Hannah Esther Lee's Posts (43)
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This month, Isaac and I focused on advancing my Korean grammar and the structures that follow. The categories we went over are honorifics (존댓말), causative form, passive voice, complex sentence structures, advanced particles, subjunctive mood, advanced verb endings, and extended hanja learning.
For honorifics, I was already quite familiar with the concept because of my parents and relatives. Most sentences end with -요 and -다 and answers of 네. We went through many different verb endings such as 했어요, 합니다, and 습니다.
For the causative form (사동), I learned that I just have to add -게 하다 or -게 되다 to the end of the verb stem. This translates to the causes and influences of the verb due to an occurrence or someone. Passive voice, 피동태, -이/히/리/기 gets added to the verb stem to indicate that the subject is being acted upon.
We went over a lot of advanced sentence structures and particles to improve my writing skills. For sentence structures, I practiced using relative clauses, conditional clauses, and conjunctions like -면서, -기 때문에, -지만, which translates to: with, because, although.
For particles, phrases like -에 대하여, -에 따라서, -에 의하면, -만으로도 are used to express the relationship between words. The direct translation would be about that, because of that, according to that, just with that. I am able to explain in depth with these particles in my writing.
Although practicing these grammar structures improves my Korean language skills, the best practice is communicating with my partner. Having open conversation and continuous corrections, I can find my Korean improving in small increments.
This SDLAP journey that I took for three semesters has really helped me improve my Korean skills and prepare me for further language advancement. Although I will not have a Korean language partner, I continue to plan on finding sources and ways to improve my professional and advanced Korean language. I am hoping that I will be able to visit Korea soon to show my improvement and explore all the things that I have learned and seen in the media. I am glad I got this opportunity to join this class and not only learn Korean but also the optimal way of learning a language.
Korean culture festivals and events are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and in Korea. These festivals and events offer experiences related to Korean music, food, fashion, and more.
For music festivals, there are big concerts that promote each genre. The most well-known festivals include K-rap, K-pop, and Korean trot. Since the release of the show "Show Me the Money," K-hip hop has become very popular within the Korean community. Due to this, there are multiple joint events like Hip Hop Playa and Water Bomb. When I studied in Korea, I had the chance to go to the Hip Hop Playa festival. It was amazing to see all the famous rappers perform over two days. They also provided a lot of traditional Korean foods to enjoy while picnicking during the festival.
For K-pop, there are numerous concerts and festivals not only in Korea but also in America. The most well-known festivals are KCONLA, SEOUL FESTA, Dream Concert, and K-PLAY. As K-pop is growing internationally, K-pop groups also do many world tours, giving international fans a chance to watch them perform live. K-pop groups have also been invited to huge festivals in America. It is now common to see groups like Black Pink and Le Sserafim perform at Coachella.
Korean trot has gone viral in Korea due to a show called Mr. Trot. Since then, a show called National Trot Festival started airing in 2020. For those unfamiliar with trot, it is a genre in Korea known for its repetitive rhythm and vocal inflections.
Another popular Korean culture festival is the Korean food stand festival. The most well-known Korean food festivals include KoreaFest, K-Food Fair, and the LA Korean Festival. Although these Korean food festivals are held all over the United States, they are most common in Korean-populated states like California, New York, and New Jersey.
For fashion, Seoul Fashion Week is the biggest fashion event that happens every year. Because Koreans are highly into fashion, this is a week where all celebrities and influencers come to see the seasonal fashion.
This month, we went on a cultural trip with a few of the SDLAP members to NOVA, where more Korean stores, restaurants, and activities can be found. During this trip, we tried to recreate what a normal hangout in Korea would be like. We had Korean food, Korean desserts, visited a Korean bakery, and also did karaoke, which is a very common activity in Korea.
Our first stop was a boba shop. Boba (bubble tea) originates from Taiwan but is not widely spread internationally. In Korea, there are multiple famous boba shops such as Gongcha, The Alley, and Amasvin. Gong Cha is definitely the most popular with unique flavors. They have also expanded their chains here in America. Recently, they released a product of spicy rice cakes (tteokbokki) made with bubbles as a joke for April Fools' Day.
