English lessons over the phone

2Jul/104

English lessons over the phone

This is an image of a random spam mail that arrived in my inbox today. I've heard of these phone-based programs -- cheaper than in-person lessons, and offering more one-on-one attention.

I love how a phone conversation in English with a real live 원어민 (wonŏmin, "native speaker") is considered 체험 (ch'e-hŏm, firsthand experience) worth paying for.

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Tags: English, Korea/Diaspora, spam

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Yongho Kim
July 31st, 2010 - 20:10

and of course won-o-min is code word for white people

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- dotorious
  August 1st, 2010 - 00:20
  
  of course. it’s funny, actually, the similarity (and vast difference) between 원어민 and 원주민.
  
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Bonnie
August 3rd, 2010 - 18:51

I always though that the similarities between 원어민 and 원주민 were funny too. It’s startling being in Korea for a while (as a white person) and having people refer to you (to your face) as a 원어민. That becomes your status (even though I’m doing research here and not teaching at all). It was even more startling when I was on the bus up to Seoul and found myself sitting next to another whitie, who remarked, “I’ve never sat next to another native speaker on the bus in Korea before!” How odd…

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- dotorious
  August 9th, 2010 - 00:58
  
  Very funny! And how surreal that must have been. I wonder if the dude would go back to wherever he came from, and mutter in shock, “wow, so many native speakers!” Great stuff for a cartoon strip, actually.
  
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