Language, I only know one.

[stevelau1933]

Learning a language is not that hard like most people make it out to be. It will seem impossible at the beginning but there is a learning curve where you can start making gains faster and faster as you get more pieces of the puzzle filled in until the point of fluency when it gets harder to improve.

[Nasjen]

your cute!

[Jamwilson9]

LOL @ "just GOING THERE!"

That's how I feel when I wanted to just up and visit the Philippines, which I have not done yet. I will soon though.

[mvr80]

lol at the bloopers xD

[SuperBlacx]

As being an adult, learning a new language is nothing something very achievable unless something attract you A LOT. I've seen many Chinese people don't speak mandarin at all even their parents speak Chinese constantly at home. If I were you, I won't learn 2nd language if i don't want to, unless i'm forced to do so.

[MsMohrle]

Learning a language is FUN man! (I myself LOOVE it) If it upsets u so much that u even make a video about it, then JUST DO IT!

ps: yea its true that children learn any language faster and its a lot easier for them but ur never too old to learn, man. And motivation is a stroooong factor to speed up ur learnin process.

[mcca59]

i totally know how you feel. my parents are from japan but only spoke english to me and my sister since my grandma's second marriage was to a white guy she met while he was stationed in japan so it wasn't fair to him that we all spoke japanese...

i really want to learn japanese because i wanna communicate with family but i'm so lazy... but i do get jealous when i hear bilingual children speak ....

[sonofmanchu]

Just learn, you got nothing to lose!

[LilyOfTheDarkness]

I have three little cousins who are adopted from South Korea - they're aged ten, seven and four. We took them to South Korea in September of this year and during an exploration of Seoul, Liam (our ten-year-old) got lost. He only speaks English and trying to find him was a bit awful because my Korean is limited. Since then, he's been taking Korean lessons by himself - he felt so out of place in a country where he looks like everyone else but can't understand them.

[baeIyn]

I love the Korean language. It's so much fun to speak. Japanese is great too, but harder for me.

[asianmama6]

Im 18 and I tried learning, I know a few words and understand maybe 30% haha, but yea. Im lazy as well -_-'

[johneychong]

Hey bro man! Thanks for sharing...I appreciate what you had to say. Check out KAANET.ORG I have a couple friends that are korean adoptee's that have visited my church from this association. Keep up the search...hope you find everything you are looking for!! John C. :-)

[LethalLemonLime]

Seeing other people speak their languages makes me want to know theirs. My parents speak two languages. But I only know English. I never felt the desire to learn the other one because I don't know many people outside my family who speak that language like how you see other Koreans speaking Korean. I never really experienced that.

[sindyk117]

I wish I can help you as I speak fluent Korean and English but I don't think you should too hard on yourself for not able to speak the language. Many young Koreans do speak English now but when you are ready to learn give it a go as Koreans do appreciate if you try....living in the country for a year or so can definately help you to pick up. How wonderful that you are thinking about Korea and want to find your identity unlike some adoptees in Australia. Anyway Good luck!

[snowballmouse]

I'm a 3rd gen Chinese American. Grandparents came to the US when they were kids. Back then, the US emphasized assimilation, so they raised their families with US traditions. Thus my parents raised my brothers/me American. They didn't "fail." They DID pass on their culture. When kids teased me for not knowing "my culture and language," I would say "I'm American. My race is just genetic." I have a strong sense of identity as a California girl, but I hate when people expect me to fit the stereotype

[sndblstr]

People, learn about your ancestors' culture, of course, but quit with the nauseating and lame sob stories suggesting you're connecting with some lost or hidden place inside you when you do learn about that culture. Wow, you couldn't speak Korean to others in HS?  Poor dear. There are more important things in life than race. Grow a pair. Gomapseumnida.

[sndblstr]

This guy sounds like a wimp, and what does he mean "his" language is Korean? Newsflash: you're American, and "your" language is English. Learn Korean and anything else, by all means, but don't act like you have some innate connection to a language/culture which you do not. This seems to be more of an issue for non-caucasians...

[Kohria]

How does he not have an innate connection to his country of origin? He does, and he wants to find out who he really is. No matter what you say, he is a korean-american. It's who he is, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to learn about yourself and where you came from. And the personal attack on him by calling him a wimp is just uncalled for. Stop trolling.

[sndblstr]

I am entitled to my opinion, jerk. Just because you don't like hearing the truth doesn't make it trolling.  Yes, this guy DOES sound like a pussy and a whiner. It's pathetic for him to say that "his language" is Korean. No, I'm sorry, he is American, and "his" language is English. Of course it's understandable to want to learn about where you were born, but the Korean culture really has little to do with who he is.

[Kohria]

I'm the jerk? You're the one calling him a pussy on the internet for what he believes to be important to him.