Our second stop was karaoke, which was connected to a cafe. Unlike karaoke in Korea, most karaoke places here are connected to a cafe or a restaurant, or they are open to the public. Additionally, the prices of karaoke in America are much more expensive than in Korea.
Our third stop was a Korean bakery. Korea is well known for its bakeries, as bakeries and cafes are popular hangout spots. Hanging out at these cafes is a big part of Korean culture, especially on a day off. Korean bakeries also use a lot of unique ingredients that are hard to find in American bakeries. A very popular ingredient incorporated into bread is red bean paste.
The fourth stop of our cultural trip was a KBBQ restaurant. KBBQ is the most popular Korean dish in America, so we had to experience a place where we cooked the meat ourselves. This place was an all-you-can-eat restaurant that provided a variety of meats, including pork, beef, and intestines. They also provided popular side dishes like kimchi, steamed eggs, hot soup, and potato salad.
After KBBQ, we also had shaved ice, which is a very common dessert in Korea. Shaved ice comes in various flavors such as mango, strawberry, red bean, and ingulmi (bean powder).
Our final destination was H-mart, one of the most famous Korean grocery stores in America. Among Koreans, H-mart is the most accessible and best Korean grocery store with the most authentic Korean products. They have a lot of frozen foods as well as fresh produce and meat that are hard to find in other international markets.
During my personal time this month, I have been reading a lot of articles and watching a lot of Korean YouTube videos. The topics vary from business to current events happening in Korea. Naver news articles are definitely my go-to resource for following up on the main events happening in Korea. YouTube is also my favorite resource for trending topics, slang, and events.
Dating shows have been a big deal in Korea, with the most popular ones being “Heart Signal,” “Exchange,” and “Single’s Inferno.” These shows have gained immense popularity both in South Korea and internationally. Each show has different themes and concepts to set themselves apart from competitors. Out of the three, I am a huge fan of “Exchange” and “Single’s Inferno.”
“Exchange” has the most unique theme, in my opinion, where ex-couples come on the show to go on dates with each other. The information about who the exes are is disclosed, which makes the show more interesting. One couple that dated for 6 years became really famous after the show. For the first time, a new couple was created, which I believe is still together to this day. “Exchange” part 2 is currently airing on Apple TV and is getting a lot of attention in Korea as well as in foreign countries. Some streamers in Korea are even becoming famous by creating reactionary videos of the show.
“Single’s Inferno” features attractive singles going to an island to survive and play games to earn a night off the island for a date. This show is very similar to the American show called “Bachelor in Paradise.” I watched a few episodes with one of my students, Chasey, and she pointed out some major cultural differences. Because Korea is more conservative, she found the interactions to be very awkward. While people on "Bachelor in Paradise" casually have more sexual interactions, Koreans mainly focus on their conversations and earning tickets for a date. It is very rare for these Koreans to physically interact with one another. Another difference is the outfits that the cast brings to the show. The level of scandal is very different in America and in Korea. People on "Bachelor in Paradise" usually only wear swimsuits and bikinis, while in Korea, they still wear revealing clothes but remain fully clothed. There was a lot of backlash when a Korean girl brought a scandalous pajama to the show. It seems to be a harsher setting for Koreans to be on these shows because they have to care a lot more about public judgment. While being flirty with each other, the cast still have to be conservative and cautious with their actions and appearances.
Overall, people on these shows tend to appear to increase their fame. Typically, if a person receives positive reviews, they become social media famous with a lot of sponsorships. A unique case was a guy named Dex, who is now a celebrity for his humor and attractive looks. These Korean dating shows are great examples of cultural differences and dating styles in Korea.
