By: JM
Having lived in Busan from 2008 – 2010, my Korean used to be at an intermediate level (B1). I felt like learning the language was a way to connect more with the culture and the people and, as such, took a number of language classes at a local university. Looking back, learning Korean was certainly an attempt to invite myself into the inner circle. And yea, was I ever unsuccessful. Nationalism game strong there!
When I moved back to Toronto, I’d often go for Korean food and would usually order in Korean with the servers. Eventually, this happened less and less. Something just felt off—like there was a vibe and I didn’t want to be ‘that’ person. You know, like the “Yea, I love Bar/θ/elona” type. I asked a Korean co-worker for his thoughts on the situation, like if he thought it was weird for a non-Korean person to be speaking Korean at a Korean restaurant. He agreed at first and said there definitely is some judgement happening, but later hedged to land on a criterion of efficiency. He said if the server addresses you in English and you switch to Korean, that’s a bit weird. He added that it shouldn’t be done if the speaker’s Korean proficiency is such that it will take more time than necessary to complete the order. That makes sense to me, I get it, people need to turn tables. But this had me thinking whether other people had felt a reluctance to speak a language outside of its nation-state context. And with that, two questions: (1) what, if any, are the ethical components involved in using an additional language? And (2) if any exist, are the ethical standards or expectations asymmetrical across various contexts (e.g. (settler)colonialism, imperialism)? The following is an example (much different from mine!) which I think is a useful point of departure.
Continue reading “The Ethics of Language Learning and Language Use (1 of 3)”