At the end of December 2009, the Chosun Ilbo published an article stating that the current spelling of "makgeolli" might cause some non-Koreans to mispronounce it as makjolee. The author suggested that the spelling should be changed and this would popularize this alcohol overseas. He recommended a few different options such as maggoli, makkoli, and makoli.
I wish that the author had done some research to test this opinion, because it caused quite a stir with the aT Center (The Agro-Trade Center) and amongst the Korean public. The aT Center is a government organization that has been heading the Korean Food Globalization project and my company (O'ngo Food Communications) has been working with them on several different projects including how to market makgeolli overseas.
Back in October of 2009, our company and the heads of many makgeolli companies had a meeting to discuss changing the name of makgeolli. I will tell you the same thing I told them: it is not cost efficient, it will cause needless confusion, and it won't put the drink in people's hands.
It goes on to talk about the ad for bibimbap placed by those "Infinite Challenge" guys in December, which reads:
How about
BIBIMBAP
for lunch today?
Bibimbap is a dish mixed of cooked
rice with various vegetables, beef, garnishes and
fried red pepper paste. It is said that this dish came
from the customers of memorial service and rural villages.
The dish is very convenient to provide, just mixing of cooked
rice with various vegetablees, namul and red pepper paste together.
If you're creating a list of bad ideas for globalizing Korean food, you'd better stick "topokki" in there. Last year some people decided to change the name of the food to "topokki," saying
"Using a name that’s easy for foreigners to pronounce is our first step to help the spicy rice cake gain global popularity.”even though the pronunciation doesn't reflect what Koreans actually call it.
His main point is Korea should do its _________ and know its _________ (I won't give it away), and those are two things you can apply to pretty much any endeavor aimed at foreigners here.
18 comments:
This guy's insight is spot on. Good luck trying to get Korean people to listen to him.
Koreans NOT pigeonholing all foreigners? That's a laugh.
The interesting thing is that I'm currently reading Jennifer 8. Lee's The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, a book about the history of Westernized (Westernization[?] of) Chinese food. Its a fascinating read; an amazing case study of how various cultures assimilated Chinese cuisine and a blueprint of precisely why forcing Korean food onto other cultures won't work.
Koreans are too concerned with tradition and authenticity. They care about Korean food for Koreans. The 1800s Chinese arriving in America needed to make money and wanted to SURVIVE. The reason that Chinese food is so huge in America is that they were willing to adapt to their clients, a concept which (I believe) Koreans fundamentally lack.
Excuse my rant but I think you need to relax on all the criticisms about Korea. All they're doing is trying to expand their culture a bit and every article I see on here is something about how Korea doesn't do things the exact way an American like yourself would. You come across as a bigot at times and it's sad because I really enjoy a lot of your other articles that don't consist of negative energy. =/
I saw the MuHanDoJun episode you're referring to in your post (and past posts) where the guys go to New York with a mission set to spread the Korean culture through food. You mentioned it was embarrassing in one of your past posts but it's not as embarrassing as you make it out to be. In fact, a lot of New Yorkers are seeing enjoying the food and becoming interested in the Korean culture. Are you just insecure of yourself? Feeling a little uptight? Take a deep breath and let the fart out. It's good for the soul.
True, Koreans and the English expressions they use can be silly at times, and yes more often than not they are just downright incomprehensible. But guess what, dude? It's not their first language. Most countries in the world who don't have English set as their first language make silly mistakes like this. I've traveled to many countries and have seen the strangest English expressions used but they all make sense to the locals. And isn't that the main point of language, really? Just think of it as a small stepping stone to learning full command of the English language.
I applaud Korea for consistently trying to make an effort to expand their culture and I applaud them for setting such a high priority on learning the most prominent language in international business and science even though they may come across as silly at times.
/rant
@Daniel
*YAWN*
How do I get paid to waste precious time and resources writing such idiotic dreck? I'll do it...if it pays more than my present job.
@Daniel
I think you need to stop being so hyper-sensitive to any criticism of Korea. I think the only insecure person here is the guy that rattled off a 4-paragraph rant because of a perceived criticism.
The mission in the New York episode of Muhan Dojun was to spread Korean culture through food? I thought they had to buy coffee, pick up dry-cleaning and make their way to a wax museum while wearing a silly outfit. Whatever.
Daniel, I am impressed, in a way, by all the time Korea spends promoting itself. There's a lot to like, that's for sure (and I don't owe anyone an explanation, thank you very much.)
But I'm not really sure reiterating that Korea needs to do its homework and know its audience (oops, I gave the answer away) is being overly negative. This isn't some county fair, it's spending millions and billions of dollars, so it only makes sense to try and get it right.
Koreans' attitudes in real life don't resemble the "enthusiasm" we see in the media all the time, and the PR machine does invite some criticism.
