Question for Korean pool/carom players

nataddrho

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Is South Korea mostly monolingual or are they reasonably fluent in English? Asking for justification in including a language selection feature in an app I made.

Thanks in advance
 
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Ģüśţāṿ

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Anybody under the age of 35 generally knows English and can communicate decently well. Whether or not they are willing to speak is a different story.

The older population usually knows a few words but will only speak their native tongue.

I recommend simply downloading Google Translate and the Korean add on language pack. It works well enough to get by.

Have fun! It's such a great country to roam around in. You find Carom tables at every pool hall, some only play 3C.
 

nataddrho

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Anybody under the age of 35 generally knows English and can communicate decently well. Whether or not they are willing to speak is a different story.

The older population usually knows a few words but will only speak their native tongue.

I recommend simply downloading Google Translate and the Korean add on language pack. It works well enough to get by.

Have fun! It's such a great country to roam around in. You find Carom tables at every pool hall, some only play 3C.
I realized that my question wasn't clear enough, but your answer is similarly valid. I edited it.

"Asking for justification in including a language selection feature in an app I made."
 

Ģüśţāṿ

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I realized that my question wasn't clear enough, but your answer is similarly valid. I edited it.

"Asking for justification in including a language selection feature in an app I made."
Whoops, I guess I just glossed over the question a bit, my bad.

Regardless, if you haven't gone, I definitely recommend checking South Korea out. It's a beautiful country, great food, great people, and an excellent pool scene.
 

Flakeandrun

Well-known member
Is South Korea mostly monolingual or are they reasonably fluent in English? Asking for justification in including a language selection feature in an app I made.

Thanks in advance
I find most Koreans read English better than they speak, and I would argue they read English a lot more fluently than most of Asia (due to their alphabet based system for writing, and aggressive/competitive educational system). Speaking, on the other hand, is a hard one to gauge... like much of Asia 'face' comes into play. You might not see someone's 'speed' (funny to use that term here), as sometimes they are embarrassed or don't want to embarrass themselves. Even when they are capable... they might also go the opposite direction and use stock phrases, or nod along to everything, making you think they understand.

As another person said, most under 30s will have been drilled in a Hagwon and understand basics, some will understand English at a more complex level. I would say definitely cater to the language rather than expect them to be comfortable or confident with English... unless it is simple/basic instruction/feedback.
 
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