18 TUESDAY

JULY 8, 2008 COMMUNITY

Expat living is a page dedicated

to the issues that affect expats'
daily lives. It is your page,
where you can share stories about
your life in Korea. Send story
ideas to Matthew Lamers
at mattlamers@heraldm.com

In focus: Film
photography
By David Smeaton

I bought a digital camera

and I love digital technology.
However I noticed that a lot of
people are still photographing
with film cameras. Is there any
reason why people still shoot
with film? Garam, Seoul.
I suppose film is to digital
like records are to CDs. Many
people just like the old ways.
As in all things, some people
will argue that film is better
than digital, or visa versa.
Neither film nor digital are
superior, because both have
their benefits and drawbacks.
However it’s easy to see why so
many people use digital nowa-
days, especially because of the
instant results and feedback
with each photo. Digital is in-
stant, highly editable (thanks
to Adobe Photoshop and simi-
lar programs), highly portable,
and best of all — free. Once
you’ve outlayed for a digital
camera, you can shoot as much
as you want and it costs almost
nothing.
The biggest benefit of film is
the quality. Digital may be use-
ful, and even quite high quali-
Film is becoming more expensive, but
despite digital’s popularity, film will never die.
ty, but the print quality of film
is still much higher. It’s true
that digital will overtake film
quality, when digital cameras
are around 32 megapixels, but
it’s still nice to look at the qual-
ity of a film photograph and
marvel at it’s detail. Some dig-
ital cameras are higher quality
already, but this is only in lim-
ited areas. Generally, film is
still superior in terms of reso-
lution quality.
Once digital is enlarged be-
yond its optimal size, the quali-
ty goes downhill fast. Film does-
n’t suffer the same side effects,
the print quality is only limited
by the size of the print paper.
Many experts argue that film
still has much better range and
tone than digital. But digital
photos can be edited much
more easily, and without expen-
sive, messy chemicals.
While software is improving
all the time, I don’t think digi-
tal handles noise particularly
well. Film has very low noise
film stock. One-hundred ASA
film is particularly good for
making images without any
noise or grain.
The ace up digital’s sleeve is
that all of these features (par-
camera until the roll is fin-
ished. The only remedy for this
is to carry more film bodies,
each loaded with different ASA
films.
Film has become the old
school approach to photogra-
phy. Anyone using an old
rangefinder or SLR is someone
who knows their way around
cameras. Many people are still
developing their own film too,
despite the increasing costs
and need for space to build a
darkroom. And although digital
is instant, there’s nothing more
exciting than getting a set of
prints back from the film store
and looking through your pho-
tos. It’s just as much of a thrill,
even though you don’t get the
chance to go back and re-shoot
the shots you messed up.
Film is becoming more ex-
pensive too, but despite digital’s
popularity, film will never die.
Ultimately, each will always
have a following. Personally, I
love photographing in film just
as much as I love my digital
camera. I use both cameras
regularly and love getting rolls
of film developed. I think, too,
that the old ways can be the
best ways. Since digital does
everything for you, photogra-
phers may become lazy or for-
getful of the importance of
manual focus or manual shoot-
ing. Shooting with a manual
camera is a good way to keep
your skills sharp.
Besides, there’s nothing
more satisfying than the solid
“click” that comes with a film
camera’s shutter.
Happy shooting.
Send David a message at
davidsmeaton@gmail.com or
visit his website
davidsmeaton.com. If you want
at
PHOTO CHALLENGE — Water —
Geoje-do, South Gyeongsang
Province, is one of the most scenic
destinations in the country, and
many visit this island for a holiday.
Simon Bond (369photography.co.uk)
Dedication needed to learn Korean
By Rob York
An expatriate can learn a de-
cent amount of Korean in only a
few years.
Those who have done so say
that all it takes is a bit of deter-
mination and a lot of love, be it
for Korea, Korean people or new
experiences.
First, consider the story of an
American named Bryan Smith,
30, who left his home in
Colorado to come to Korea late
last August. A speaker of not
only English but also Spanish
and German, Smith was moti-
vated to travel here by his love
of foreign cultures and lan-
guages.
“I decided to go live some-
where else; it didn’t really mat-
ter where, at that time,” said
Smith, who works as an English
teacher at the Avalon Institute
in Suwon. “Korea just seemed
like the easiest one to get to at
the time.”
Then, there’s Martin Sketchy,
also 30, who came to Korea from
his home in the United
Kingdom in November 2005.
Sketchy’s wife Mina is Korean,
and he said that he came, in
part, to learn about her home
country and to raise their son
abroad.
He eventually went to work at
the Wall Street Institute, teach-
ing English to corporate clients,
in order to prepare them for ex-
patriation to countries such as
the United Kingdom or United
States.
Neither man has taken a for-
mal Korean language class, but
neither one wasted any time in
getting started. In fact, once
Smith was sure he was coming
to Korea, he “immediately”
started studying through the in-
ternet while still in America.
Much of his studies are still
done online, but he also enjoys
Korean children’s books, which
he deciphers with a little help
from his electronic dictionary.
