There is a Canadian guy names Joe Roelle. He works for UNICEF in Vietnam (yes, Vietnam), and his Vietnamese is absolutely phenomenal. Living in Hanoi, Vietnam for roughly 10 years, he’s become a very popular blogger with his (of course) Vietnamese blog. His two published books, one of which just came out this February, are two top-sellers in the Vietnamese market. Having a chance to enjoy his new book, I was put to awe. Knowing too well of how difficult Vietnamese can be to Westerners, I can say that Joe has archived something extraordinary.
Learning another language is usually challenging. Someone who has been interacting with English since forever like me still has his incompetencies, and that makes me believe that it takes a life-time of effort to master a second language. Now I am trying to get to Korean, it gets even tougher. Will I ever become tri-lingual?
Let me tell you a secret about that Joe Roelle guy: he started learning Vietnamese when he was 25! Twenty-five years old! It means one thing: You don’t need to be a child to learn another language. If we are committed enough, we can be as good as Joe in any language. True enough that I am not living in Seoul for the next ten years (which would really make a difference!), I can still try it on my own. And guess what, 10 years from now, I may speak Korean fluently with a unique accent. : )
Oh, and he has a website. Try him!
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The Ineffectiveness of English
cool, would you enjoy being a celebrity in Korea? Why Korean anyway?
ReplyDeleteBecause I have many good friends over there. : D
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