"Isn't Three Days Four Days?" Controversy Puzzling... Most Say "I Have High Literacy"

80% "No Difficulty in Reading and Understanding at All"
"Almost Never Reads Books" 40% Respondents

As modern people are increasingly distancing themselves from the habit of reading, many still rated their own literacy skills as high.

On the 23rd, Embrain Trend Monitor, a market research company, conducted a 'Literacy and Questioning Skills Perception Survey' targeting 1,200 men and women aged 13 to 69 nationwide, revealing that many respondents rated their communication and literacy skills highly.

At the same time, while recognizing the importance of 'good questions,' respondents also showed signs of fear when it came to asking and answering questions.

Although respondents rated their literacy level as high, younger age groups tended to find news content difficult to understand

Among all respondents, 8 out of 10 (79.8%) self-assessed that they have no difficulty reading sentences and understanding their meaning.

However, 75.3% of respondents said they do not usually read paper newspapers, and 39.9% said they rarely read books.

Especially among teenagers, the proportion of those who engage with written content through paper newspapers or text media was even lower, and there was a notable tendency to consume news mainly through videos (teenagers 29.5%, 20s 10.5%, 30s 5.0%, 40s 5.0%, 50s 8.5%, 60s 7.5%).

While teenage respondents answered that they do not feel difficulties due to literacy, they reported a higher rate of encountering too many incomprehensible parts when reading news articles (teenagers 26.0%, 20s 16.0%, 30s 10.5%, 40s 15.5%, 50s 17.0%, 60s 12.5%) and too many unfamiliar words (teenagers 24.0%, 20s 16.0%, 30s 10.5%, 40s 12.0%, 50s 13.0%, 60s 14.5%) compared to other age groups.

In fact, recently, the 'MZ Generation Literacy Controversy' has emerged. The 'Sah-eul Controversy' is a representative example. It started when many people misunderstood the pure Korean word 'sah-eul,' meaning three days, as 'four days' and asked, "Why is it written as 'sah-eul' when it means three days? Isn't this incorrect?"

There were also repeated controversies related to Sino-Korean words, such as "Why is a serious matter called a 'simsimhan apology' (deep and sincere apology), is this a joke?" (misinterpreting the Sino-Korean word meaning 'very deep and earnest' as 'boring and uninteresting').

In response, Embrain stated, "If people do not practice reading texts through news or books regularly, they may face greater difficulties in communication, which is a cause for concern."

'Good questions' are valued, but... "Korea has an atmosphere where asking questions is not easy"

[Image source=Pixabay]

Overall, the importance of 'good questions' was highly appreciated. Eight out of ten respondents (76.8%) agreed that 'good questions' lead to 'good answers,' and 74.3% agreed that sometimes unexpected questions provide valuable insights.

However, in daily life, actively asking and answering questions was not common.

There was a strong perception that in Korean society, people who ask many questions are seen as eccentric (68.3% agreement), and respondents showed fear of receiving difficult questions (49.0%) and found people who ask many questions burdensome (42.3%).

Additionally, 78.8% of respondents felt that it would be difficult to develop questioning skills in Korea’s education system, which is centered on rote learning.

Embrain explained, "The rote learning system in Korean society appears to be a cause that makes active questioning difficult. As conversational artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, the ability to extract 'key information' will become increasingly important, so interest in study methods that can enhance 'questioning skills' may grow."