Hello! My name is Tae young, a student at Sejong Global High School in Korea. I am honored to participate in the cooperation program with my German buddy.
My hometown is Incheon, a representative port city in Korea where many advanced cultures were introduced for the first time. Additionally, Incheon is home to a major international airport, Incheon International Airport, so if you ever come to Korea, you'll be able to visit the city of Incheon.
I am interested in language and literature. I want to analyze the language use after the reunification of your country and predict the language use after the reunification of my country Korea, which is currently divided. I am curious about how German people are overcoming the linguistic differences that have formed during the 40 years of division. I also enjoy reading works by German writers such as Goethe and Hermann Hesse, and I am curious about the culture of reading in your country.
Hiii taeyoung!! I’m Renata from Mexico, the German language is very interesting, at my school we study it and for me it is complicated but is cool, what part of German literature interests you the most?
ReplyDeleteHelloo Renata :) here is Joelle from Germany. Wow learning German is a challenge! Why do you to study it?
DeleteI'm very interested in literature as well :) is there a Mexican author you can recommend me?
And what kind of books are you interested in? Maybe I can recommend you a good read as well.
Greetings!
Hiiii I study German becose is my school third lenguaje, yeah I can recommend you some authors what kind of things do you like? Hmm I reas romantic books hahah but you can recommend me whatever you want I’m open to read everything
DeleteHello again :) oh wow, this is a tough third language! But you can do it for sure :))
DeleteOh I like all kinds of books, also romance and fantasy, or sci-fi, or books that make you think about life and the world haha so basically everything. What are your favourite books at the moment? A very interesting book that I just finished is "When breath becomes air" - it is an American book, about a neurosurgeon who tries to find out what makes life meaningful. Very interesting perspective :) a German book that made me think a lot is "Demian" by Hermann Hesse. It is a bit complicated tho, but I recommend! An easier read that is a lot of fun is "Die Physiker" by Dürrenmatt. Crazy book! Actually it is a screenplay, fast to read and so weird haha! In the fantasy genre I'm more into Chinese books at the moment, highly recommend "Iron Widow" - it has absolutely everything: romance, cultivation magic, sci-fi, strong female characters.... It's fantastic! Would be happy to read whatever you can recommend me :) greetings!!
Hiiiiiii thanks for the recommendation I will search some Mexican authors for you this weekend that have an English version , in so exited to read your recommendations , do you have some Korean books that have English translation?
DeleteHello Tae Young :) you have a very interesting research area! I think there is a lot you can learn about the development of a country if you look into the changes of their languages.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Joelle and I'm a geography doctorate student from Germany. Hopefully I can answer a part of your question.
The division of Germany did have an influence on language, especially on vocabulary (not really on grammar tho). For one, the differing governments coined new words related to policies and measures in both countries. In the DDR, there were a lot of new terms around the term "worker" and "(political) party", such as "hero of work", while in BRD there were other terms, for example around "parliament". Because of course everything that was happening in the two countries needed to have a name, and there were very different things going on. Especially in the DDR, the regime propagated a specific vocabulary that should be used, that put the politics in a good light.
Secondly, the people made up new terms. There was a difference between official language and the private vocabulary of people. Sometimes they made up mocking new words for things that the politics named differently.
After the unification, if there were two words for the same thing, mostly the BRD terms overwrote the DDR synonyms. Very rarely it was the other way round. And then of course a lot of things (like products or policies) stopped existing, so also the terms for them are history now. Some terms remain in the local dialect. Luckily, since the grammar didn't change, the unification of the language was not too much of a challenge. Although there would be people making fun of the ways people talked differently.. That being said, I think unifying the mindsets was the biggest challenge to overcome. The division is still in the heads of people of my parents' generation, but the youth is mostly over it I feel :) Do you have the same impression from what you have read?
Are there already studies about differing language developments in North and South Korea? Which predictions do you personally have for the future?
Many greetings,
Joelle