What are attitudes about time in the culture(s) you are studying? Are these attitudes reflected in the language?
You need to be a member of The SDLAP Ning to add comments!
This reply was deleted.
What are attitudes about time in the culture(s) you are studying? Are these attitudes reflected in the language?
You need to be a member of The SDLAP Ning to add comments!
Replies
Attitudes about time in Korea is that everything must happen quickly. Koreans live by a 빨리 (quick) culture. It is as if everyone is short on time and need to move quickly. Not many people leisurely walk anywhere and even the subways only stop for about 30 seconds before the doors close and they move to the next stop. Koreans do not even wait for their food to cool before they eat it, preferring to suck in a lot of air by slurping up their food.
In South Korea, perceptions about time are tied with respect and formality. Showing up late to a meeting or event demonstrates carelessness and is generally frowned upon, especially if one is younger than the authority figure they are meeting with. If a student is to meet with a professor, it is advised they show up early so that they are seen as professional and respectful. Since South Korea is a country that cares a lot about appearances and manners, time is perceived as a precious commodity-- one that should not be wasted. Time is essentially a way of communicating non-verbally. Earliness or lateness communicates something to the person on the other end, and it is important to be mindful of what your earliness or lateness means. Just as you would not speak informally to someone older than you, you must not arrive late and expect your apology to be accepted.
Attitudes about time in Korea as I know it is interesting. This really ties in with the formality system in Korea. Remember how in Korea, elders are supremely respected while the younger people are sometimes looked down upon. This holds true in thinking about time. If you are late to a meeting with an elder or someone hierarchically higher than you, you are being extremely disrespectful. On the other hand, someone older or hierarchically higher than you can stand you up for a quite a while without coming off "rude" because of the whole formality/ respect the elder culture in Korea. Younger people don't really have the right to fault the elders for being late while the reverse is easily done.
Korea is a very competitive society. It built itself into a first world country through a rapid pace of development when it was considered one of the poorest nations of the world after WWII. As a result, I would assume time would be viewed upon similarly to America, especially New York. Time is considered important and must be valued. The Korean people need to be on time with the constantly busy and innovating society and must keep up. However, this attitude doesn't seem to reflected in the language.
Time is very important in Korea. Since everything is so punctual and everyone is so busy, time is taken very seriously. If there is an accident in Korea, the first priority is to clear the traffic. Where in Korea it can take less than 30 minutes to clear the accident, it can take four times that length in America. Since Koreans take public transportation so often, Koreans tend to be more punctual. The subway system in Korea is very punctual and rarely late.
However, time is not always punctual for Koreans in their life. In America, we have bed times, and a set schedule for our days. This is more lax in Korea, where there might be a schedule that is loosely enforced. But the general consensus in Korean is that time is essential and there is not enough of it in the day. Koreans are always moving and always seem busy. They have the second-longest working hours, so every hour outside of the workplace is precious and not enough.
The concept of time to the Basques is much the same as it is to other Western Europeans, although on the Spanish side more focused on punctuality than most other Spanish cultures, and on the French side less so. There is a joke in the movie Ocho Appelidos Vasco (on Netflix) about how the Basques see Andalusians in particular as lazy and unconcerned with the workday, having siestas. Of course as a joke it is a satirical generalization, but it also shows how the Basque values are focused on the idea of time being money. On the French side, on the other hand, Basques are seen as lazier than the fast-paced Parisians. But maybe that's because Parisians think everyone is lazy in comparison to them.
Turkish people are not really punctual. They are sometimes known to be late for everything. But it also depends on the person so they don't have any attitudes reflected in the language. For example, In Istanbul the traffic is a big issue and people always make excuses on traffic when they are late. Turkey has a Mediterranean coast as well, they don't do Siesta as other Mediterranean countries but as it is so hot in that region, they tend to work less.
Indonesia's viewpoint about time could be reflected in a phrase: Jam Karet (elastic time / rubber time). As the widely used phrase among orang Indonesia indicates, Indonesians have a flexible understanding of time as time's unpredictability in this part of the world forced its citizens to adapt. While many nations the world over view time from a phenomenological perspective independent from external influences, Indonesians, however, view time because of objective measures. For example, Indonesia is the fourth most populated nation, and Java, its central island, has 107 million residents, making it one of the most densely populated regions in the world. When taking into account its population density, coupled with the perennial infrastructural setbacks plaguing mobility, it should come as no surprise that arriving late for appointments and other obligations is the norm and not the exception.
What makes matters worse is the fact that Indonesians, in general, prefer a fast paced life -- which led to almost everyone buying a motorbike to circumvent traffic. This phenomenon produced a snowball effect and made traffic congestion even worse. In sum, Indonesians are pragmatic people and have come to the realization that arriving late to appointments and meetings is inevitable. In turn, this fact of life has made its way into their mindsets as well.