Loved how Jin understood what Sayid and Sun were planning and told them plainly to stop lying to him. Great scene. Still not sure it can be said that his comprehension of English is getting better though. He could've known they were lying to him just from reading their facial and body gestures, which were so obvious.

"Safe?" Jin's first new word of the season.

i know there are so many things pointing against it, but i totally wanted him to say "yeah, i could speak pretty good english all along" just to see her face.

I think this is just the nature of learning languages. Especially when you're immersed in it, and sort of forced to have to learn the language.

Shoot, I remember I was always worse at speaking new languages than reading/writing/understanding them... there are different paths in your brain for understanding versus speaking a language, and being able to pull everything together, essential for speaking a language, is much harder than simply hearing a language and working to make sense of it afterwards. In this sense, I'm sure Jin could pull together a sentence if we gave him a really long time, in the similar way that I can pretty much get the gist of what's going on in Latin soap operas, but it would take me a while to piece together a cohesive sentence in Spanish. (even after 3 years of study lol :( )

Has Jin been leading a double life? I know Sun gave Jin a book of english words but I'm sure Jin couldn't speak english overnight.

If I'm not mistaken, Jin said his english is pretty good - better than his wife thought? Is Jin holding out? Is it possible Jin knew english BEFORE Sun gave him the book?

First of all, the mis-type in this thread title makes this all just so awesomely funny. Second, Jin just said he understands English better than his wife thinks. He still can't speak it, he's just picking up on it.

I think if he understood English, he wouldn't have 'held back' when he was stranded with Michael and Sawyer.

Shoot, I remember I was always worse at speaking new languages than reading/writing/understanding them... there are different paths in your brain for understanding versus speaking a language, and being able to pull everything together, essential for speaking a language, is much harder than simply hearing a language and working to make sense of it afterwards. In this sense, I'm sure Jin could pull together a sentence if we gave him a really long time, in the similar way that I can pretty much get the gist of what's going on in Latin soap operas, but it would take me a while to piece together a cohesive sentence in Spanish. (even after 3 years of study lol :( )

I think the reverse also applies. If you stop using a language skill your ability to speak it will deteriorate much faster than your ability to comprehend it.

I'm so glad they have Jin understanding English now. I hope he is speaking complete sentences by the end of the season!

It tickled me that he let them know he could understand much more now than he had been able to and it made me feel better for him too. I remember last year during "The Whole Truth" episode feeling so bad for him when they were congratulating him on Sun's pregnancy. He just may be the Lostaways ace up their sleeve in dealing with the Others. :)

I have a daughter who is nearly two years old, and I have been watching her acqusition of language (both understanding and speaking). I know it is very different as an adult learner, but I found this part fascinating...

I would have loved it if Jin blurted out "I can speak english properly now"

that would have been a fun situation

I would have loved it if Jin blurted out "I can speak english properly now"

that would have been a fun situation

I think that would have made even Sayid jump, not to mention giving Sun a heart attack.:)

I had a friend who lived with a family in Mexico for a year just to immerse himself in the language. It was amazing how well he could speak Spanish when he returned to the U.S.!

I did wonder, however, if Jin is also experiencing some of the "healing" properties of the island. It reminds me of when Rose confided with Locke that they both knew it wasn't going to take Locke long to heal...maybe it (the island) is also speeding up Jin's ability to understand English.

Using my limited comprehension of Korean I rewatched the exchange between Jin and Sayid & Sun. I was hoping Jin used some Korean profanity in talking about the "Others". Sometimes network TV slips up in terms of censoring profanity in foreign languages. No such luck here. Jin just referred to the "Others" as
those Guys/People. I don't even recall Jin using any profanity on Jae Lee, while he was beating him up.

First of all, the mis-type in this thread title makes this all just so awesomely funny. Second, Jin just said he understands English better than his wife thinks. He still can't speak it, he's just picking up on it.

I think if he understood English, he wouldn't have 'held back' when he was stranded with Michael and Sawyer.

agreed. gestures/ expression can help alot with understanding.i dont think he knows enough to speak fluent sentences either, or even understand everything, but he can probably pick up the general thread