Korean language – Educational Sociolinguistics

Like Newfoundland English and Quebec French, there is “Yanbian Korean”

XIN

When talking about the variation of Korean language, people always firstly come up with the significant difference between North Korean language and South Korean language. For example, to me, the Korean language people speak in Pyongyang, North Korea sounds stiffer and more formal while the Korean language people use in Seoul, South Korea sounds milder, softer and more westernized. If you check the news broadcasting from North Korea and South Korea online, I bet you will be impressed by their huge difference. This is due to the fact that different vocabularies, expressions and tones have emerged and developed in different parts of the Korean Peninsula since it was divided at the 38th parallel in 1950 when Korean War began. But do you know that there’re other regions in the world where Korean community people speak Korean language that is neither the “standard Pyongyang Korean” nor the “standard Seoul Korean”?

What will happen to Korean language when the two Koreas are reunified?

by Yerim Lee

Language has its own power. The power of language can be a tool to rule other countries because language can shape how people think and express things. For example, when Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945, Korean people learned Japanese at school and they were forced to use only Japanese. It’s because Japanese people wanted to rule not only the territory of Korea but also the mind and soul of Korean people. In these days, however, language is not used as a way of ruling other countries, but it is used to have more power in terms of economic, politic, or social aspects. Related to this power of language, one question has arisen in my mind. What will happen to Korean language when the two Koreas are reunified?

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Language Gap in Korean Language

Yu-Ting, Liu

In 2014, I made the decision to study abroad in Seoul to enrich my life and academic experiences. I was fresh from two memorable semesters studying abroad in South Korea, and I had found that my English speaking improved a lot after the student exchange program. I was very lucky to have had a chance to experience a new culture and meet people from all over the world. However, there are some observations about Korean language that I would like to share.

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