I went to a cafe early in the morning to buy a bagel and saw a strange sight. There was no Korean character on the menu. Even though it is a cafe that targets young people who want to buy bagels, I thought that,
'Who the hell did you write it for? Where am I now?'
In Korea, English is used a lot to look plausible or to decorate, but this was a bit disappointing. It sucks. The purpose of the menu is to convey information. But if everything is written in English like that, can it be said that it was faithful to its original purpose? If you really want to look like a foreign cafe, why not write everything in English? And how about all the staff speak English?
Of course, in the US, words like 'Häagen-Dazs' were also used to look like European products. Isn't it fun? To make it look plausible, other languages are used instead of English in the United States, and English is used instead of Korean in Korea. Both are ridiculous. Just because other people do it doesn't mean it's right.
Moreover, English is used in Korea because the United States is a superpower and English is the de facto standard language of the world. It's not because of English itself. If China or France were superpowers, the language we use for decoration would be different from what we have now. Koreans are particularly obsessed with world standards and try to follow them. Perhaps because Koreans have long been underdeveloped and even colonized by Japan. Someone says it's because Koreans have low self-esteem. Whatever the reason, I don't think it's a good thing.
It is true that it is good to embrace other languages because of the outstanding characteristics of the Korean language. But I hope that many people do not abuse other languages beyond their intended purpose.
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한글날을 맞아 현실이 안타까워서 한 번 모두 다 영어로 써봤다. 영어를 과도하게 쓸 거면 이렇게 모두 다 영어로 써서 마치 여기가 외국인 것처럼, 그리고 영어를 사용하지 않는 사람은 이용이 어렵도록 하자. 어설프게 있어 보인다고 과도하게 외국어를 사용하는 건 볼썽사납다.
