In the Korea Times talking about Konglish.

If you subscribe to my rss feed---you can do so with the button atop my page---you'll see the original entry I wrote last night, though I decided to delete it because it came across as too harsh. For the benefit of readers who may have seen my name in the paper, though, I will explain my remarks in today's Korea Times article "'Konglish' Proves to be Double-Edged Sword." Here's an excerpt as it appeared on the website last night, and in the paper today:

How do you order an apple-cinnamon-flavored pretzel ― written in Konglish on the menu board ― in Korean, using a native-English speaker's accent?

The situation may sound comedic, but behind the inevitable verbal faux pas is a more serious issue: English that is written and spoken in Korean.

Konglish, or English words written in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, is an increasing phenomenon that contributes positively on a cultural level but negatively on a linguistic one for natives and foreigners alike.

"(The overuse of English) actually makes it harder for Koreans," said Brian Deutsch, a former English teacher of four years.

"They are so accustomed to pronouncing these borrowed words the Korean way that they can't adjust to English pronunciations and meanings."

Korean vocabulary can also be lost after a Konglish word is introduced and overtakes the former as the more popular alternative. In some cases, the original Korean or Chinese-derived word is less emphasized, or not even taught to Korean-language students.

Deutsch, an intermediate-level Korean-language student, has seen the impact first hand.

"When studying in class I invariably learn only the English cognate," he said. "In cases where there's a suitable Korean word, it makes me wonder why an English word has come into popular usage."

I was approached for the article, and did an email interview with the author, based in part on what I've written recently about all the English in Korea (here, here, and here, for example.) I've said here, and indeed in the interview, that the overuse of English makes it that much harder for Koreans to learn English because their pronunciation, for one thing, is thrown way off. Here's my answer in the interview:

The overuse of English in Korea has a few negative consequences. It actually makes it harder for Koreans who are learning English, because they are so accustomed to pronouncing these borrowed words the Korean way that they can’t adjust to English pronunciations and meanings. Even English teachers with decades of experience cannot produce some of English’s sounds, and the with so many English words being used in daily Korean speech, it’s harder for students to adjust to the demands of the other language.

My quotation in the paper, though, makes it sound like the overuse of English is hard for Koreans in general. It kills my ears to hear the way English---or Engrish, or Gibberish---is pronounced by most people, though it is the Korean pronunciation, not an English one, that is necessary in Korea, so even if the Korean pronunciation of, say, escalator sounds awkward to my ears, it's how they do it in Korea. That said, they would have to adjust it when learning and using English, and this is something far too many students and teachers cannot do. And I still believe, though, there is too much English in Korea, and that it makes more sense to simply use Korean words rather than relying too much on imports.

The quotation was changed on the website today to this:

"(The overuse of English) actually makes it harder for Koreans learning English," said Brian Deutsch, a former English teacher of four years.

I will repost the original comments under this post.