Monday, May 15, 2006

Salsa Anyone?

Happy May everybody! I noticed that my last few posts have been a little egotistical. I haven't been bragging outright but in a more of a "Hey, look what I'm doing," sort of way. This post will not be like that. In this one I'm going back to random, typical, everyday observations of this foreign land. Also this was a rather lazy weekend so there's not much to report.

This week I hit a cross-cultural language goldmine. I found out that salsa means diarrhea in Korean. How cool is that. I know there are some words in English that are questionable in Korean, but this is the first case I've seen of a Spanish- Korean language concern. Now I know why that waiter at the Beer Hunter looked at me so questionably when I said "Salsa jusaeyo," requesting more salsa for my nachos. I had just asked for a cup of diarrhea. I can't wait to find more cultural nuances. Thing like this are what makes language learning fun and rewarding. By the way, if your name is Jill and you're planning on coming to Korea, a name change is in order. Jill is the Korean word for a woman's crotch.

In other language news I've ditched my Pilsmer Korean language tapes. I got to lesson six or so, but then the conversations I was listening to became a bit obscure. Tape one starts with a man and a woman making polite conversation: Excuse me, Do you speak English?, The weather is nice. Standard stuff, but in lesson six there is a conversation that goes something like this:
Guy: Would like to have dinner?
Woman: Where?
Guy: At my place.
Woman: When?
Guy: Now.
Talk about getting straight to the point. I guess in language learning you want to keep things basic, but honestly I can't really see myself using any of this conversation any time soon. If I tried, it would just be asking for trouble. Although I'll admit that I'm curious to see how the whole spontanious relationship turns out between The Very Decisive American Man and the Far Too Trusting Korean Woman. Maybe I'll just skip to tape 10.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi nathan, just thought I would check in to see how things are going!

tina

Catinlap said...

Would you like to come over to my place? I have a warm cup of diare... nevermind.

Clint Gardner said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Clint Gardner said...

I have a possible apochryphal tale about the Korean language: according to the story that I've heard "Joanie Loves Chachi" was a particular hit in S.Korea. Despite the spectacular acting talents of Scott Baio and Erin Morane (are you surprised I know who Joannnie is?) the love of the show was because "chachi" is "cock" in Korean.

Confirm or disabuse my story, please.

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