You're studying what language ?

[Pink Glitter]

When most people choose a to learn a new language they select something like french or Spanish. There is never any doubt why someone would choose to study those languages. However when you tell someone that you are learning Korean ,  they ask you why , or  maybe the stare at you strangely . People seem to have a hard time understanding why anyone would take up a language only spoken in one country. How do people react when the find out you are learning Korean ? What reactions have you received?

[canoe]

That reaction of bewilderment when revealing that you are learning Korean is probably due to a combination of things, not least of which include the fact that Korea still does not have a very big presence in the global stage so many people do not see a utilitarian reason to learn Korean. Nevertheless, Korea's economy is continuing to grow in magnanimous steps and Korea at least has a couple brands that are widely and globally recognizable such as Samsung or Hyundai. Unless there ends up being a much more economical reason to learn Korean like there is with Chinese, I don't see Korean ending up being a very popular language to learn.

[Meera]

Hi Pink Glitter and Canoe, I get this reaction all the time when I say I am learning Hindi. People stare at me weird and ask me, "Why would you want to learn that?" People even go as far to say, "Why don't you put your time in Chinese/Spanish? It would be much more useful." I also get racist comments for why I shouldn't learn it and I also get told how ugly the language sounds every day and also the most famous "but they all speak English." If you aren't doing a language like Spanish or French people really don't understand.

[xxxxxx]

My family and friends already knew that I am studying and learning Korean language and like what I had said in my previous post in this forum I should seriously need to study hard because it is for my own sake since I am married to a Korean and for my stay in their country. They are not surprised anymore but most of their reaction and queries to me are:  Are you having a hard time learning the language?..Oh! Hangeul is not that easy and good luck on your studies.. These are only of the few words of encouragement I had received from them and it makes me feel to study more.. Well, I hope in a matter of time I will be fluent with the language already..

[rgaz83]

People are silly. If you wanted to learn Hawaiian (and don't live in Hawaii), Mongolian or Danish, what does it matter? When I find out someone speaks or is studying another language, I do ask them out of curiosity why they chose that one. But it's the same question whether it's a more popular language or something more obscure. When they answer, I reply with something like "Oh, cool." What I don't do is try to argue that they're learning the "wrong" language.

[pandandesign]

I'm currently learning French, which is the most difficult languages I have learned comparing to English and Chinese. I have troubled pronouncing a lot of words, which I forget most of them. There aren't many French in the city where I live, however, I think the majority is that many people tend to learn Spanish rather than French because Spanish is so much useful than French in the United States.

[OddVisions]

Well, nobody seems to mind when I tell them I'm learning Korean. I've always been a lover of foreign languages and I want to be fluent in as many of them as possible. The people who ask are generally the people who already know this about me because they already know I'm always trying to learn some language or other. For those who don't know me, I live in a place where many Asians live so I don't get weird looks, just asked why I'm not learning Chinese instead.

[aamori]

Down here in the Southern States there is a lot of stigma around learning ANY foreign language, but when I told my parents that I wanted to learn Korean they just kinda started at me in disbelief.  They don't see the need for me to learn an Asian language when I will probably never even meet a native Korean in my lifetime.

I want to learn because I love Korean entertainment and it would make it a lot easier for me!

[Cookiesandcream]

The only people I've told that i'm learning Korean to are my Korean friends so everybody seems to be really excited. They've all been so encouraging. I've been teaching English and correcting their grammar for years now (we all went to the same boarding school) so now that they're fluent in English, I'm trying to learn their language for a change. The pronunciation seems to be the hardest part in learning Korean for me.

[kimseokjin]

When I tell people I'm studying Korean they automatically assume I'm one of those who is doing it because of K-pop or something. 

And I am. 

I'm not ashamed of it, however. At least I'll be able to understand what I'm consuming daily with having to look for English subs. And like I've said in a previous thread, any language skill is an asset and it makes you a better candidate for a job than the next person. I don't know, I've never cared what others thought about me learning Korean. I'm kind of just here doing it for myself ya feel?