HEAD VS. HEART
Many people familiar with both English and Korean would agree that if English is language of the head, Korean is the language of the heart. English tends to have clean and clear distinction between definitions, whereas Korean is much more subtle and subjective. A telling example of this trend may be found in the words describing different colors.
On an objective level, there are relatively purely Korean color adjectives. In addition to black and white, the spectrum is divided up into the 3 primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. The same word p'uruda, can be used equally effectively to describe both green grass and a blue sky.
The subjective level, however, is where Korean colors shine. Using consonants of different strengths, vowels of different colors, and various suffixes added to the adjective stem, the Koreans can express how a certain color makes them feel. The extent and subtlety to which this is possible goes far beyond the difference between "blue" and "bluish" and is in fact one of the characteristics that makes the Korean language unique. Similar shades of distinction are made in words describing tastes. Koreans at first have a hard time believing that English speakers use the same word "hot" to describe both coffee and chili peppers.
EGO
From a Korean perspective, the English speaker is decidedly ego-centric. He speaks of "my home", "my house", "my mother", "my school" and "my country", while a Korean sees these as a group of people (family, students, or citizens), and always precedes them with a possessive pronoun without 'our'. Ask Korean about his job, and he will usually tell you first what company he works for, then what section he is in and what his rank is.
From a Korean perspective, the English speaker is decidedly ego-centric. He speaks of "my home", "my house", "my mother", "my school" and "my country", while a Korean sees these as a group of people (family, students, or citizens), and always precedes them with a possessive pronoun without 'our'. Ask Korean about his job, and he will usually tell you first what company he works for, then what section he is in and what his rank is.
An English speaker, on the other hand, will most likely first tell you what he personally does ("I'm an electrician"etc.). To the Korean, membership in a particular section or company is of primary importance, while to the English speaker, his own skills or duties come first, and the company is seen as an entity for which he provides a service and from which he expects due compensation. The contrast between Eastern self-assertion is also evident in the way Koreans and English speakers express subjective judgments.
In general, the English speaker makes himself the subject of the sentence, saying " I like chocolate", or "I hope it rains", while the Korean makes the object of judgement the subject of the sentence, saying "(As for me) chocolate is good", and "It would be nice if it rained."