Do people actually pay for the NYT? HN consistently has a bunch of NYT links that I can't read because of the paywall. I can't give that organization money because of its complicity in deceptive war propaganda.
Despite its flaws and recent scandals, the New York Times remains the most definitive American news source. Its reporting is in depth and its reach is wide. It has some sense of ethics, even though it doesn't always uphold them.
大山 (Dashan), or Mark Roswell, a Canadian, is the Chinese equivalent. He's a TV personality in China and is known for his perfect Chinese and his ability to do certain comedic styles, that are difficult even for native Chinese speakers to do (a loose western equivalent might be something like Abbott & Costello Who's On First? - very rapid dialogues).
Like David Spector, he is known nearly everywhere in China and has been on TV for decades. Also, most Westerners have never heard of him. Does any know any equivalents like this in South Korea or any other Asian countries?
There's a relatively new debate show on South Korean cable featuring a whole cast of foreigners who are surprisingly fluent in Korean. Most of them are just gaining popularity now, but some of them have been showing up on TV for a while.
You beat me to it - when I saw the HN headline I immediately went "I should post about Abnormal Summit" :).
Let me add some interesting trivia instead, perhaps: There was another Korean talk show featuring foreign guests some years ago, Global Talk Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Talk_Show). It featured all-female guests (Abnormal Summit has an all-male cast so far). It was a more gaudy affair though and centered on the guests' experiences in South Korea. Abnormal Summit has a much more interesting hook, the focus is on exchanging opinions between citizens of different nations.
Beyond TV: I'd argue that Simon and Martina from Eat Your Kimchi (http://www.eatyourkimchi.com), Canadian YouTubers living in South Korea, are well known among the country's youth.
> [...] who are surprisingly fluent in Korean [...]
This is almost a running gag in these situations/shows by now - whenever a foreigner rolls out a few words of Korean the reaction is invariably "와 한국말 잘하시네요!~" ("wow your Korean is so good"). You can play some kind of drinking game to that :).
I saw him at the wudaokou Starbucks giving an interview just before the Olympics. That guy is tall in real life. But he is not that popular anymore, most of the younger kids don't know who he is even if their parents do.
14 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 42.2 ms ] threadLike David Spector, he is known nearly everywhere in China and has been on TV for decades. Also, most Westerners have never heard of him. Does any know any equivalents like this in South Korea or any other Asian countries?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashan
Not as popular as Dashan, but he's reasonably well known.
Overview: http://korcan50years.com/2014/08/18/korea-newest-talkshow-th...
Episodes with English subs: http://bxrme.tumblr.com/post/92235653533/abnormal-summit-sub...
Let me add some interesting trivia instead, perhaps: There was another Korean talk show featuring foreign guests some years ago, Global Talk Show (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Talk_Show). It featured all-female guests (Abnormal Summit has an all-male cast so far). It was a more gaudy affair though and centered on the guests' experiences in South Korea. Abnormal Summit has a much more interesting hook, the focus is on exchanging opinions between citizens of different nations.
Beyond TV: I'd argue that Simon and Martina from Eat Your Kimchi (http://www.eatyourkimchi.com), Canadian YouTubers living in South Korea, are well known among the country's youth.
> [...] who are surprisingly fluent in Korean [...]
This is almost a running gag in these situations/shows by now - whenever a foreigner rolls out a few words of Korean the reaction is invariably "와 한국말 잘하시네요!~" ("wow your Korean is so good"). You can play some kind of drinking game to that :).
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/world/asia/unknown-in-amer...