▲ Foreign signs in Gang Nam Street

Nowadays on Gang Nam streets, more foreign signs hang than Korean signs. For example, if a beer brand is from Thailand, the sign is written in Thai. The sign is meant to be read by everyone, but there is a problem. Old men can’t read them. They didn’t learn foreign languages in a school setting. October 9^th was Hangul Day, and more signs need to be in Korean.

Why are there more foreign signs than Korean signs? The first cause is globalization. Foreign cultures come into Korea, and our culture gets mixed with many foreign cultures. The stores hang foreign signs to appeal to foreigners. The Japan stores have Japanese signs, the France stores have French, English, etc. Second, many people think Korean is a corny language. They think Korean signs are corny, so the store owners have to make foreign signs in order to bring in more people. According to the law, signs must be in Korean, and when the sign is in a foreign language, the sign has to have Korean, too. The law isn’t enforced by people, though. Many people think foreign languages are more powerful than Korean.

▲ October 9th was Hangul Day

Foreign signs have communication problems. They can’t be understood by most old men because they don’t know foreign languages. Foreign languages are so difficult to learn and understand. Most old men know English, but they didn’t learn about many foreign cultures. For example, they will go to a Japanese restaurant, but everything is in Japanese, so they can’t understand the restaurant’s main menu. We must not make signs that only foreigners can understand. Foreign signs drop Korea’s worth. If we use foreign languages more than Korean, foreigners might forget Korean exists. Korean needs to be introduced to many people, so foreigners can learn Korean. The letters are our worth.

October 9^th was Hangul Day. We need to love Korean more than other foreign languages. Hangul is Korea’s worth and culture.