Day to day life.. Do you (try to) speak Korean or just speak English?

[ehmaeearwhy]

i grew up with korean parents/family, so i know how to carry on a simple conversation in korean...
so even though this is my first time outside of the u.s., the fact that i knew at least the basics of the language was reassuring.
for those of you who have come to korea without knowing any korean--you are so brave, and i applaud you.

[penguininkorea]

Currently I only know a few words in Korean... but I've only been here a month. But I never go into a place and just start speaking English. I've pointed, walked around aimlessly trying to find what I need.  Also one of my co-workers wrote down what I liked from a restaurant close to work in Korean, so I show that to the workers.  A few places I've gone into the worker started speaking English to me, then I'll speak English (but only when they initiate it).  I'm hoping to learn some survival Korean!

[VanIslander]

It's so easy to live here without speaking Korean. The shopping, meeting people (granted, many Koreans want free English as motivation; but expats are easy to meet too), travelling the country from coast to coast to coast, living in ctiies and in a farm town. A decade of living here and there's LESS need to speak the local language than ever.

Of course if you wanna marry a local, talk to old people or shop on Korean websites then learning the language is necessary. Otherwise, speaking "mainly" English is easy as pie to live with, easier than one ever imagined it would be.

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

i grew up with korean parents/family, so i know how to carry on a simple conversation in korean...
so even though this is my first time outside of the u.s., the fact that i knew at least the basics of the language was reassuring.
for those of you who have come to korea without knowing any korean--you are so brave, and i applaud you.

You literally would have applauded me if you had have seen me asking a storeowner if they had eggs in my 1st week here.

After saying 'eggs?  Eggs?' I then made and egg shape with my finger and thumb.  When that merely bought looks of bafflement, I then decided to do a chicken impression, squatting and flapping my elbows like wings.  Then finally, I used my hand to motion something coming out of my butt area (the egg) whislt still doing the chicken noise and flapping one arm.  I never did get the eggs but I'm sure the lady behind the counter had a good laugh later on...!

Ah, good times, good times....   :)

[lectrotek]

I know enough to get by. I think we are obliged as guests here to make at least a token effort.

having said that, for the time I've spent here I'm shamefully lacklustre. I need to sort that out even if it's only to impress all my mates back home!

[illybo]

For the first six months I lived in Korea I always carried a phrasebook around with me in my bag.  And when that didn't work, creative hand gestures.  I also saved any and all business cards when I was traveling so when I got in taxi, all I had to do was whip it out and give it to the driver.  My korean really sucked at first, but I found some... interesting ways around it. haha

But nowadays, I usually understand more Korean than I can speak. ^^ I still make tons of mistakes, but practice makes perfect... even if I mispronounce words and accidentally swore in front of a friend's kids; but hey, I've also been told I speak with my city's dialect which is pretty darn cool if I do say so myself. ;)

[illybo]

i grew up with korean parents/family, so i know how to carry on a simple conversation in korean...
so even though this is my first time outside of the u.s., the fact that i knew at least the basics of the language was reassuring.
for those of you who have come to korea without knowing any korean--you are so brave, and i applaud you.

You literally would have applauded me if you had have seen me asking a storeowner if they had eggs in my 1st week here.

After saying 'eggs?  Eggs?' I then made and egg shape with my finger and thumb.  When that merely bought looks of bafflement, I then decided to do a chicken impression, squatting and flapping my elbows like wings.  Then finally, I used my hand to motion something coming out of my butt area (the egg) whislt still doing the chicken noise and flapping one arm.  I never did get the eggs but I'm sure the lady behind the counter had a good laugh later on...!

Ah, good times, good times....   :)

Oh my goodness! haha, this kind of thing happens to me all the time (though I don't think I've ever imitated laying eggs ^_<) and immediately after I think, "what the hell did I just do? (facepalm)" Normal, sane people don't make a sport out of extreme body language, right? But more of than not, it does get the point across! And everyone gets a good laugh. ;) ... though, the time I tried to explain to my principal why I called in sick the day before and demonstrated exactly how I was sick wasn't my best moment.. oh dear lord no. haha

Still, I've become a genius at charades ever since I moved to Korea! Who else is with me? ;)