Korean culture is hugely popular thanks to Korean cultural exports like music, cinema, and TV. Some of the most popular Korean TV is K-dramas.
To vastly oversimplify, K-dramas are Korean drama TV shows, but there's so much more to them than that and they can actually be a really useful resource for studying the Korean language.
Let's take a look at what makes K-dramas so popular, how you can learn Korean, and how you can improve your Korean with your favorite K-drama.
Why Are K-dramas Popular?
If you're new to K-dramas or haven't ever seen one, you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. There are a few reasons they're so popular, though.
K-dramas tend to feature compelling storylines complete with twists and turns with character development woven into the plotlines. While these shows are definitely Korean with the native Korean culture prominently on display, there's also something universal and relatable to them, which is why they're popular both inside and outside of South Korea.
South Korea's concerted effort to promote and export its culture has been going on for decades and K-dramas are more visible than TV shows from other countries thanks to the efforts of cultural associations and the national government.
Combine very watchable shows with lots of global promotion and they're bound to be popular. K-dramas are also helped by streaming platforms that allow people from all over the world to watch them with subtitles or dubbed versions of the shows.
K-dramas are also really bingeable and if you enjoy them or are thinking about watching them, don't forget that they're also a useful tool for learning more about Korean culture and studying the Korean language.
How to Learn Korean
Before we explain how K-dramas can help you learn Korean, we need to understand how we learn languages because learning any language can be quite a challenge and Korean is notoriously difficult for English speakers to learn.
We also have to be clear that watching K-dramas shouldn't be the only way you learn Korean and while it definitely can help in a big way, there are lots of other things you really need to be doing to master the language.
Set a Clear Language Learning Goal
Before you start learning a language, you need to have a goal in mind. While this goal might change or evolve over time, it definitely helps when you start as it'll inform the kind of resources you use, how much time you dedicate to learning the language, and even the K-drama you choose to watch while you do.
In many ways, language learning is like any other skill in that you have to practice regularly to get better at it. The brain is also like a muscle so not only do you need to exercise it regularly, but rest is also an important part of getting the best results.
Learning a language takes hundreds or thousands of hours of work and study so before you set your goal, work out how much time you can dedicate to it.
Choose Appropriate Resources
The best resources are the ones that work for you. It's better to learn more slowly with enjoyable resources than get sick of learning altogether.
There are plenty of apps like Duolingo, Memrise, and Drops that can be used to get started. You can also attend language classes or work with a private tutor and don't forget that books and websites can be used to better understand the intricacies of Korean grammar.
Practice Every Skill
Korean is a language with both a spoken and written form and you'll need to learn how to understand both these forms and also use them.
The four main skills are speaking, listening, writing, and reading and how much you do of each will depend on your goals, but you still have to practice every single one of them to some degree as they're all related.
As you'll see shortly, K-dramas can help the most with listening to or reading Korean, but what you learn from them may also be useful in conversation or when you have to write in Korean.
Learning Korean with K-Dramas
Immersion is one of the best ways to learn a language and by doing as much as you can in Korean every day, you'll learn far more quickly.
Rather than watching shows in English (or another language), you should focus on consuming as much media as you can in your target language. Fortunately, South Korea produces a lot of great television, including K-dramas, that you can easily integrate into your language studies.
While every student is different, here's how we'd go about learning Korean with K-dramas.
Pick a Show
Before you sit down and watch a K-drama, it's a good idea that you do some research. You'll want to pick shows that are appropriate to your level and something that you'd enjoy.
It's pointless picking a show that you won't enjoy or something that you'll stop watching after just a few episodes. If you do drop off a show, make sure to pick up another show rather than just give up.
There are too many to list here, but if you have access to any streaming services, you can easily search for K-dramas or Korean shows and see what's popular.
Start with English Subtitles
If your Korean is very basic or you're just getting started, nobody expects you to fully understand a show that's entirely in Korean.
When you start watching your first K-drama, watch with English subtitles, but don't watch English dubs of shows because you won't see or hear any Korean!
After a while, you'll start to notice and hear common Korean phrases. You need to train your brain and familiarize yourself with how Korean sounds so even with English subtitles, you'll be learning a bit of Korean.
Pay Attention and Take Notes
While you can just passively watch a show, it's a good idea to pay really close attention to whatever you're watching. Don't watch while also scrolling through your social media feeds!
You can pause the show, take notes, and even rewind back to certain parts to hear and practice new phrases and expressions.
Test Yourself
After an episode, you can test yourself on what you've learned. If you think you've worked out what a certain expression means, look it up. Consider writing down the vocabulary that you learned and seeing if you remembered it by the end of the episode.
Testing yourself is an integral part of learning any language so regularly make sure that you remember new vocabulary, understand grammatical structures, and work on the four main skills that we mentioned earlier.
Shift to Korean Subtitles
Once you reach a decent level in Korean, you won't require English subtitles. While you won't automatically understand every word even with the Korean subtitles, it's much better to read what you're hearing and see how it's written in the Korean writing system.
The shift to Korean subtitles not only forces you to better understand the dialog but also allows you to get better at reading Hangul. However, because of the different writing system, it does mean that this shift will probably take longer for those learning Korean than those learning a language that uses the Latin alphabet.
Watch Regularly
If you've decided to use K-dramas to improve your Korean, then you need to watch them regularly to enjoy the benefits.
Watching a show in another language is complicated enough without having to try and remember what happened in the previous episode so don't leave too much time between each time you sit down to watch your favorite K-drama.
Turn Off the Korean Subtitles
Once you have a good ear for Korean, you can completely turn the subtitles off. After all, when you speak to people in real life you won't have subtitles so it's good for your listening comprehension to not be able to read along with the dialog.
Get More Help Learning Korean
In addition to watching K-dramas, you can also watch Korean cinema, listen to Korean music (K-pop, for example), and take Korean classes.
You can learn Korean with private tutors, too, and whether you prefer working face-to-face with a private tutor or online tutoring with a tutor in South Korea, a quick search on Superprof can help you find plenty of great tutors.
Your tutor can even suggest which K-dramas you should be watching and help you pick ones that you'll enjoy and shows that are right for your level. In fact, they can help you with recommendations for movies and music, too, and even explain the historical and cultural factors behind the rise in popularity of Korean cinema and Korean music.
Generally, face-to-face tutors will charge more because they have to travel to their students, but there are tutors for all levels and budgets on the platform and with many offering the first session for free, you can try a few out before choosing the right one.
In addition to learning the language, you can gain access to Korean culture through your tastebuds. By hiring a cooking tutor that specializes in Korean cuisine, you can travel the world from the comfort of your kitchen!
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