Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me that a poor son of a fisherman would have learned English.

You wanna have a kid with Hurley

Perhaps because the actor who plays Jin is Korean and is fluent in Korean while the acor who plays Sayed is Indian and may not be fluent in Arabic.

Perhaps it's becuase we're used to hearing Sayed speak in English, but to hear Jin speak in English, a language we've never heard him use and one he presumably doesn't understand wouldn't make sense, especially in conversations with his wife that have always been shown in Korean on the show.

And thanks for the screencap. Next week's episode should be interesting.

Thanks, a more coherent version of what I was trying to say.

I'd say that's a good bet, since he's actually from the UK and has a British accent in real life.

Fantastic episode. About Hurley... everyone has paired up except him, and the only thing that eased that was his music. His "son of a bitch" wasn't meant to be funny, it was meant to be sad, because now he has nothing.

I could see it being a practical consideration--but however "fluent" Daniel Dae Kim's Korean seems (I certainly can't judge it one way or the other), I'm told it's actually pretty poor, at least relative Yunjin Kim's. Personally, I'd lean towards more of a creative decision; the difference, I think, is that Sayid uses each of his respective languages under distinct plot circumstances, which clearly define the language the character is "speaking" independent of what the actor is actually saying. By contrast, bilingualism as a part of the Jin/Sun storyline would make a similar conceit in their case confusing; Korean and English are actually mixed as a matter of plot, with both being used in each component of their story.

But eh, one guess is as good as the other, at this point.

Bob, i agree with you. I think it was creative decision for that reason. If the audience all of the sudden saw Jin speaking english, even if it was the same type thing as the Sayid episode, it would confuse the audience. The whole "speaking english" thing with Jin and Sun is a big part of their plot/backstory. doing their episode in this way would throw a monkeywrench into it.

i brought it up just because i found it interesting that we saw two different approaches to the same situation.

I've been told the same thing by my token Korean friend. Daniel Dae Kim's essentially an American. I remember an interview with him where he said that he can communicate with others in Korean but that he doesn't have a full understanding of the language and mostly speaks in a Korean/English hybrid when talking with family. Also, I think his dialect is different than the one used on the show which makes it even more difficult for him.

das

We got the show shrunk down so the local news could post info about the Chris Webber trade. Like people cant just wait til the commercials. Its hard to read the subtitles when theres other text flashing below them.

OMG. The last sentence should have been a completely different paragraph. Then again, I have had baby fever lately.

Did Sun actually say she was leaving Jin in english? For some reason (without the benefit of being able to rewind) it seemed the scene shifted to english for the emotional impact it may have lacked with subtitles. We were able to sense the love and heartbreak in her words.

I don't know that she would have said something so important in a language she knows he can't understand.

Maybe that is how it has been taken from the start of the thread and I just have missed it.

Last night was when I really noticed that Daniel Dae Kim's Korean isn't that great. My girlfriend is Korean and often speaks to her mother in Korean.
He speaks much more deliberately then they do (as in it's a pretty noticable second language for him). If you go to his website. http://www.danieldaekim.org
There's an article on there somewhere where he says he pretty much only knew "household" Korean and English was his primary language growing up.
It also confirms his family was from further South in Korea and hence he does have a different dialect than people from the Seoul area.




-Paul Jacobi-

Snowmaker, the 2 cast members I saw in town presumably filming scenes yesterday at the Chinatown shop (which MAY indicate their paths cross in a flashback) were .

Has anyone been able to translate what was written in Korean as Hurley was shown on the television?
I noticed the connection of Hurley in Jin's flashback, as well as Sawyer in Boone's and Jacks' dad in Sawyers'. Has there been others?
I could not believe it when Jin said it was too late to reconcile, I thought it was set up perfectly for them to try and work it out.
Great episode.

Yeah, that's the one bit that bugs me; either way, it's inconsistent.

Screw this show, I'm still trying to figure this out:





Just kidding. I really liked last night's show and was as surprised as anyone that Walt torched the raft.

Poor Hurley, I think his days are numbered... or he's going to find a giant cache of AA batteries.

I believe that was the whole point. She needed to say all that to him but she couldn't bear to have him hear it. I thought it was a fantastic scene.

das

I don't think he speaks English because there was the scene at the end where Jin says boat to Michael as a sign of "progress" in his character. Plus the fact that the title of the episode is lost in translation.
My take on the scene was that Jin had just been punched repeatedly and was not able to process sounds. Everything is a whirl of incoherrence until he sees Sun in the foreground and the voices fade and everything becames clear. The failure to reconcile I think is a plot device to give the characters more storylines.

I am predicting that Hurley has a down on his luck backstory until he hits the lottery or invents something that makes him rich.

I am now also counting a lot people on the island who have unresolved issues with their fathers i.e. Jack, Walt, Jin/Sun, Locke, Sawyer?, Kate?

If this was the intention (and it would certainly fit in nicely with the pun of the series-episode title combo), I think her delivery blunts the point a bit; the apparent spontaneity and force with which SK blurts it out makes it seems to me less to suggest internal struggle and compromise than simple desperation and a breakdown in emotional control.

Also, showing Jin speaking English would underscore the utter isolation he is in. On an island as the only non-English speaker he is alone and confused (and unable to bring himself to depend on Sun for anything).

I think that was also the point of the garbled dialog on the beach...not only is the situation out of control, he doesnt even know whats going on, who's on his side, who's against him, who's reasonable, who's an asshole.

He has no human connection to anyone but Sun, who he thinks hates him.

Maybe someone who understands the Korean language could provide an interpreation for what Jin was shouting at Michael (during the confrontation at the beach). I don't remember seeing any subtitles at that time. Sun did not provide an interpreation (other than saying Jin did not set fire to the raft). Michael did not understand what Jin was saying and it only made him angrier (resulting in the punches).

Can anyone help with the above??

Question about the Dog Sun gives Jin!!

Didn't Sun give Jin the puppy - then in Jin's Flashback we see the Dog full grown (showing a time change) - but then in Sun's flashback, the minister gives him the puppy and then what seems like days later - he is back in his apartment to send him another "message"

so what is the deal.

From thefuselage.com:

Jin (to Sun): You don't believe me either? (Michael asks, what did he say?) It's not me. It's not me. I didn't start the fire, okay?

During the fight:
Jin: When I walked by, your son was setting the fire. (watch Sun's expression after she hears this) My hand got this way when I tried to put the fire out.

After Michael asks Sun why Jin would run away if he didn't do anything, she says to Jin, amazingly enough, "He's asking why you ran away if you didn't do anything wrong."

Am I crazy to want to learn Korean so you can better understand a few lines in a TV show?

I'm thinking yes, but the other voices in my head say no...

I'm learning it now (to better communicate with my girlfriend's mother)
and it's a really pretty language.
I don't have nearly as much trouble reading the characters as I do pronouncing words....

-Paul Jacobi-