I have to agree with Brian on this one. I think the best way to market Korean food to foreign countries is to make it taste good to foreign pallets. I don't eat balut because it seems disgusting. I don't eat meatloaf because I think it's a waste of a hamburger. I certainly wouldn't have eaten duk buki before coming to Korea because it is way too spicy!
They should just call it "dong dong ju." It's easy enough to pronounce.
Of course Americans will say it "dang dang jew" but that's unavoidable.
why not say "Mack Gully"
Mmmmm, pour me another glass of "cham-pag-in" please.
If you didn't get what my example was trying to say is that, the name means less than the actual product. Champagne would have been a hard work for English people to say back when it was being introduced around the world, but lo and behold, because of the taste and quality, everyone pronounces it correctly.
My point being is that if the Koreans think that all they have to do is change the name to make it popular, then they still have a lot to learn.
*hard word...
I was posting too feverishly.
Hate to break it to you Ryan G., but using the example of the pronunciation of champagne is a bad move. The pronunciation of the word is completely perverted from the French pronunciation; so, in the strictest sense, it is not pronounced correctly. But is it pronounced correctly as far as its recognized English pronunciation? Sure.
Sure the pronunciation of the word might not be the same in French, but if an English speaker had never seen that word before, there would be a little um-ing and ah-ing over how to pronounce it.
My point still stands that making a word that is harder to say in English easier, is not going to suddenly increase the popularity of a product.
I have no problem with your point, and I agree with you. Unfortunately, in the case you are trying to make, this is just a bad example. I wasn't there, of course, so I don't know for sure, but I don't think the French had any influence in how native English speakers pronounce the word "champagne." They may have flinched when they heard us ruffians manhandling the name of one of their coveted wines, and may even have tried to "correct" English pronunciation of it. But I consider it unlikely that they suggested to English speaking folks, how to say the word. Of course, it was all made easier by the fact that the French and the English use roughly the same alphabet. The problem with Hangeul and anything that Korea wants to render in English is that the two alphabets are nothing alike. So there is this great debate about how to translate (transgrapherate? transliterate?) the words from one to the other. And it is a very imperfect system, as witnessed by the numerous systems for doing so. But really, what Korea needs to do is just decide and then live with it. It only creates confusion when they arbitrarily decide to switch the currently used translation system, or change the way a word is written. In the end, that will likely just delay, or even, scuttle the attempts to "globalize" their food and culture.
On the romanization issue, Andrew Salmon weighed-in on ZenKimchi:
http://www.zenkimchi.com/FoodJournal/archives/2426
He brings up a good point about the video SeoulEats produced, where he asks people how to pronounce the drink, in that these people were already familiar with Korea and with Korean romanization.
Anyway, most of you make good points here. I'm not sure where I stand on the makgeolli issue, but I still think topokki is ridiculous.
But I think what we might also need to consider is Koreans getting used to alternate pronunciations. Regardless of Romanization I'm not sure how close a non-Korean English speaker will get to the Korean proununciation of makgeolli or any other Korean product. People are going to have to get used to people calling it a bunch of different things.
How about we call it doodee? And we put it in a square bottle and sell it to residents of tierra del fuego? I don't see why not.
really, i think the issue at hand here is that the Korean PR machine is incapable of divorcing a Korean made product from an innate Koreanness. If ma-ko-li (you know what I mean here) is that wonderful a thing, who cares what it's called. I'll tell you one thing that's different about American and Korean biz. If Americans thought that a Cadillac would sell better in mongolia if it was called a camel thwomper, you can bet your sweet ass that you'd see camel thwompers zigging AND zagging their way through some yellow sand... and profitably.
If you want to sell Ma-ko-li in the states (for example) call it "Boone's Yellow Mist", put a picture of some tits on it and watch it fly off the shelf. On the other hand, if you want to make people love Korea... Well, what's that thing they did to Han Solo? Can that be done to 소녀시대?
"But I think what we might also need to consider is Koreans getting used to alternate pronunciations. [...] People are going to have to get used to people calling it a bunch of different things."
Exactly. Any cultural interaction is a 2-way street. If Korean food enters the mainstream in other cultures, you're going to see the dishes' names being pronounced differently (or changed entirely) in those countries. You're also probably going to see at least some change in the way these dishes taste in those countries, to account for local tastes. This isn't because there's anything wrong with the current name or taste of Korean food, and Koreans shouldn't see this as an insult to their food or culture; it's just the way cultural interaction works. To spend time and money on "helping" foreigners to pronounce the names of Korean dishes "correctly" is completely missing the point.
I like Korean food alot, but I dont sing the praises. People like what they like. Try going home and talking about your overseas adventures to your friends, mostly, their eyes will glaze over. Now, try to get them to go out for that country's food instead of some hip bistro or whatever (well, maybe in NYC, or Chi-town).
Dont advertise, just get a few good restaurants in a few big cities going.
There are alot of different ads in the NY Times. Sometimes, really weird ones...
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