It's not that I don't like hearing the truth; I welcome it. I just can't ignore blatant ignorance so I had to comment. Wisen up wisecrack and try being in his shoes. You're in no position to be as condescending as you are, so I hope you get hit by some humbleness sooner or later.

[sndblstr]

I hate seeing these adoptees act like victims who were somehow torn from their homelands and how they somehow still have some kind of connection to a place where they never lived and where they know no one. It's ridiculous, and they don't need to be coddled. These people ought to be thankful they are alive (and weren't aborted), first and foremost, and thankful they were raised by loving families, just as everyone should be thankful.

[sndblstr]

He has no innate connection to a culture+language he has not grown up with. What this wimpy-sounding guy is basically saying is that, because he shared physical characteristics with Korean students in high school, that he felt ashamed to be unable to speak Korean with them, and he laughably suggests he had trouble communicating with them on a certain level. This is beyond stupid and demonstrates an unfortunate and sadly all-too-common overemphasis on the importance ethnic background.

[TreesAreYourFriend]

@sndblstr ...there is absoloutly nothing wrong with wanting to understand your culture better...and learning the language and going to korea is a good thing. It should not be looked upon as stupid. He just wants to get in touch with his culture. i understand what you say but then i dont.

[sndblstr]

If you are Korean yourself then you would know that Koreans are extremely ethnocentric. What a lot of them, and what a lot of people in general, forget is that heritable differences between so-called ethnic groups are really meaningless and say next to nothing about what makes a person who they are. The woe-is-me whiner in the video above obviously bought into the idea that shared heritable traits are something to obsess over. He is weak and was likely coddled too much.

[sndblstr]

Many Koreans are aghast when Korean babies are adopted by non-Koreans. These Koreans are pathetic, disgusting racists, as far as I'm concerned. They should be called out for exactly what they are. People are the products of their experiences, the cultures they were raised in, the way they were raised, etc. Let's get over the obsession with inherited physical traits AKA race. A baby is a baby is a baby. This guy has obviously given into the ethnocentric tendency that also plagues many Koreans.

[sndblstr]

Kohria, his "country of origin" is the United States, genius. Who "he really is" is not his race. To me you sound like nothing but one of those race-obsessed and, YES, racist Koreans. You even got the cliched screen name to match your apparent obsession. Aren't you a unique one. Not. And, no, he is American... this hyphenated korean-american BS is a joke. He's American, one word and with a capital A, just as all of us are in the United States. Sorry you haven't figured that out yet.

[Kohria]

First off, woah.

I'm looking at all the comments you posted above and I'm not even going to bother them. It's an essay. So I'm only going to look at this one.

Second, his country of origin is not the United States. Where was he born? Where are his biological parents and family? Exactly.

As an American born Korean-American living in the United States I beg to differ. You have no right to talk unless you talk from our point of view. You say they are fully American?

[Kohria]

Then how come other people always go up to me and ask "where are you from?", crack asian jokes, etc. Truth is, no one will ever accept me or other 'asian-looking' people to be fully American. That's how the world is. You call me racist, but I've accepted the fact that we are different and I embrace it. I find it equally important as well to find out where you came from. I don't know what you have against adoptees and why you are bashing them. You could never understand.

[Kohria]

I thought the same way you did for a while... I was American born, had only white friends growing up in a neighborhood where I was the only asian kid in the community. I saw myself as American. But I soon found out it wasn't like that. People always like to point out differences. Does it matter if I have an American passport and citizenship? No. Now get off your ignorant ass and stop bashing people on the internet when you have no clue on what you're talking about. Again, stop trolling.

[sndblstr]

How stupid! Just because you're ethnically Asian, doesn't mean you should be expected to speak any particular language. Someone's race is so unimportant. I'm sick of all this obsession with race and ethnicity. If someone grew up in the United States, they have as much in common with any other Americans as anyone else, regardless of their race.

[CathRun08]

sndlblstr: As a first generation American and an adopted mom, I agree with you totally. Life goes on and right now we are caught in a "phase" of adoptees being enabled in a cycle of self-pity that becomes self-destructive. It is important (to some of them) to visit their birth country and perhaps learn some of the language, but this obsessing can only hurt them in the long run.

[jezikalimbo]

HAHAHA love your ending!

I'm not an adopted korean... just a 2nd generation korean canadian and i found your story really interesting. I can only relate to a few things like not understanding the korean language. At first I regretted not being able to speak korean, 'cause the fobs around me would have conversations I couldn't understand. But I found other 2nd generation koreans like me and now i'm more comfortable. If i didn't know any better, I'd've thought you were 2nd gen!

[mirabelutza18]

HAHAHA NG NG NG

[greenpuma59]

hey! im adopted too..

