When Koreans say "so-so" they mean "Not so bad" (a little good).
Another coded thing Koreans do is "I don't know about that."So when you talk about how X was Y back in 1992? And they say "I don't know about that" and they look serious? It doesn't mean "OH WOW, TELL ME MORE" it means "IDGAF. DON'T TELL ME."
This anecdote is Korshare worthy
And the use of "Maybe".It means in English, something like:" possibly but probably not", less than 50% chance.But two Korean teachers, one in 2020 and one in 2017, i recall asking - on special game day team plans - whether a given student will be absent again after being absent previously, and the two Korean teachers, one each year said: "maybe" and when i asked again on the specific day, i recall each looking shocked and telling me they told me already that the particular student would be absent. The first time i bit my tongue, as the teacher was a hothead who loved to argue and she never relented; the second time i thought "a-ha" this is a translation thing, and they didn't mean "probably not" when they said "maybe", but something more akin to "I think so but am not sure."
This is not a confusing use of "maybe"
Three days after "maybe":"I TOLD YOU he wasn't coming!"(Er, you said maybe. Don't be shocked at this. You teach him four days a week. A little more certainty than "maybe" (less than 50% surely in any context back home, in an English context).After repeated examples of such, their "maybe" has to be taken as probably or at least as equivalent to: "i think so", which is not said hereabouts much, but would help.
Has it ever occurred to you that your co-teachers went and discussed how YOUR English wasn't very precise or helpful?