During this month I have been highly interested in Korean dishes and cooking. It required me to find all the ingredients that are commonly used in Korean dishes. I looked into dishes that were more traditional or consumed on a daily basis. Some exemplary dishes that I cooked were 된장찌개, 마라탕, 미역국, 칼국수, 수제비, 떡국. 된장찌개, soy bean paste soup, is a very popular and common dish that is served with rice. It is also easily seen at KBBQ restaurants as a side dish. 마라탕 (malatang) is a distinctive dish with Chinese paste in the soup. This dish has been a huge trend in Korean cuisine, a Chinese paste used for dry pot and hot soup pots. 미역국 is a seaweed soup that is typically served on birthdays. The one I made included small bits of beef. 칼국수 and 수제비 are very similar but made with different types of noodles. 칼국수 is made with regular flour or potato noodles that are typically thick and doughy. 수제비 is flatten noodles made with either flour or potato. The flour or potato are rolled out in sheets then ripped apart by hand, giving irregular textures. Finally, 떡국 is a rice cake soup that is consumed typically on the Korean lunar new year. I made this for my friends on that holiday with rice cake, dumplings, eggs, green onions, and seaweed.
This month, Isaac and I focused on 한자 (Hanja) which refers to Chinese characters that are used in the Korean language. Hanja influences various aspects of Korean culture such as language, literature, and education. I wanted to focus on Hanja because I remember it is one of the first things I learned during Kumon when I was a kid. Also, my father would always emphasize the importance of knowing Hanja growing up. He believed it was crucial in learning Korean.
Hanja started in the ancient times when the Korean peninsula was heavily influenced by Chinese culture and civilization. This influence and integration of the Chinese writing system happened during the 2nd century BC. It continued for centuries during the Goryeo dynasty and the Joseon dynasty until the 15th century when Hangul (the Korean alphabet) was created. But even after the creation of Hangul, Hanja is still considered for understanding and knowing the meaning and origins of certain Korean words. Even on the Korean dictionaries, we can see the reference materials on Hanja for the meaning and etymology of Korean words. Hanja also applies for personal names where certain words and characters are chosen for their meaning or auspiciousness.
Isaac helped me discover a lot of these Hanja characters and terms that are commonly used in daily conversations. Since we went over these during our meetings, I started noticing a lot more of them when I interacted with my partners and my Korean friends.
Korean Lunar New Year, or Seollal, is a significant holiday in Korea, typically celebrated in late January or early February according to the lunar calendar. It's a time to honor ancestors, gather with family, and wish for a prosperous year ahead.
During Seollal, one important tradition is Charye, where families offer food and drink to their ancestors as a sign of gratitude. This practice is meant to ensure the ancestors' blessings for the family's well-being. However, I believe that this depends on each individual family's tradition because some families are against this tradition due to religious values.
Another key tradition is Sebae, where younger family members bow to their elders to show respect. In return, elders bless them with prosperity and often give them money. This money that is given in an envelope is called “Sebaetdon” where Sebae is bowing and “don” is money. The style of bowing varies depending on gender, with different forms for men and women.
Food is a very big aspect of the Korean Lunar New Year. Some dishes that are typically consumed during this holiday are tteokguk, jeon, and galbi. Tteokguk is a beef bone broth soup with bits of beef, flat rice cakes, egg, and seaweed. To elevate the dish, some families put dumplings that were made the night before into the dish. Eating tteokguk during the Korean Lunar New Year is said to bring good luck and symbolizes growing another year older. Jeon are pancakes made with a variety of ingredients. The most popular kinds are thinly sliced beef, sausage, fish, assorted vegetables, and zucchini. Finally, galbi are marinated beef short ribs that are typically prepared overnight. All of these dishes require a lot of preparation and time. There continues to be problems with this preparation as women in the family are known to prepare everything.
