| Topic Name: |
Bilingual Advantage? |
| Message Name: |
Korean continued |
| Date Posted: |
04/23/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
Say that you were already hired at a BIGLAW firm according to your law school GPA. How much would a perfect fluency of a second language give you an advantage once you are hired in the law firms? I understand everything is relative, but I would like to know how useful it would be for a Korean-American who wants enter BIGLAW to be perfectly fluent in Korean. (I post this message, because I am considering perhaps taking a year off and mastering my second language before going to law school depending on how useful that would be.) |
| Message: |
And please understand, I certainly don't mean to cast any aspersions on your Korean ability. You may have studied extensively and already be a star. I also don't want to downplay the importance of understanding the language and culture of people you do business with. I wouldn't have worked and studied in Asia the last three and a half years if I didn't believe that.
What I did want to do was give you a realistic response to your stated interests.
A story: Last week I interviewed a Korean-American lawyer who works at a major Seoul firm. He lived in Korea the first ten years of his life, has worked with Koreans for much of his professional life, but still finds it almost impossible to read Korean law and feels his professional Korean is limited. Hanja, or old-style Chinese characters dominate the books, and if you aren't an intelligent, highly-educated native Korean, it'll take a decade to totaly get it.
But yes, when meeting clients or negotiating the broad outlines of a deal, being able to speak and listen has got to be a plus. Personal relationships are very important in conducting business with Asians.
Take it easy.
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