the majority Koreophonic population of English learners receives. That's the business model and it gets things on the air.
(And, yes, there are objective studies that show a correlation between improved English communication skills among native Koreans and how much "educational" programming they watch/listen to. Correlation is not necessarily causation, though: For some, greater exposure may mean better listening and production skills, while for others their interest and greater skill may prompt them to hone that skill by listening to educational programs.)
I honestly thought that this post was a joke.
I'm speechless.
Only in Korea.
@ kushibo
"But if Anglophones and other internationals in Kwangju take an active interest in it, over time they can effect some change with it"
-- Can you cite examples of this that was done before or is it just wishful thinking? What happened?
"I'd sit down over Starbucks with the manager and express my concerns over any problems with the station before I bashed it in my blog"
-- Have you done this before in Korea (under a different circumstance) or is it just wishful thinking? and what happened?
From what I understand, kushibo, there's not much interest in getting actual foreigners involved, let along native English speakers. It is, as ZenKimchi points out here and as we all could have guessed before TBS even launched, basically a chance for Koreans to practice English, or at least listen to English on the radio while laughing to their friends 난 영어 못해.
arvinsign wrote:
Have you done this before in Korea (under a different circumstance) or is it just wishful thinking? and what happened?
Fair questions. For several reasons I can't go into detail in a public forum, but it's based on experience, not wishful thinking.
Brian wrote:
From what I understand, kushibo, there's not much interest in getting actual foreigners involved, let along native English speakers.
This understanding comes from what? Is it scuttlebutt amongst other Anglophones, stuff you read in the papers or online, or from actual conversations with the people involved? I'm not asking that condescendingly although it might sound as much; I'm asking in order to get to the heart of the matter.
I will be in Seoul during the summer and may end up visiting Kwangju at some point, so maybe you and I and arvinsign can all meet up for coffee or a beer and discuss things further, but there are certain things to understand about how such ventures are typically set up and what kind of people they are looking for.
If this model is based on other similar organizations I've encountered, then if they have someone in front of them who is motivated, competent, knows what they're doing, actually cares about doing something good for Kwangju and is not just about making themselves famous, then they are dying to have someone like that.
Unfortunately, any one of these things might be lacking in the people they find or have found, which dampens enthusiasm to listen to the next people who come along and give them advice.
The actually contacted me at one point to be a script-writer for them. Unfortunately I had to decline because I'm leaving in 2 months.
I think part of the problem, honesty, is a lack of foreigners!
The only info I have is actually talking to the Seoul TBS folks. Sara Kim got fired because she wasn't Korean enough. That was from her own mouth. They also fired the woman whose bikini pics the Marmot Holeys were drooling over.
Joe, that was my site with the bikini pics.
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/01/son-jung-min-has-some-new-pictures.html
Stop trying to distort Korean history.
Thanks for the reminder. She's a very sweet person.
I guess her English is good, then? Never heard her, and never heard of her.
Yeah, English is perfectly fine.
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