In addition to Charye, Sebae, and traditional foods, Seollal is also marked by various cultural activities and performances. Many people wear hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, during Seollal to participate in these activities and to honor their heritage. For activities, the most common game we play is called 윳놀이 (Yunnori). Yunnori is played with four sticks that act as a dice and you move four tokens that are called 말 (horse). These sticks have one side that is flat and the other side is rounded. When it is your turn, you throw the sticks in the air (like a dice) and see how many land with the flat side facing up. There are five moves you could get. The first is “do” (meaning pig) where only one is flat, advancing one spot on the board. Second is “gae” (meaning dog) where two sides are facing flat, advancing two spots on the board. Third is “geol” (meaning sheep) where three sticks are facing flat, advancing three spots on the board. Fourth is called “yut” (meaning cow) where all four are landed with the flat side facing up. Finally, the last is “mo” (meaning horse) where all sicks landed with the round side facing up. You get into two teams and whichever team’s 말s complete the finish line first wins.
Overall, Seollal is a time for family, tradition, and respect, with rituals like Charye and Sebae symbolizing these values.
For this month, I have been scheduling with Isaac and making plans on how to advance my Korean. Because my Korean is at an advanced level, it is becoming harder to grasp what areas I should focus on. The most helpful practices that helped me improve last semester were reading Korean articles and watching YouTube videos. I am planning on getting into Korean webtoons which is a quick but effective way to learn Korean on a daily basis. I have also started the show called Singles Inferno which is a couple matchmaking show streaming on Netflix. The main objective of watching this show is to compare the cultural differences from American dating shows like the Bachelors. Through the way the couples interact with each other, we are able to see what cultural awareness they have when interacting with one another.
In terms of meeting with my partner Isaac, we have planned to meet once a week to go over some of the articles and have a discussion on the shows and videos I was assigned for the week. Additionally, we are planning on gathering with my partners to have Korean cooking sessions. The main source of instruction for cooking is the YouTube channel I mentioned in one of my cultural posts, Baek Jong Won’s YouTube. A dish that we made is “Bossam” (보쌈) which is boiled pork belly, served with rice and kimchi.
Another important part of my Korean learning journey is teaching my partnered students Korean. For this semester my students are Amy and Chasey. With Chasey, we are starting with the foundations of Korean. Helping Chasey learn the basics of Korean allows me to pinpoint specific details about Korean. One concept we recently discussed was the pronunciation of “ㄹ”. It is a very difficult pronunciation for English speakers because it is a combination of the sounds “l” and “r”. For Amy, I am providing her with business related articles that would advance her professional skills. This is helping my own language skills as I read these articles before assigning her with the resources.
I am excited to deepen my Korean language skills throughout this semester. I will be reading other posts for more inspiration on what I could possibly add to my Korean learning schedule. I would also like to find more resources that are used to teach Korean in Korean schools. The textbook that I am using, provided by Yonsei University, has been very helpful and will continue to be used this semester.
One of the most useful YouTube channels to follow is made up of relatable, scripted videos created by comedians. These comedians are using YouTube as a new entertainment channel since all the television channels have gone out of business. The reason why these videos are useful for learning the Korean language and culture is that they reenact specific situations and show how Koreans would react or go about them. They also teach a lot of slang and trends that are currently popular in the Korean community. These videos are also good for sparking discussions with fellow Koreans.
Some channels that I recommend to my friends and language partners are 쉬케치, 숏박스, and 180초. The first one, 쉬케치, features two female best friends who are also roommates. They touch on a lot of topics that Korean females experience on a daily basis, including gossiping, flirting with men, relaxing at home, getting ready for the day, and general friendship interactions. I have learned from these videos that friendship interactions are typically similar across cultures, but I have also picked up a lot of jokes and daily slang terms that I wouldn’t have thought of for my personal interactions.
The second channel, 숏박스, became popular for their videos about long-term relationships. They humorously depict interactions such as not putting much effort into anniversaries, focusing on their phones when together, and meeting each other’s family members. Once they became famous, they started other series such as brother-sister relationships, going out at night, and work settings to reach wider audience segments.
The third channel, called "second180," features two male main characters reenacting different attitudes people have when eating various foods. These videos not only showcase the variety of Korean foods but also the unique ways Koreans consume them. They also add a setting or situation that is happening during their meals to create a comical environment.
Overall, all of these videos are funny and easy to follow if you have a good foundation in the language. These comedians from different channels also collaborate to create more unique videos. Since each person has their own distinctive characteristics, it is fun to see how they support each other and create more unique videos.
