|
In his book entitled, "A Criticism of English-Korean Dictionaries," an elder English literature scholar at Sungkyunkwan University, emeritus professor Lee Jae-ho, pointed an accusatory finger at the shortcomings of the nation's publications in this area, which he said were riddled with holes and inaccuracies.
Many important terms are missing in the entries, and explanations often don't use pure Korean expressions, he noted.
Most dictionaries do not contain media terms that have now gained common currency, such as "free trade agreement" (FTA) or "libero," a volleyball term, he said.
This is a lamentable state of affairs in a country where 12 million people pour time and money into studying English each year, even spending W5 trillion in private tutoring.
The problem is said to stem from our paraphrasing of English-Japanese dictinaries that were published earlier in Japan. Given all the current talk of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the country's liberation from Japan's colonial rule, and our ensuing cultural independence, now is clearly the time to amend this historical hiccough.
Dictionaries are a yardstick for measuring the height of a country's culture and the depth of its knowledge. Now 115 years have elapsed since the Western missionary Underwood first published an English-Korean dictionary here during the latter years of the Yi Dynasty. That we are still to see a comprehensive dictionary edited and published by us means that we do not yet have an independent and appreciative eye for the English language and the varying cultures it represents.
Publishing a dictionary demands tremendous cost, manpower and time. Culturally advanced countries must publish dictionaries in scores of languages to facilitate their citizens' dealings with the world.
Investing in such publications is tantamount to baking cultural bricks. Those bricks will constitute the pillars and ceilings of a country of culture. Our cultural infrastructure will be cemented if we cut waste in the form of ill-conceived political pledges and invest W5 billion to W10 billion a year into publishing authoritative dictionaries for the next decade.
What is needed of the government now is a wide-ranging eye that does not overlook essential tasks on all levels, including the cultural and, more specifically, liguistic one. At the same time, the general public should renew its own perception of the importance of dictionaries.
Only when the cultural climate of Korea matures to the point where a strong talent pool drawn from all sectors is fully committed to producing dictionaries that command international respect, can our society make a small step forward - or a giant leap.
|
