Author Archives: authorbengarrido
Ghost Hunting
This article originally appeared, in an altered form, in the Reno News and Review. This is a story about ghosts. According to the Most Holy Book of Cultural Cliché, I’m supposed to either tell you about how the ghost hunters are a bunch of superstitious charlatans or passionately defend the paranormal possibilities of the universe. […]
An Open Letter to Sinead O’Connor
Dear Sinead, First of all, I would like you to know I think the attacks Miley Cyrus launched at you were unfair. I don’t know if I’d be as open as you are about potentially embarrassing psychological problems but, honestly, it’s probably a good thing you aren’t ashamed – I’m sure you are an inspiration […]
We the Translation, Habitually Done.
As many of you know, East Asia is a wonderful source for colorful mistranslation. If you are unfamiliar with the specifics, engrish.com will surely avail you of all you need to know. However, lest you think the language barrier only works one way, lest you think all your base are belong to us, I submit […]
Woopsies I’ve Made Trying to Speak Korean
Bad subtitles in Kung Fu movies have made the woopsies of Asians speaking English well known. However, what many westerners do not know is that the Placenta and Teeny Weeny stuff goes in both directions. Stuff I’ve said while trying to speak Korean: In conversation with an older woman. “I speak politely to you because […]
Adventures in Linguistics
Korean (한국어) differs from English in every way you can imagine. It also differs in some ways you cannot imagine. Because of this both Koreans and native speakers of English often end up with creative grammar, weirdness galore and unintentional humor when they stray from their mother tongues. The Korean-speaking-English weirdness manifests in what I […]
Fun Facts on Teaching English in South Korea
Hi everyone, Here are a few fun facts if you are interested in teaching English in South Korea: Most programs for foreigners teaching in Korea require nothing more than a four year degree. There are also comparable programs in Japan and China. Typical pay for a teacher in Korea is around 2,000,000 won per month […]
Return to the United States
A little more than a year ago I left behind my family, my friends and my job in Reno. I did this because Chungdahm April Language Academy offered me work teaching English in Korea. Here’s what happened. Return to the United States “그레하운드 장류정에 가야 해요.” I was standing at the airport in San Francisco […]
People and Fun and Funny People
I lived in Daegu for my year of teaching. I started out knowing exactly zero people and finished the year with more friends than I could make time to hang out with, which brings me to another observation on Korea. If you can’t make friends there you either stink to high hell, look like a […]
Things to Fear and Things to Ignore, Korean-style
A good rule of thumb for Korea is to assume that half of what you see will be very familiar and half will look like something invented by Martians. You can find multitudes of Martian-like behaviors by examining the things Koreans fear and the things they couldn’t care less about. Koreans do not like infectious […]
Ben Garrido Becomes Benjamin Teacher
Before I went to Korea I knew I had liked children. I found them entertaining, interesting and I could remember my own childhood when I spent time with munchkins. Then I became a teacher and discovered that I not only like children, I love the little monsters. It took less than a week before I […]
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