I have been attending a korean immersion camp for 7 summers to learn korean.

I can now read it and write it as well as any other korean in my school and i understand it, but i can't speak it well at all...

I'm glad i've learned it (to an extent) and its nice to know a bit. It's nice to be able to pick up on some of what the koreans say, but it's still not the same. feels like still a bit different, you know?

im 14 btw..

[Mikavr]

OMG, you are so cute and funny at the end! I wish I could help ;-)

[democracyplease]

son of a bit...

[StarveAndRun85]

Korean seems SO hard to speak. I saw a Korean travel guide book and the sounding out of the words is SO complicated. It's like jeofdsnognnrgszao SfpojspJ(that's not a word but you get the point)

[StarveAndRun85]

LOL at the end.

P.S. When I was little my mom and sister said oh that person looks Chinese or Korean or Japanese or whatever several times and I was how come Iii can't tell but they can?? So I became a loser and like tried to study that HAHAHA yeah. And I can TOTALLY tell you're Korean. You look like the sterotypical Korean :)

[StarveAndRun85]

Hey I'm Chinese but I'm not adopted but I regret not learning Chinese as well. It IS weird having those people around you and even though they don't speak it that much it's still like.. yaknow?

Also for me I just can't even communicate with my relatives. I only have the vocab of a 2 year old =\

[rizukx]

Learn korean. Its fun. Fun enough to make this white guy learn it. And its your heritage...so you should definitely learn at least a little bit.

[glitterchild]

I think your story is very interesting. Im American but my boyfriend is Korean (he studies in the states). I think you should really give Korean a crack. At least Korean is a relatively efficient language with an alphabet unlike Chinese/ Japanese where you have to memorize thousands of characters! Anyways, I hope it all works out for you ( :

[seoulflower]

hey man what is your email?

byw, u gotta check out GOAL & Inkas etc...

peace & blessings,

seoulflower

[minutemaid123]

Thanks for your vids, Chris. I'm not a adoptee but I was born in Seoul, Korea, my entire family flew out to Japan at the age of 6, and was there for 9 years. I am now living in the states and was here was 11 years. I was almost forced to learn English & Japanese at the same time when I was starting kindergarten. Now at 26, I speak three languages fairly well in all-at least I can get by in conversations. I still face identity issues in life but just wanted to say that I can sympathize with you.

[DianeIngram]

Chris, I am an adoptive mom. Loving is something we "chose to do". It does not automatically happen to people, not even when they give birth. It is always a deliberate decision. Birth parents do not always love their kids ..... the loving happens when the decison is made to do so, whether thru adoption or biological circumstances

[myschild]

absolutely! bless your heart..

[DianeIngram]

you sound like an adoptive parent ....

[myschild]

i am Korean adopty. when i asked my parents, my mom said the same thing 'they chose to love' i agree that not all birth mom or dad love their own children. i believe love is a choice. and i believe there are two kind of mothers: one who gives birth and one who raises and nurtures. it's sad 2see that there are so many children need mom and dad still. i'm thankful and grateful to be chosen by my parents. if only if we all CHOOSE to love, this world be a better place than today. God loved me first!

[ykltc]

I suggest you spend a summer in Korea. See if you can particpate in exchange student and live with host family. You will learn Korean fast.

[mowho33]

hi. don't feel bad not knowing korean. david suzuki (famous canadian) is 3rd generation japanese-can. he tells us that his grandparents spoke japanese only to their kids, his parents spoke jap. to the grandparents and english to everyone else, and he himself grew up with eng. only (and doesn't speak jap.). so by the THIRD generation, most immigrants lose their language. if it helps you, think that adoptees have just "skipped" a gen. my son is a kad. we take kor. lessns. son will go to korea also

[ameliabedelia99]

Just to share, I was born and raised in N. America by Korean parents. They did speak Korean at home, we went to a Korean church, and I did attend Korean school Saturdays and several summers. Yet, my Korean is PITIFUL. Not exactly sure what happened, but considering my older sister is pretty fluent, I think it's me. If you take a couple of introductory classes, pretty sure you can say that you speak Korean like a non-adoptee - at least like this one anyway.

Good luck with everything.

[kydzyr0]

tip: you should take your frees...there's a LOT of pump.

[Leetuh]

did you gain weight?

LOL i misss youu(:

[EternaltheGrey]

Language: You only know one (more or less XD)

[roedscom]

Hi there,

We are teaching our three (soon to be four)kids (all korean born) korean and learning it ourselves as well. lisa

[Ghost263]

KOREA WORLD TOUR!!! lol " with KOREA!!??!!"

[futbollholic]

lol this is like a jackie chan film, no action, but with the funny mess ups in the end (sid)

[juleexd]

LOL cute that you kept messing up at the end. <33