It strikes me (a little late in the game) that one of the scariest things I'm letting myself in for is that I will be functionally illiterate for a long time. I'm bad at a lot of stuff, but I've always considered myself gifted with... what's the term I want? Oh, words.I'm not too worried about oral communication; I'll just smile and shrug and play Cletus the slack-jawed yokel and maybe people will think I'm adorable. I already know about a dozen Korean words and can create such useful sentences as "Annyeounghaseyo, piyongyi" (Hello, cat) and "Yodaaiee kamja" (Girl potato). I admit that not knowing any verbs could be a drawback...
But it's the reading, stupid. I don't want to follow a sign I think is to the post office and end up in the women's room. It's been fifty years since I've been worried about my reading ability, and I'm not looking forward to it. 말을 하기!
1 comment:
I know how you feel. The first 23 months out of my two years in Japan taught me to not try to read - just guess. In my experience, tho, Asain people are really friendly and will go nuts trying to help a foreigner. Good luck!
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