What foreigners misunderstand
about people in our country
아, 덥다. 정말 덥다. 그래서 에어컨을 하루 종일 켜고 있으니 그건 또 머리가 띵~ 아무래도 옛날 식으로 찬 물 바가지로 휙휙 쏟아부으며 더운 채로 그냥 있는 게 나을 수도 있는데 그냥 오늘은 에어컨을 하루 종일 켜고 있다. 이 무더위에 잘 견뎌내기만 하면 되는 거야. 24시간 함께 있는 남편과 그렇게 서로를 격려하며 그는 책을 읽고 나는 브런치를 요리하고 있는데 아, 이런저런 그냥 별 일 아닌 것들로 세상에 반나절이 후딱 지나가 버린다. 별로 한 것도 없이. 무언가 책을 한 권 다 읽는다든가 많은 글을 쓴다든가 그러면 꽤 괜찮은 하루를 보낸 것 같은데 그냥 별 거 아닌 것들로 이렇게 휙 시간이 지나가 버리면 마음이 좀 씁쓸하다. 그리고 날씨는 정말 덥다. 밖을 보니 아주 쨍쨍 땡볕이다. 늦었지만 영어공부를 하자. 공부를 하면 마치 학창 시절로 돌아간 것 같다. 그래서 기분이 좋다. 하하
Today’s Topic
What are some of the biggest cultural differences that exist between Americans and the people in your country? What are some things that foreigners misunderstand about people in your country?
I think the biggest cultural differences that exist between Americans and the people in my country are as follows.
First, we don't smile to a person whom we just met for the first time not because we are angry, but because not smiling to strangers is our culture. "Do not talk to strangers, and do not answer strangers, " were the reminders of our parents when we were very young. Parents are worried about their kids being kidnapped by strangers.
Second, we usually ask about someone's age because we have to know if the new person is a someone whom we have to use polite words with or not. In our language, we have different words for the elderly, so we have to know it. And we think if the stranger could be a friend or not with the age.
Age means a lot to us because we can have many similar memorable experiences with a person who is the same age as we are, who is in the same generation as we are, so we ask someone's age whenever we meet a new person. It might be very strange to foreigners, but it's our culture to know the age first, because of the above reasons.
Thank you for completing Step 4. We appreciate your effort in writing something down. You were able to make an interesting piece of writing. Your writing gives a good insight into Korean culture. We were entertained while reading it. We can see that you try to practice your English as much as you can. Good job!
Just take note that when and, but, and so (coordinating conjunctions) are at the middle of the sentence, we usually add the comma BEFORE it. As for because, we do not add a comma before it since it is a different type of conjunction (subordinating conjunction). To remember easily, we don't add a comma before because as a general rule.
Keep practicing your English to enrich your vocabulary further. We would love to hear more of your stories and opinion. Good day! :)
오호 because 앞에는 콤마를 쓰지 않는구나. and, but, so 앞에는 콤마를 쓰고.
그래. 오늘은 그것만 기억하자. 파이팅!!!
