"Konglished" Again

Am I brown-headed or a brunette? Sometimes it's hard to remember.



The waiter was finally ready to take my order. I wanted "low hot" Panang Curry.

My boyfriend had to tell the waiter that I meant mild.

I'm the one that normally translated Konglish into English, not the one that needed a translator!

How had my English slipped so much that I couldn't even remember "mild"? I barely even spoke any Korean. (Shameful, yes indeed.)

Many English teachers in South Korea, and I'm guessing across the globe, have a funny way of coming home with a slightly lower level of English. It becomes easy to summarize and simplify your vocabulary after talking with novice-level English speakers for months. I must fight the urge to speak in Konglish!

Has anyone else found themselves speaking in Konglish (or another combination of languages) after returning home from another country?

Loosing my Konglish Skills

After living in South Korea foreigners pick up the lovely language that is Konglish, a mixture of Englishee and Hangul.

Foreigners don't speak as fluently as the locals trying to learn English, but pieces of it are added into our daily conversation, spicing it up and allowing us to express things that can only be understood by others who have also lived in Korea.

Here are some Konglish examples:

I want to make a boyfriend= I'd like to get a boyfriend
Fighting= Be strong, you can do it! or Go Get Em!
Churchee= church. You can basically add on an "ee" at the end of any word and it turns into Konglish.

Here are some examples of Konglish hard at work in the music industry:



After coming back to America last summer I found myself inserting my meager Konglish/Hangul language skills into everyday conversation like we did in Korea. But, no one understood me. I had to slightly change the way I had been talking for almost two years. Doesn't "chack a man eyo" sound more commanding then "wait a minute!?"

It was a sad realization.