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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Would stores marked in English, make it more inviting for you to shop there?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was driving down Pleasant Hill Road the other night. I noticed how many Korean buildings had gone up over the last several months. It was kind of rainy that night, and with the iridescent glow of the signs written in Korean, it made me feel kind of like I was in a Chinatown in New York City or San Francisco. Korean script looks different than Chinese or Japanese script, and though I can’t read any of those languages, I can usually distinguish among the three.
I have seen the Korean population growing Gwinnett County, particularly in Duluth. The Korean people are nice, polite, and hard working. I note with some interest that I see more churches catering to the Korean people as well as businesses. I say good for them, and I wish them much success.
I thought about the different businesses that I passed by, wondering if they were restaurants, department stores, computer firms, what this strange language was trying to explain to me. But then I had a thought: how would I tell someone who was lost how to find his or her way?
Someone could call me, for example, and tell me that they missed a turn, and ask me which way they need to go. “Where are you now,” I would ask.
“I don’t know,” they would reply. “The buildings name is in Chinese or something like that.” Given that they would be on Pleasant Hill Road, that could be any number of buildings along the strip.
Take that one step further. What if the building caught fire, or building was robbed, or an ambulance is required. How would you tell them where to go? It’s bad enough that none of these buildings has any kind of street address marking on the building. We can’t read the language. How will we know where to go?
Norcross addressed this issue with regards to its Hispanic population. They passed a law that said that signs have to mark in English, as well as Spanish. It seems to me that we can do a similar thing in Duluth.
I have no wish to step on the toes of our Korean friends. However, in the interest of promoting communication between our unique cultures, I would simply like to find a way to assist those of us who do not read Korean provide services to the community. And maybe, in the process, I can buy some goods in a Korean grocery store. That is, if I know which of these stores sells groceries.
Would stores marked in English, make it more inviting for you to shop there?
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