“That, as well as just trying to
talk to as many people as possi-
ble,” he said. This includes co-
workers, students and “people
that I just run into, people that
I just talk to and actually end up
being friends with.”
Sketchy began studying
Korean as soon as he arrived at
Incheon International Airport,
he said. He eventually mastered
the alphabet by reading road
signs.
“I noticed that the language
was totally different (from)
English, but that is what is in-
teresting about it,” he said.
Those with different ideas
about studying languages can
take comfort in this: The two ex-
patriates have attained their
Korean ability with widely dif-
fering study methods.
For example, Smith generally
spends at least one hour per day
studying, but may take as many
as three.
“One of the main things I do is
I write stories in Korean,” he
said. “I’ll go somewhere and try
to write a little bit.”
Exposure to Korean media
can also be helpful, but that
may depend on individual
tastes.
“I do watch some movies in
Korean,” Smith said, “(but) I’ve
never been a huge television
fan.”
Sketchy, on the other hand,
spends about five hours a week
watching Korean TV. He also
spends quite a bit of time mem-
orizing words and gets a lot of
practice just by listening to his
wife and son. Now, he describes
his speaking abilities as “upper
elementary,” but his listening
skills may actually be better
than that.
“I can now understand about
90 percent of what my wife and
family say,” he said.
The practice has paid off in
many ways for both men.
“Basically, if people speak
very slowly, I can hold simple
conversations,” Smith said.
“With the help of an electronic
dictionary, then I can hold more
complex conversations. On the
phone is much harder because
you don’t have those visual
cues.”
Smith feels comfortable with
most Korean grammar but still
endeavors to expand his vocabu-
lary.
“I can generally hold produc-
tive conversations with people,”
he said, but “I have still a lot to
learn.”
Sketchy also considers the vo-
cabulary of the Korean lan-
guage to be the hardest aspect
of his studies. English, for ex-
ample, has a large number of
cognates, or words that have
similar-sounding counterparts
in languages like German and
Spanish, for example.
Native speakers of English,
however, get little help of that
sort with Korean.
“You have to learn everything
from scratch,” Smith said.
“There’s also the vastly different
grammatical structure, the lack
of prepositional phrases.”
Sketchy, who studied French
while living in France, esti-
mates that it takes about five
times longer to memorize a
Korean word than a word from
a European language similar to
English.
“However, I find Korean easi-
er because I live in Korea, have
a Korean family and under-
stand the culture of this coun-
try,” he said.
In addition to his listening
skills, these days, Sketchy can
converse on familiar topics and
generally make himself under-
stood, he said.
The best advice that they
have for others studying the
language is to simply keep at it.
“It seems at first that you’re
making absolutely no progress,”
said Smith, who has, in the
past, taken as much as a month
off from studying. “Luckily, I got
back into it; I got unburnt-out,”
he said.
“If you have to take some time
off, then do it, but get back into
it.”
Because of his love for lan-
guages, Smith has thought of
pursuing an advanced degree in
linguistics. Even if he does not
choose that route, he finds plen-
ty of advantages to knowing the
language while here in Korea.
“I think it can be a lonely sit-
uation not being able to speak to
anyone,” he said. “To have that
basic human interaction ability
is really invaluable.
“Also, it’s almost impossible to
learn about the culture if you
can’t communicate with the peo-
ple.”
Sketchy recommends daily
study of at least 30 minutes and
as much speaking practice as
possible.
“You may make yourself look
silly in front of Koreans, but
they will probably correct your
Korean,” he said. “Do not think
too much about grammar when
speaking ... and concentrate on
conveying your message.
“It is difficult, but don’t try to
translate what you want to say
from English; try to think in
Korean.”
He also recommends seeking
to understand Korean culture
better by visiting museums or
reading up on the country’s his-
tory.
As a family man, Sketchy has
put his knowledge of the lan-
guage to use in attempting to
understand Korea, and believes
it has made him a better-in-
formed resident.
“For example, I was able to
watch a documentary about the
dangers of ordering food over
the internet, and eating and the
making of galbi,” he said. “It
was this information that
helped, as I can be more aware
and cautious of what could af-
fect my family in this country.”
At this point, Smith said that
he has built up a “vast” circle of
friends in Korea with abilities in
the English language that vary
greatly.
“I think that the alphabet is
very simple, and that’s definite-
ly a nice advantage, Smith said.
“There’s nothing that’s too
ridiculously complicated. It’s
certainly a lot simpler than
English.”
Sketchy agreed with this
sentiment, saying that the al-
phabet is simple to learn, but
the language itself is very dif-
ficult to master. This makes it
both rewarding and challeng-
ing to study, and Sketchy
hints that his learning process
may go on for some time to
come.
“When I return to the U.K.,
I will be able to speak to
Korean friends and under-
stand them better due to the
time and language that I am
still learning.
“It would be great if I could
get into translating or interpret-
ing in the U.K.,” he said, “but
that will require more study.”
(rjamesyork@heraldm.com)

