The Korean Society, a study group on Korean language, Daily Cosmetic and Kolmar Korea said they will hold a competition to pick the best all-Korean cosmetic names under the sponsorship of the government.
``The first stage will be looking out for the best Korean names. Then we will search for the best calligraphy to show them off,'' a spokesman said. The committee is running the Web site www.urimalhjp.kr for applicants until April 30. All applicants must write down Korean names ― regardless of the product ― and explanations and meanings.
Now, ordinarily I'd roll my eyes at something like this, at the promotion Korean as the "beautiful" alternative to overbearing English created, used, and abused by Koreans in the first place, but you know using a language your customers actually understand isn't such a bad idea. There are few things less pleasant-sounding here than a string of English words pronounced in Korean, making it impossible for me to watch about 70% of what's on TV.
It is, as one of the women quoted in the
4 comments:
I agree. It just sounds foolish. For example, why does the movie "John Rambo" come out as "ram-bo pou"? Why not just call it "ram-bo nae-gae"? or better yet, just "choen ram-bo", like it is in English? I was just watching the Bourne Identity today on OCN, and Bourne tells the head honcho to meet him at Pointe Neuf in Paris, but the subtitles didn't translate neuf into nine or "gu", they turned it into "nu- peh" in Hangul.
It's ridiculous how much they abuse English and think how cool it is while most English speakers just shake their heads in wonder and laugh at the stupidity.
I understand using loan words, lots of languages use English loan words, and English has quite a few as well (kim chi is still kim chi, we ain't calling it fremented cabbage). Filipino/ being a good example. But they at least pronounce those loan words the same as a native speaker would. Korean pronunciation is so unrecognizable sometimes, that when I've used the same words, I've been corrected by Koreans about MY pronunciation-- of words that are a part of MY native language. I just want to choke them and scream at them that they are speaking my language, and it's me who should be correcting them.
when i visited Everland Theme Park last year, i took the bus from Kangnam that travels straight to the park. Since im a backpacker, i dont have any idea how to go there at first. So while in Seoul, i asked some passerby questions using my broken Korean, however i had to pronounce the word Everland in its native English pronunciation. Unfortunately, nobody seems to know where that strange place is (much to my dismay). Tired and exhausted, i tried again...a few moments later., i found out that my pronunciation is wrong (a korean corrected me, and he insisted on it..so i said ok ok)..it should be "Ebeolaendeu" 에버랜드 :)
My point exactly. If you're going to use words that come from a different language, at least try to pronounce them as a native speaker would. It's no wonder Koreans have such a hard time learning English. They are told to pronounce these words the Korean way, and we come along and tell them they got it all wrong. If they just learned to pronounce them the right way in the first place, the learning curve probably wouldn't be quite so steep.
Either use the Korean word in Hangul or learn to pronounce the English word in the English alphabet. Don't take English words and use Hangul. Most of us learn to read Hangul when we come here-- many in as little as a few weeks, why is so hard to learn the English alphabet? They're both phonetic-- if it wasn't it would take a lot longer for people like me to learn.
I thought Hangul, being the most scientific language in the world, was able to reproduce any sound made with the human mouth, so why is there no separate character for f,v,l or z? Seems pretty limited to me.
Interesting article... and one of my major beefs when I was living in Korea, and something I often asked Korean women about (concerning beauty products especially).
Even the cheapest bottle of shampoo has the English word 'shampoo' transliterated into hangeul. Why not simply use the Korean word for shampoo (of course, I am assuming that there is such a word, and that shampoo, or nail polish, or lip stain, or night cream are not all loan words from English) and make your product that much more accessible to the general population?
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