[Mist]

Belated congrats, Jordan. I've actually been looking into doing that for a few years now, so I'm really interested in all this. It's interesting to hear your stories. Keep us posted, Jordan.

[srmoore]

A friend of mine was in Japan for a year a few years ago, and said he met many people doing this there.. although teaching english to Japanese people. The actually liked if you didn't speak japanese.. weird.

I've thought about it, but don't think I'm gonna do it anytime soon.

[Just your average movie goer]

I think Korea's probably a nicer country to live in. Well, Seoul is a hell of a lot nicer than Tokyo. Although I had a much better job in Japan - it was quite a comfortable job. I never felt stressed out there.

However, I can't judge a whole country based on Tokyo. Other parts are actually quite nice.

Also, I think it's easier to live in Japan without Japanese friends than it is to live in Korea without Korean friends. I wonder how I would cope here in Korea if I didn't have my girlfriend to help me.

As for learning the languages, speaking Japanese is (in hindsight) pretty easy actually while reading and writing it is almost impossible (it has probably THE most complicated, difficult, impractical writing system in the world).

And while reading and writing Korean is easy, speaking it is VERY difficult.

All said though, I'd live in Korea over Japan anyday. There's so much more to do here - and I love hiking in the mountains. Although having a Korean girlfriend might make me a little biased.

But I would like to say to all of you that working in a foreign country is a rewarding experience. You'll learn a lot and you'll mature as a person. It's not for everyone but it certainly can be an enriching experience for those who try it.

[jyd]

i know a guy who recently visited hong kong (i know thats not korea or japan) and he said it was exactly like new york, minus litter and grafitti

[Just your average movie goer]

Hong Kong is one of the busiest international ports in the world so it's going to be a lot more international than a lot of other Asian cities. This may account for some of the similarities your friend experienced.

I'd like to go there one day though - it looks like a pretty exciting city as far as cities go.

[Ninja Duck]

As for learning the languages, speaking Japanese is (in hindsight) pretty easy actually while reading and writing it is almost impossible (it has probably THE most complicated, difficult, impractical writing system in the world).

And while reading and writing Korean is easy, speaking it is VERY difficult.

I don't get it. You said the Korean script is phonetic, right? Whereas every kanji has about two totally different pronunciations, or something.

[Heccubus]

I'd really like to go live in Tokyo or something for a year. Just to take in the far-out Japanese culture and smoke musical cigarettes.

[srmoore]

I'd really like to go live in Tokyo or something for a year. Just to take in the far-out Japanese culture and smoke musical cigarettes.

Someone has been watching Mission Hill lately.

[Just your average movie goer]

I don't get it. You said the Korean script is phonetic, right? Whereas every kanji has about two totally different pronunciations, or something.

Yeah, that's right. But getting started in speaking Japanese is a lot easier than Korean. With Korean, I can read everything I see. But I don't understand most of it. With Japanese, I couldn't read anything just about (because they used Kanji for 99% of their writing) but learning to speak the language was a lot simpler.

Japanese has lots of hard sounds and short syllables - this makes it easier for an English speaker to speak it. Korean has a lot of vowels which can be a mouthful and all words have difficult suffixes you must add when used in sentences. In addition to this, Korean words are generally VERY long - so even the most simple phrase is far longer than you would have thought.

[Ninja Duck]

I see. So "reading and writing" has nothing to do with "understanding".

[Ninja Duck]

I think that's how a lot of Americans experience English.

[Just your average movie goer]

I see. So "reading and writing" has nothing to do with "understanding".

Nothing whatsoever. However, occasionally, you'll see English words written in both Japanese and Korean. Japanese does have two phonetic scripts, one specifically for words of foreign origin but they hardly ever use them.

Anyway, reading English words in both Japanese and Korean is hilarious. Japanese - because it bastardises the words so horribly. The Japanese phonetic script doesn't allow for the writing of single consonants. Instead of having a symbol for 'a' and a symbol for 'k', you get a symbol for 'a' and a symbol for 'ka'.

The most famous example is probably what happens to MacDonalds....

Ma-ku-ra-do-na-ra-do

Fantastic!

In Korean however, the entertainment is derived from seeing how they use letters that don't equate to the English sounds, when they have another perfectly good letter that would.

The most common offence is that they use their symbol for the 's' sound a lot when they are representing the English 't'. The problem is, that Korean already has a symbol for the 't' sound. It does make for some interesting reading.

I can read some german, pronounce it in my head. But at the same time cannot understand it.

I can write some french, but not really grasp why some words are used in a particular order.

I think that's how a lot of Americans experience English.

Love it. Actually, I went to high school with a lot of people who experienced English that way. It is a problem when a language is so difficult that large numbers of its native speakers can't use it properly.

I really wish they'd simplify English, seeing how it is fast become the global language and most of its users speak it as a second, third, fourth or fifth language.

I'd like to see phonetic spelling, the removal of redundant words and a simple, universal method of changing present tense words to the past tense.

Korean and Japanese do the latter - and it sure makes life easier.

(That said, I wish both languages would drop their formal suffixes and complicated politeness levels.)

[Just your average movie goer]

Incidentally, how are you going, Jordan? Did you take the plunge? Are you over here in Korea right now? Haven't heard anything on this for a while.