Tongue Cutting In N. Korea

[Drew Katsikas]

DRIVEN BY A desire to give their kids an edge in an increasingly competitive society, a surprising number of South Koreans have turned to the knife in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English.
“Those who have a short frenulum (a strap of tissue linking the tongue to the floor of the mouth) can face problems pronouncing some characters due to a disturbance in lateral movements of the tongue,” said Bae Jung-ho, an oral surgeon at Seoul’s Yonsei Severance Hospital, who operated on the six-year-old last month.
Bae said it takes about five minutes to complete the operation, called a frenotomy, which slices 1 to 1.5 cm (about half an inch) off the frenulum to make the tongue more flexible.
“There is a razor-thin risk of complications and, unless it is the best option possible, we don’t recommend it.”
Bae said that he had received many inquiries about the operation, mostly for children aged between 12 months and 10 years. Of these, only 10 to 20 percent had led to surgery.
The doctor said he performed the surgery, which costs 150,000 won ($127), once or twice per month.
For a tangible improvement for those with ankyloglossia — the medical term for those with a short frenulum — months of language training is needed even after surgery.
“It takes time to see pronunciation actually improve as picking up a language or saying it properly is a complicated process to master,” he added.

It was from Hotmail news, ok. >: IT IS DISTURBING (NES Boy)

[Perndog]

My brother had this done. his tongue was attached too far forward in his mouth, so he couldn't move it very well and had a speech impediment. Here's the story I heard, I'm not sure if it's true: he was somewhere between 3 and 6, and my parents didn't tell him what they were bringing him to the doctor for. So the doctor went through his regular check-up, and at the "open your mouth and say aaah part, the doctor took a little pair of scissors and snip under the little boy's tongue. They put some ice on it, he stopped crying in a little bit, and it healed right up.

Why is this so disturbing? Especially if it's performed by an oral surgeon and the kid's under anesthesia (like I would assume from this article).

[kellychaos]

What's disturbing is that they're doing this in an effort to increase the infants ability to speak a language which, when looking on a grander scale, is barely spoken by the world's population. South Korea is smaller than the state of Michigan.

[Perndog]

Way to read, dumbass.

in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English

[kellychaos]

Way to read, dumbass.

in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English

Whoops! Bleh! They should still strive to learn Mandarin Chinese, the world's most spoken language. That's where the world's market is leaning towards ... and they're right next door.

[El Blanco]

Actually, English is spoken by almost every educated person in the world (at least its taught to them). It is the official language of high end finance, international commerce and aviation. My friends who went to school in Europe tell me that you have to learn it in order to graduate, no matter what university you go to.

When I was in college, the people who came here from other countries recently spoke it better than the people who lived here for decades. Thats because proper English is taught in so many countries.

English is essentially what is called a Type 1 language.

[Perndog]

Yeah, we know. Kelly thought they did it so the kids could speak better Korean.

[VinceZeb]

Kelly probably thought that. No one ever claimed he was a bright one.

[Zhukov]

Ouch Vince! I bet that hit hard comming from a fat moron.


Why is N. Korea mentioned when this is about S. Korea? I was expecting something on torture.

[VinceZeb]

OHHHHHHHHHHhhh, a "fat moron"! Man, how much work did it take to think of that hurtful remark?

[Zhukov]

The truth hurts Jew!

[mburbank]

Pern;

Are yyou aware of the Vinthometer? It's a web program that lets you know if something you've said, no matter how well thought out or articulated may have serious flaws and deserve re-examination.

It's a pretty simple program. Shortly after a flawed post is made, Vinth agrees with it.

[AChimp]

My doctor wanted to do this to me when I was little (because, well, my tongue is pretty attached to the inside of my mouth ;) )

But, I could already speak perfectly, without any trouble so they decided that it wasn't necessary. The only thing I have trouble with is speaking really fast, but who the hell ever does that? :P

[kellychaos]

Yeah, we know. Kelly thought they did it so the kids could speak better Korean.

They mentioned the English once, near the beginning of the article. I simply read the article too fast. Would it be too presumptuous to assume that that surgical procedure could enable them to ennunciate their own language more properly as well? Anyway, I'm thinking that the letters that they're concerned with are their "l", "f" and the "th" sound in English. Those are the letters that I noticed they had trouble with when I was over there. My name always came out as "Kerry" and "cab fare" always came out as "cab pare". Oh, well. I couldn't really ridicule them for it, though. They spoke one more language, albeit poorly, than I did.

[Perndog]

Pern;

Are yyou aware of the Vinthometer? It's a web program that lets you know if something you've said, no matter how well thought out or articulated may have serious flaws and deserve re-examination.

It's a pretty simple program. Shortly after a flawed post is made, Vinth agrees with it.

Are you not reading right today, Max, or just randomly antagonizing me again? This is what I said that Vince replied to:

Kelly thought they did it so the kids could speak better Korean.

I didn't think hard about that one nor worry how well it was articulated. Furthermore, it has no flaws and does not need to be examined.

Please, grace me with a display of your great argumentative skills and tell me what is wrong with that statement and how I can re-evaluate it and come to a wiser conclusion. :worship

[blackheart]

Here's the full article
http://www.msnbc.com/news/981625.asp

I don't think they have a physical impediment in the first place. It all depends on your enviroment. If you grow up in Korea, you're going to have an accent. Your parents give you an accent. Your native language gives you an accent.

However, I knew some Koreans at my school who spoke flawless English. Why? Because they were born here. It has nothing to do with how the tongue is shaped. People all over the world have different tongues and can master their own language easily. The body adapts. You can always lose an accent, but it takes time and work.

I was alarmed by this article because I thought they snipped the TIP of the tongue until I re-read it.

Of COURSE a six-year old has a short frenulum. He's barely developed!

[kellychaos]

However, I knew some Koreans at my school who spoke flawless English. Why? Because they were born here. It has nothing to do with how the tongue is shaped. People all over the world have different tongues and can master their own language easily. The body adapts. You can always lose an accent, but it takes time and work.

I, too, see it as more a nurture than nature problem. The skills that are an asset in your own language are sometimes a detriment in trying to master another language. Basically, I see the entire operation as a "quick fix" to a liability which is performed instead of the individual putting in the hard work. As a college student who has taken the required french courses towards my degree, I have yet to master the ability to talk through my nose yet I was fairly proficient at the grammar and vocabulary memorization. Why? I simply didn't care to put in the work.

[kahljorn]

I was "tongue tied" and used to worry I wouldnt be able to make-out with girls very well, so I took some scissors and cut the thing that was bad.

My dad fell off a fence to fix his.