In addition to these shorter YouTube videos, there are also longer videos that follow a storyline, similar to episodes of K-dramas. Some notable accounts include 진용진 and 짧은대본. These channels have a strong subscriber base where viewers can pay more to watch private videos. This is likely because viewers need to keep up with every episode compared to the shorter videos introduced above. For a short Korean and cultural lesson, I recommend the short, relatable videos.
I accidentally said SDLC 112 but it is for my SDLC 111 Final Presentation.
This month I focused on all aspects of my Korean skills and took it day by day. I tried to watch at least two Korean YouTube videos everyday to continuously familiarize myself with social Korean terms and phrases. I am currently watching a lot of vlogs, cooking videos, fashion trends, and mukbangs that include social interactions among the content creators. I also started multiple new Korean shows that I could watch during break. One of the shows that I am the most excited about is Single’s Inferno 3. It is quite shocking to see how these Korean shows are becoming so big in America. I also saw a new American Netflix show that replicated a Korean show called Squid Games.
To improve my writing skills and vocabulary using the book that we used while I studied abroad at Yonsei University. The topics that I mainly looked into are University terms. I learned a lot of terms that related to that topic such as lectures, dining rooms, and dorms. This book also helps me write in professional and formal styles.
Another aspect that I never thought of improving on was the lyrics for songs. Because I usually listen to Korean rap songs, it has always been difficult for me to understand what they were saying. I started catching myself focusing more on the lyrics which helps me improve my listening skills. Compared to American rap, it was interesting to see how Koreans rhyme their words. I started noticing more metaphors and meanings behind the lyrics.
For my reading, I just like to go on Naver.com to find blog posts or articles on topics that I enjoy. They are usually business related articles or blog posts on celebrities. I like to highlight words that I am not familiar with to ask my language partner or my parents. Reading both blog posts and articles allows me to see how to write in both casual and formal formats.
In my daily life I realize that my Korean is getting better through my casual conversations with my friends and family. I started preferring to speak in Korean rather than English to my Korean friends when jumping into a conversation. Other than a few words that I do not know in Korean, the conversations are fully in Korean. I also really like how I am able to teach others different words and phrases. Sometimes I even teach my parents trending slang terms and abbreviations that are new and trending. This semester was once again very productive within my Korean language learning journey.
One of the most important cultural aspects of Korea is the food and cooking. Since I moved into the apartments, I am able to cook whatever I can. So, I started learning how to cook a lot of Korean dishes. One of my favorite Korean dishes is my mom’s kimchi pork rib stew. However, kimchi is very hard to store due to its strong funky smell. My roommate once bought kimchi and we had to throw it out as the “stinky” smell was taking over the entire kitchen. Because of this I had to find new dishes that I could possibly make without disturbing anyone. One stew that is very similar to the kimchi stew is the gochujang stew. Gochujang is now a very popular sauce/paste that is used globally. Gochujang stew (jjigae) normally contains tofu, green onions, pork or stew meat, and mushrooms. I make this dish quite frequently whenever I crave jjigae. I also go to Trader Joes for frozen Korean food. They recently released frozen kimbap (Korean sushi) that went viral on TikTok, selling out immediately. Other than kimbap, they also have Korean bulgogi, dumplings, and gochujang.
A good resource for easy Korean food recipes is Baek Jong Won’s YouTube cooking channel. I first encountered his channel when I saw that my brother was relying on it whenever he was making a Korean dish. Baek Jong Won is one of the most popular cooks in Korea and owns multiple restaurants that are cheap and good. He also helps restaurants that are struggling by consulting for them and providing them with resources. He makes the tutorial videos easy to follow even when you have limited materials.
