"Maybe because of the huge language barrier(any language other than Korean has very limited reception in Korea) which is IMHO, though very difficult for me, something South Koreans should be proud of"
Proud to speak only one language? Is this the same kind of pride as looking down on people marrying someone from another country? The same kind of pride as never having eaten foreign food? These are not things to be proud of.
This was about self-sufficiency in a one's own language. The mother tongue. Like the British are in English and the Germans are in German and Chinese are in Mandarin(or Chinese).
Of course it's good to learn other languages and I, myself, am learning Spanish(though everybody recommend German but it was too stiff for me).
>>These are not things to be proud of.
I stand my statement(again, in the context of self-sufficiency) and that is everything to be proud of.
Will talk about my home country. Indians learn and emphasize on English just because they will get jobs, not because they have love for this language. In cities(here in Bangalore too) kids are learning English first. Hell, some even learn French(or so) after English and then they, maybe, shall learn their mother tongue. I have not seen any single parent of a toddler talk to him/her in the malls in their mother tongue. They always use English which is something to be very much ashamed of. Fortunately I didn't see this in Korea. A big thumbs up to them :-)
I see we do not seem to agree at all here. I respect your opinion but I am forced to say - no, it's not.
If what you say is to be true then there would be other countries which would be the most stupid places on earth(no names here).
They are fine with Korean. They can do almost anything in their own language, so they hardly need to learn English(which is changing now) but not knowing English(or any other language) doesn't at all mean lack of 'knowledge'. Knowledge is not just learning foreign languages or English for that matter.
Why do you think more and more people learning German and Mandarin today? Certainly not because they think they will turn genius(from stupid) but because they will find jobs in those countries and they can use their knowledge/skills with the help the new language in those countries.
Now, I do not see any any German learning Hindi or Korean. Do you?
"Now, I do not see any any German learning Hindi or Korean. Do you?"
"Now, I do not see any any German learning Hindi or Korean. Do you?"
Yes, I do. I see them learning languages that they are likely to find a use for beyond their own. Many Germans speak two languages, and many can get by in three. The Dutch are generally fantastic; I know Dutch people who are conversational in four. Most Indians I meet get by in Hindi, English and often a third local dialect.
>>Most Indians I meet get by in Hindi, English and often a third local dialect.>>
The phrase is generally used by people who don't really know "who are most of the Indian" :-). Please do not be offended. I take you were either a tourist in India or met Indians abroad who were either travelling or working there.
And whatever people you met in India go by "English" for the very reason in mentioned in OC and Hindi is like mother tongue for around half of India and also because of the way lives of Indians are intertwined but have different language they communicate either in English or Hindi. I am sure how many languages we Indians speak in various parts(states) of the country and it is spoken as in you speak German in Germany and Spanish in Spain and Portuguese in Portugal and I didn't even count dialects.
Proud to speak only one language? Is this the same kind of pride as looking down on people marrying someone from another country? The same kind of pride as never having eaten foreign food? These are not things to be proud of.