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Author Topic: English Words to Ban  (Read 8286 times)

jdb1983

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English Words to Ban
« on: April 18, 2011, 12:54:36 PM »
I have been on Waygook.org for some months now and I have never seen a list of English words which should be banned from use. There are many everyday words which annoy me and other foreign teachers I know here in Korea. I would like to just see which words people are most annoyed by in Korea for either their overuse or misuse. To get things rolling I'd like to nominate the words famous and delicious.
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Offline Ectofuego

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2011, 12:55:52 PM »
How are you"

"I am fine and you?"
"so-so"

Those two responses I simply don't allow in my class.  It is way to typical.
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Offline esti_strydom

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2011, 12:59:48 PM »
nice to meet you
(every day)
:D
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Offline Katherine84

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2011, 01:00:13 PM »
'Same same teacher! Same same!"
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Offline jjmacaroni

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2011, 01:01:58 PM »
Quote from: esti_strydom on April 18, 2011, 12:59:48 PM
nice to meet you
(every day)
:D

That drives me nuts. I've tried time and time again explaining to my kids that we have in fact already met each other and that you don't have to say "nice to meet you" every time you see someone. Still happens everyday.
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Offline elzoog

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2011, 01:05:57 PM »
Quote from: jdb1983 on April 18, 2011, 12:54:36 PM
I have been on Waygook.org for some months now and I have never seen a list of English words which should be banned from use. There are many everyday words which annoy me and other foreign teachers I know here in Korea. I would like to just see which words people are most annoyed by in Korea for either their overuse or misuse. To get things rolling I'd like to nominate the words famous and delicious.

Well, famous means famous to Koreans

Therefore, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, and Carl Sagan are not famous

I would like to nominate the word old because even if I play a well known pop song from the 80s, the students will say "Teacher, you like old songs.".   Since I am the kind of guy who even listens to Renaissance period music (music from the 1500s) the 1980s are not old.
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Offline mr sam teacher

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2011, 01:10:57 PM »
 :)
Although I agree with the frustrations, I am actually fascinated to see how English (and languages in general) change and adapt as they are used by different populations. Phrases like "nice to meet you" are so entrenched in the Korean dialect of English that I think when used here its meaning IS "nice to see you again." It sounds odd to me, but then again it sounds odd you hear British people say that they "play tennis on a Monday" (I would always say "I play tennis on Mondays").
When used within a specific dialect, dialectal idiosyncrasies are not incorrect, merely different. That being said, students at a certain level of English should be made aware that this particular meaning of the phrase "nice to meet you" is peculiar to Korean-English (and maybe some other dialects).
« Last Edit: April 18, 2011, 02:05:49 PM by mr sam teacher »
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Offline lindsaydp1

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2011, 01:12:50 PM »
"Nice to meet you" is a definite one, I always correct it. I also try to get them to use words other than nice, fine and ok. They're bland! Also, I always correct people when they say "take a rest".
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Offline DMZ

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2011, 01:16:01 PM »
My first grade middle school boys picked up " Helloooooo ladies!" ;)
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Offline LoloRising

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2011, 01:19:28 PM »
I change 'Nice to meet you' to 'Nice to SEE you'...takes awhile, but they pick up the change.

Also, totally agree - hate the 'I'm fine thank you and you?'  ughhhh
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Offline sweet_potato

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2011, 01:20:59 PM »
SKY BLUE!!!!
 >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
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Offline mgarza

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2011, 01:32:00 PM »
ugh I'm lucky if my kids say anything in English so I'll take what I can get!!!
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Offline WorkingTitle3484

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2011, 01:33:47 PM »
Quote from: LoloRising on April 18, 2011, 01:19:28 PM
I change 'Nice to meet you' to 'Nice to SEE you'...takes awhile, but they pick up the change.

Agreed, when I hear NTMY, I always say somewhat obnoxiously "Nice to SEEEEEEEE you" a few times, and they pick up on it after always hearing me say it.  I probably say the latter 40 times a day, but it's worth it to hear one kid say it the right way.

Also, if they say 'I'm fine', I go into my 'happy, sleepy, hungry' shpeel and elicit another answer.  I openly refuse 'I'm fine' and my kids know it.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2011, 01:35:44 PM by WorkingTitle3484 »
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Offline SpaceRook

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2011, 01:33:54 PM »
- sleep
- study
- handsome
- play the computer games
- OK (when answering a question that requires a more detailed answer)

These aren't bad words, they are just massively overused stock answers that I'm sick of hearing.

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Offline gmosborn

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2011, 01:34:34 PM »
Air-con teacher!!!  how about the word teacher???  Did anyone call their teachers Teacher?
Make them use proper titles.  this way they are not confused with how the books present the teachers and it may make the Koreans respect you more.  How do they look at us foreigners allowing kids to call us by our given names instead of proper titles.
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Offline pohangmimi

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2011, 01:36:06 PM »
Nice to meet you. Every day, all day!

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Offline astericks

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #16 on: April 18, 2011, 01:39:54 PM »
Any word ending in -ch, -sh, or -e

No matter how often i correct this (daily) their speech pattern does not chang-E.

others:
handphone
aircon
I love you
handsome
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Offline Juno106

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #17 on: April 18, 2011, 01:42:19 PM »
"I'm so-so" has been banned as a response to "how are you?" in my class. The word so-so is rarely used in English yet Korean kids use it so much. I have taught them all to say "I'm just okay" instead.
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Offline tardigrade

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #18 on: April 18, 2011, 01:43:21 PM »
soccor or soccer or however you spell it
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Offline katiciar

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Re: English Words to Ban
« Reply #19 on: April 18, 2011, 01:44:00 PM »
"I envy you" should be banned because NO ONE uses that word in English in a regular conversation. I don't think Koreans realize how strong that word is. It's also very difficult to explain another way to get that point across.
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