- Is cost a factor when it comes to getting help with English copy in Korea?
- But what about getting help with English copy in Korea if I don’t speak English?
- Surely asking for help in Korean must take longer, right?
- If you can’t ask a pro, at least ask the Internet
- And the survey says…
- Getting help with English copy in Korea—what’s your excuse?
I’m constantly baffled by the mistakes in public-facing English I see in Korea. My last blog highlighted some examples and showed that the Korean public isn’t okay with this. I’ve spent more than three years trying to figure out why these mistakes happen. I believe part of the problem is that Koreans are unsure how to get help with English copy in Korea. If only they knew how easy it was.
Several months ago, I conducted a survey about the awkward English often found in Korea. One of the questions I asked was:
Why do you think most businesses/organizations don’t use a professional English-speaking copywriter or proofreader?
The most popular answer (31.42%) was “They don’t think it’s important—some English is better than no English”. But three other answers all came in at about 20% each.
- Apathy/laziness
- Don’t know who to contact
- Cost
My blogs and daily posts are attempts to convince people they shouldn’t be apathetic in this regard. Proper English can only help you. Awkward/incorrect public-facing English has the potential to damage your business’s reputation.
But what about the other two answers?
Is cost a factor when it comes to getting help with English copy in Korea?
No one likes wasting money. No one wants to pay more than they have to. I totally agree. But how can you argue with free?
Yes, that’s right. I offer to help people with short, simple questions for free. And I have. Not often, but I have honored my claim. But the crucial part of this equation involves you asking me for help. I can’t help until that happens.
Shortly after I started as an English copywriter/proofreader in Korea, I had a follower reach out. She wanted to ask me about the English on a piece of clothing she was considering buying. She contacted me and asked, “Please help me^^ Would buy a shirt with this on it?”
I got her message at 6:13 pm. At 6:21 pm, I responded, ”Nothing grammatically wrong here. Seems the brand name has spelled empire stylistically as Empyre. Nothing offensive or inherently wrong with it.”
Yup, it took all of 8 minutes for me to respond. The follower replied:
Thank you ❤ 😊 💓 When you spot a woman in this shirt, it could be me hahaha
And that was it. She purchased a piece of clothing she liked. She was confident it didn’t contain any inappropriate content or grammatical errors. What did she pay for this peace of mind? Zip, zilch, nada. No money changed hands.
But what about getting help with English copy in Korea if I don’t speak English?
More recently, I had someone else reach out to me. This time, the person messaged me in Korean.
안녕하세요! 개인적으로 좀 여쭤보고 싶은게 있는데요! 제가 이벤트를 기획하는 일을 하고 있는데 봄시즌에 “XXXXXXXX” 이라는 캐치 프레이즈를 갖고 봄 이벤트를 진행해보려고 하거든요! 제가 생각한 느낌은 꽃으로 예쁘게 만들어 주는, 꽃이 피는, 꽃을 올려서 이런 느낌으로 생각한 조합인데 영어를 네이티브로 사용하는 분들이 느끼시기에 XXXXXXXX 이라는 조합이 좀 이상할까요? 유튜브 등 보다보면 콩글리쉬로 만든 국내의 이상한 영어들이 너무 많잖아요.ㅠㅠ 어디 물어보고 싶어도 물어볼 곳이 없어서 실례를 무릎쓰고 dm 보내 봅니다:) 오늘도 행복한 하루 보내세요:)
I’m nowhere near fluent in Korean. I can read Hangul and can usually understand the gist. I never recommend online translators for people displaying public-facing English. But they can be handy in certain situations. Between what I already understood and an online translator to fill in the gaps, I was able to respond.
I was able to discern what they needed. They were planning an event and wanted to know if their two-word English slogan made sense.
Surely asking for help in Korean must take longer, right?
They reached out at 1:58 pm. This time, it took me a little longer to reply—38 minutes. After all, I have a full-time job during the day. 😉 I replied (in English) that the slogan felt awkward. But I also mentioned there were several hundred thousand hits for that phrase in a Google search. Even though it didn’t appeal to me, it might be okay. I also suggested a couple of possible alternatives.
The person responded, “thank you!:)”, and that was it. I don’t know if they used their original slogan or one of my suggestions. But again, this person came away with some insight and confidence. They knew their slogan was grammatically correct and wouldn’t cause any embarrassment. Again, no money changed hands.
That’s how easy it is to get help—and it doesn’t get better than free! That said, if your inquiry is longer than a short phrase or has multiple parts to it, I’ll have to charge you. But I promise it won’t be much. If I can help you for free, I will.
That covers cost. What about who you should contact when getting help with English copy in Korea?
If you can’t ask a pro, at least ask the Internet
If your question is about English, it’s obvious who you should ask—DC CopyPro! I’ve had several clients reach out to me for help. They’ve found me through various means:
And almost all my clients have been kind enough to leave me positive reviews.
Recently, I was thrilled to see this question in a Facebook group.
To all native French speakers in the group:
I am about to reopen a restaurant in XXXXXXXX and my new operating partner suggested that we rename the restaurant “XXXXXXXX”. I like the name, but someone else suggested that it should be just “XXXXXXXX” without “XXXXXXXX”.
What’s your thought?
Yes, yes, YES! A thousand times, yes! This person asked native French speakers for advice on the name of a French restaurant. This is precisely what I’d expect people to do. And the result?
More than 40 comments. Many corrected the spelling. The poster had omitted an accent—essential in French. One commenter stated: “Nah it should be « XXXXXXXX» XXXXXXXX is going to be another fun misspelled French word to laugh about 🙂” So, if this poster hadn’t bothered to check, they would’ve made a mistake (apparently a rather funny one) that French speakers would’ve laughed at every time they saw it. This likely wouldn’t have been good for business.
And the survey says…
Another commented, “Do not do XXXXXXXX xD every french will be like “one more korean place that just put random french word together” some people already commented but it’s ??????? ~.” That jives with my recent survey about people’s views of awkward English in Korea. I asked, “When you’ve noticed grammar mistakes, awkward English or incorrect translations in things like signs, menus or advertisements, you…” Here are the responses.
While 34.35% appreciated the attempt, over 46% had a negative impression. This indicates they sigh or laugh at such mistakes. The next question asked if errors like this affect a business’s image. Over 60% of respondents felt these kinds of errors affect a business’s image either “somewhat, a fair bit, or a great deal.” Taking the time to ask this question was well worth the poster’s time.
Again, this didn’t cost a penny. This was free advice. But I have a word of caution about using this method. You’re asking the general public for grammatical advice. Not everyone is grammatically knowledgeable. In this case, most of the people who replied were in agreement. But there was some disagreement. Some suggested alternatives. Others believed the original name would be okay, even though it was incorrect.
This approach may be better than just going it on your own. But whenever possible, I encourage you to contact a pro.
Getting help with English copy in Korea—what’s your excuse?
As I see it, you have no excuse for not getting help with the English name of your business or your English slogan. If you can’t be bothered to ask me to help for free, then perhaps you really are lazy. But again, look at my last blog. Awkward/incorrect English does affect your business image—even in Korea. The results of my recent survey support this claim.
So, no more excuses. Contact DC CopyPro for help with your public-facing English. If your request is too involved to help you for free, I promise my rates are very affordable. I’m a small business that caters to other small businesses. I want to help businesses that can’t afford to hire an advertising firm. Let me help you. But that can’t happen until you reach out first.
I’m looking forward to your questions about your business signs and slogans!
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