I am a native Korean and speak both Korean and English. Since I have reached a certain level of proficiency, Koreans around me have started to perceive and treat me somewhat strangely.
I went business trip to a different country. My coworkers and I had dinner with our clients. Since my coworkers weren’t fluent in English, I was the go-to for translating between both parties and trying to keep things cheerful. Everything seemed fine until one client got carried away and started making rude comments. She pointed at me and said, ‘You look 42. You look old,’ and told my oldest senior that he was too late to have his daughter at the age of 32 (He is now in his late 40s). I tried to diffuse the situation by joking, ‘Nah, I look mature. Not old, haha,’ and by explaining that having a child in 30s is normal in Korea. It seemed to clean the air.
To my surprise, after dinner, the oldest member of our business trip team berated me. He blamed me for the way I spoke English, saying I was too active and spoke English ‘like an American.’
That night, I couldn’t sleep. I thought about it over and over but couldn’t find anything wrong with my actions. I recalled my old memory of being kicked out of an English learning meetup. One of the reasons for my ban was speaking English while using hand gestures typically associated with foreigners, which made Korean members in their 40s-50s uncomfortable.
What is wrong with them? What do they expect? If they feel that uncomfortable, why are Koreans still obsessed with speaking English like a native English speaker?
submitted by /u/KoreanGrammarDoctor
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