Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
WNBA center Sasha Goodlett currently plays for South Korea’s Woori Bank Hansae. “Adjusting to the culture and the language barrier was challenging,” says the 24-year-old basketball star. “It’s hard trying to understand someone when they don’t know English and you don’t know Korean. But, I am learning Korean! So, hopefully by the end of the year I will be relatively fluent in it.”
If you’re bullying someone for whatever reason and you get punched in the process, well, too bad for you. Maybe you should stop harassing other children and learn not to be a little jerk.
The worst book review I’ve ever read. Maureen Corrigan’s take on a Korean novel reeked of enthocentric entitlement.
“Doggy Poo” is based on Kwon Jung-saeng’s 1968 children’s book of the same name. During that time period, South Korea was still in the process of recovering from the Korean War. It was still decades away from becoming the high-tech, wealthy country it is today. And I can’t help but wonder if the book wasn’t an allegory for how its citizens must sacrifice themselves (brutal work conditions, relentless hours spent studying at school) for the greater good of the country.
I was embarrassed, and I wanted to tell her that I have spent almost all of my life in the United States, and that I have been fighting an uphill battle to retain my Korean language skills. That I was encouraged by my parents and teachers to speak only English, so that I could assimilate better. But that once I became fluent in English, my Korean all but disappeared.
Let me start this post by saying that I’m pleased that non Koreans like K-pop. When I was growing up in Chicago, few people knew that Korea even existed as a country. None of my American friends were interested in Korean music and they certainly didn’t idolize any Korean stars.
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My toddler likes this K-pop boy band called Boyfriend. He insists on watching the video for the group’s signature song, “Boyfriend,” at least a zillion times a day and is getting pretty good at imitating the dance moves.
“Some people are surprised that I speak English and assume that I must be a foreigner,” says Gbenga Akinnagbe, 32, a Brooklyn resident. “When I was younger, my mother wanted me to change it because she worried that I wouldn’t be able to find employment. There was a time I wanted to change my name and I was ashamed of it and I’d have people call me DJ. But I do love it now.”
