The Competitive Power of English (13)

Problems of English Travel Information

Some of the places in Korea where English is most frequently heard are in aircraft and subways. Though considerable improvement has recently been made, it is said, English used in traffic information still falls behind the standards of native speakers. Furthermore, practically no English information is given on buses. Foreigners visiting Korea meet hard to understand English first in the aircraft. "I could comprehend about half of the captain's flight announcements," said Kurt Swaihart who arrived at Kimpo International Airport Wednesday afternoon aboard a Korean national flag carrier. "The voice was low and the captain's pronouncements unclear."

American English teacher Justin Lopglobe, who has taught in Korea for two years, pointed out, "Korean stewardesses, despite their kind expressions, use uniform words and phrases, as if memorized, and their sentences are limited to simple ones." "I could get no help because I could not understand such important information as temperature at the destination and the local time," complained a Mr. Pitsmyer, deputy dean of Claremont Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, upon arrival at Kimpo Airport. Professor Kim Shin-hyang who accompanied Pitzmyer, has lived in the United States for over two decades and commented, "Korean captains, in making flight announcements, seem to be reading a manuscript mechanically, instead of talking to passengers in a kind tone. Even if their pronunciations are poor, they could convey necessary information if they made statements clearly and slowly. But many times they blur statements in a quick tempo."

British Council director Michael Bonfield, 43, having had a few stints in Seoul, is familiar with the streets and rides subways when he goes around, which, he describes, as "clean, safe and cheap." "Returning to Seoul after five years last year, I noticed a considerable improvement in English traffic information and maps. But English information broadcast on trains is hard to comprehend." British subways attach substantial importance to "safety guideline broadcasts." "Mind the gap, please" are repeated in clear voice, he says.

Traffic information broadcasts in Seoul subways cover only the arriving station and lines to transfer. Safety announcements are missing. "English information announcements are too low to hear when trains are crowded and pronunciation is unclear. Consequently, I often miss the stations I'm supposed to get off. The announcements should cover which side of the doors is open," Bonfield added.

Another inconvenience is found in the absence of English information at automatic ticket machines. Paul Cover, a student at Yonsei University's Graduate School of International Studies, can read and write simple Korean, but finds lots of difficulties in using subways. Not sufficient information is given in English information announcements, he notes. The announcements, for example, say: "This is City Hall, You can transfer to No. 1 line." It doesn't say which side the doors is open, which is covered in the Korean version. He also cites the absence of English announcements in the event of emergency like train breakdown or operation suspension. Once he was going to Uijongbu in the northern suburbs of Seoul on Seoul subway No. 1 line. When the trains reached Songbuk Station on the way, all other passengers got off the trains. The trains he was on headed to the train base.

It is somewhat odd to note that the contents of English broadcast differ slightly between subway lines No. 1 through 4, covered by the Seoul Subway Corp. and lines 5 through 8, administered by the Metropolitan Subway Corp. The former identifies the color as well as the number of each line. For instance, it says, "You can transfer to the blue line, line number so and so." But the latter gives the number of lines only, no color. It's a big problem that almost no English information is provided on buses. Many assert that this is difficult to realize when even Korean information on buses is insufficient. To be solved here is not technology, but only the expense.