Day 1. Introductions

Daegu Leaders Course:
English for Professional Purposes

중견실무리더과정 업무
An English course for mid-level managers in Daegu City Hall

Tuesesdays, 9:30am - 12:30pm (noonish)
Keimyung University, Daemyung Campus
(room to be announced)

Robert J. Dickey, MPA/JD, instructor

Course Materials at https://daegu-leaders.blogspot.com/

This course is designed to improve your English in professional & technical area of governance and office activities, along with general English skills. (Depending on choices made by the participants, we may also work on "test English" such as TOEIC, TEPS, or others.)

In the first day of class, we will work on Self-Introductions (not just words), and discuss the future of the course. Your participation is vital for a successful and beneficial class, not just for you, but all your fellow participants.

You want to introduce yourself in a way that foreigners will understand.

A problem is that Korean introductions are usually TOOOO  LOOONG.

Another problem is Korean names. Korea, unlike almost every other society, puts family name FIRST. It's confusing, especially if someone knows that Koreans put family name first, but the Korean person, speaking English, follows "western style."

For place where you are from, think about where you are now. 

• If you are now outside of Korea, people don't know city names, so you need to tell them you are from Korea.
• If you are now outside of Daegu, people don't know city districts, so you need to tell them you are from Daegu.
• If you are now in Daegu, you want to tell them which district.

Please don't talk about your family, this is a business self-introduction. In the west, we talk about ourselves, not our family.

Your age is not important in the west. Age is a woman"s secret!

Usually we describe ourselves by our profession. So tell your job title and branch of government (or business), or, if you are a student, your school and major and year.

Example:

A rather long English self introduction.  It has three parts.

1. Hi, my name is 정민성. My family name is Jeong, spell that J-E-O-N-G. Please call me Minseong or Min. (or Minnie?)
2. I’m a team leader in the Family & Women Division for Daegu Metropolitan City Hall (in Korea).
3. I’m originally from Gyeongju, but I have lived in Daegu for 25 years.

15 seconds is a LONG self-introduction. Usually we just introduce ourselves by name. If people want to know more about us, usually they just ask questions. But if I'm introducing myself with a namecard, I'll say just my name (line 1) and my workplace (not title, see line 2), and let my namecard (business card) do some talking for me.

Handshakes

Some people think a handshake tells a lot about a person.

In cross-cultural introductions, it's difficult to know what is expected. But since a handshake is generally considered a western behavior, we'll start from that.

• Eye-to-eye contact. "The eyes are the window to the soul." "Eyes are a mirror of the mind." We often think that if someone won't look directly to us, they are hiding secrets.
• A bow?  It's not wrong. But don't forget to look at eyes (before, during, or after)
• Deep & firm. "Thumb to thumb" shows a deeper commitment, but at least palm to palm. Fingertips only suggests you don't really want to be here! It's not a muscleman contest, don't try to squeeze too hard, but make sure your hand doesn't slip away - hold his hand! (2 seconds is long enough.)
• Arms reach. Be close enough that your arm bends and the elbow, and his does too. Not too close, not too far.

And your other hand?

• hold a namecard
• touch your right arm (Asian-style)
• touch the handshake
• loose at your side

!! Sorting of posts !!

The "blog" I use for these class listings sorts "newest on top." That means we have to "work our way up" from earlier posts to later.