Have you seen the Netflix TV show called Black and White Chef?
It’s the cooking challenges between famous chefs and unknown but talented chefs.
Many people talk about leadership with follower-ship and their attitude toward Cooking, but I’d like to say how should we be as second language leaners.
Edward Lee is a Korean-American Chef who got Iron Chef America Season 8 Episode 28 Victory. He was born and grew up in the US, but he also has an identity as a Korean. He said it was confusing throughout his lifetime, and that’s why he showed up in this show.
It was really impressive to me, that he always pushes himself to jump over the boundaries and limits. The other point was shocking how someone can look cool and respectful even though his language is poor!
Every time he explained his dish in Korean, not in English, even though he cannot speak fluent Korean. It was noticeable that he is not a Korean native speaker, since some grammar was not correct and it felt awkward. However, that did not matter at all. I felt he did his best to explain his story of food, and I could understand his intent and even resonated with him!
I can sympathize it was really challenging to explain his foods in Korean to judges in the competition. As a person who is not native English speaker, I’m getting nervous and afraid when I speak and write in Enlglish, even now. I always think ‘Is this right grammar?’, ‘Does it sound awkward?’ and it makes me feel small.
I guess how he looked was not he cared at that time. It’s too easy to forget the essence of communication when we try to learn a second language. The essence is not in saying perfectly or looking great, but in delivering our own opinion and story.
So, this post is my first courage to give me the freedom to express my thoughts in English. I know that it would be very easy if I just wrote this post in Korean and translated it with a translator or AI service, but I won’t.
If you read this post then just cheer me up and stay tuned!
