Korean honorifics and politeness in second language learning

摘要

Korean is one of the most difficult languages for adult English native speakers to learn. For instance, the Defense Language Institute of the USA groups foreign languages into four different categories according to difficulty levels. Category I languages that include Spanish, Italian and French are the easiest, while Category IV languages that include Korean, along with Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, are the most challenging to learn. For instance, to reach the advanced proficiency level, Category I languages need 480 class hours, whereas Category IV languages need 1320 hours (Association of the United States Army, 2010).