to be a part of the weekly Photo

How does your Korean rank?
ticularly ISO/ASA) can be Challenge, join the “Seoul By Paul Kerry
changed on the fly. Film pho- Photo Club” group at flickr
tographers have to choose their (flickr.com/groups/seoulpho- Whether studying Korean on your
film stock and leave it in the toclub). — Ed. own, with a language partner or at
school, it can be difficult to know how
far you’ve come.
Since an increasing number of people
are studying Korean these days, more
of them are taking the Test of
Proficiency in Korean, the most univer-
sally recognized test for evaluating
Korean language skills.
In countries where Koreans have in-
vested heavily, there is high demand for
speakers of their language.
Expat Living on Facebook The fact that more Mongolians take
TOPIK than TOEIC is evidence that
Expat Living is finally on Facebook. Starting in July, check Korean business is globalizing.
out the Facebook group “Expat Living (Korea)” regularly for Applications will be accepted until
free restaurant and concert ticket giveaways. You have to be a July 15 to take the next TOPIK exam
member of the group to be eligible for the free stuff. — Ed. on Sept. 21.
The exam comes in two types. The
Podcast first tests everyday Korean skills ac-
cording to six levels. The other covers
“The International Hub of Podcasting” — SeoulPodcast, business Korean.
sponsored by Expat Living — Not your grandfather’s internet There are three levels of examination
radio show. See SeoulPodcast.com for the standard TOPIK test. Each lev-
el covers two grades, so the test evalu-
ates participants according to six
grades total. There is only one level for
business Korean.
Andrew Watson, a teacher in
Gyeonggi Province, studied in Australia
before coming here. He plans to take
the TOPIK test in September.
“I think that if I have some proof that
I can speak Korean it will be good when
I apply for jobs next year,” he said. “One
of the things I thought was that if I put
on my resume that I can speak Korean,
then they don’t really know what level I
am at.”
Watson thinks Korean language
skills are important both inside and
outside the classroom. “Inside the class-
room it’s useful for discipline, and I
don’t have to rely on my co-teacher as
much as I would otherwise,” he says.
“Outside of the classroom it just makes
my life easier. I think that says to the
school that if I have problems, I’m not
just going to leave. I’m not going to go
on a midnight run, because I’m not find-
ing it hard here.”
Park Ma-ri of Japan is a gyopo, or
ethnic Korean from a foreign country,
who also plans to take the test this year.
“I’ve been here studying for one year,
and I want to know what level I’m at,”
she said. “I’m taking TOPIK because
it’s the most well known exam.”
Park came to the country to look into
her Korean roots and learn the language.
“My parents don’t speak it that well, al-
though they can understand it, so I nev-
er learnt Korean from them,” she says. “I
would have liked to talk to my grandfa-
ther in Korean, but he died before I could
learn it. It’s something I regret.”
Park plans to return to Japan next
year, where she says she hopes to get a
job related to Korea.
Ayumi Sato, also of Japan, took the
test last April. She came here after the
Korean Wave sparked an interest in the
country.
“There are so many Korean people
that are famous in Japan, so I wanted
to find out what all the excitement was
about. I read about Korean stars, and
although it wasn’t directly connected to
famous Korean entertainers, I bought a
book and began studying Korean. Since
Korean and Japanese are very similar
languages, and there are lots of com-
mon words, and studying was fun, and
I became interested in studying the lan-
guage.”
So much so that she came to Korea to
study. “When I came here, I studied to
level four at a hagwon, and wanted to
know my level,” she says.
Like Park, Sato hopes to find Korea-
related work when she returns to
Japan.
“I’d like to, but where I live in Japan
— Hokkaido — there are not many
Korean companies. So if I do it, I will
probably have to move.”
TOPIK was previously known as the
Korean Proficiency test. Materials
bearing the KPT label are still available
in shops, despite the name change.
TOPIK is held twice a year, in April
and September. Visit www.topik.or.kr
for information and to apply for the
test.
(paulkerry@heraldm.com)