Korean food has been influenced by many other countries. To list a few popular ones there is jjajangmyeon (짜장면, black bean noodles) from China, ramen influenced from Japan, and a lot of Italian foods. One crucial part of a Korean meal are banchans (side dishes). But sadly it is really hard to create all these side dishes in a dorm apartment. There are a variety of side dishes that are unlimited including fish, meat, and just vegetables. Food is one of my favorite cultural aspects of Korea.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoABXt5mipg6mIdGKBuJlv5tmQFAQ3OYr
This month I focused more on the cultural factors than my reading, writing, and speaking aspects. While teaching my students, I had a request from Justin that he wanted to learn more about Korean history. During my search for sources he could use to learn more about the history, I found multiple YouTube channels that were not only educational but entertaining and funny. One of the best channels is an entertainment show called “Infinite Challenge” where seven comedians have to go through whatever challenges they are given. The challenge for the video I found was to make a rap song that contains different historical events that happened in Korea. This was a very good idea because it would bring awareness to Korean history while it is still entertaining, easy to listen to, and easy to understand. The video contains a famous history professor teaching Korean history to the Infinite Challenge members as well as famous Korean rappers. The professor gives brief background and information on historical events to be used when creating the songs. When the songs were released, it was a huge hit, dominating the top 100 songs chart.
Another YouTuber that I found is also a comedian who puts on a character as a professor. The theme of the content is teaching students (viewers) while sliding in humor to stop viewers from exiting the videos. The YouTuber 문쌤 also makes other funny videos but I think people like him because they know he is faking to be a professor. While learning about Korean history, I also learn a lot of slang terms and humor codes that Koreans find funny. Through these sources, I noticed that Koreans value comedy and it is a great way to easily reach important and heavy materials in an authentic way.
Other topics that I’ve been focusing on are K-beauty and K-fashion trends. As someone who is highly interested in Korean fashion (specifically Korean street style) and skincare, I always try to keep up with what is trending and what I would like to get during my next trip to Korea. One of my favorite YouTubers who post vlogs and fashion videos is Kim Movie. I remember she was very popular when I was in middle school because of her unique look and style. I recently bought a Korean brand purse that she recommended through the video. Since I am not able to explore Korea at the moment, watching Kim Movie’s videos provide me with a glimpse into life in Korea. She recently also posted a video of her exploring the area that I grew up in. I was able to see how much the area has developed. Because YouTube is the most trending platform in Korea, I think it is a great resource for everyone to learn about Korean culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi8hZFHdHDk
One of my favorite cultural aspects of Korea is the concept of Nunchi/Noonchi. Nunchi is a very difficult word to describe in English because there is not a specific translation to it. It is a unique concept that refers to the ability to understand the emotions, thoughts, intentions, and atmosphere of others and the space without any explicit communication. I really like this video of Korean Austrailians trying to describe this unique concept of nunchi. I definitely agree with them on how it is something that is passed through generations and something we learn from our parents growing up. I also think about it as a way to go about situations on whether or not my parents would approve of my behavior. It is definitely a crucial role in interpersonal relationships, communication, and overall harmony within the Korean community. It builds a deeper connection with others and a way I personally bond with other Korean people.
The key to understanding nunchi comes from your observations of others. These observations can include their facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, and the changes that occur in their behaviors and moods. It is a way of showing manners and I also believe that it is somewhat of a sixth sense that we Koreans consider in our daily lives. Nunchi not only takes an individual’s expressions but it can also determine the tension in a room. For example, it can apply to your workplace, family gatherings, and public spaces.
Nunchi is actually very important in social settings in maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships. Since Korea is very been with after work social settings such as 술자리 and 회식 (company dinners), nunchi is necessary to build your reputation. Sometimes it is even considered as a part of your ability to work at a company or school. Nunchi can be very challenging because it takes a lot to always be aware of your surroundings. It can definitely lead to some emotional labor. Also, nunchi can also result in negative ways as actions can seem fake. I think nunchi requires a good balance between being attentive but with self-care.
The history behind nunchi comes from Confucianism and its influence on societal norms. Nunchi roots from the importance of hierarchy, respect, and the social harmony that Korean culture puts an emphasis on. Due to these factors, nunchi became an essential part to climb the hierarchy and have respect for others. Although nunchi can sometimes be a stressful concept, I extremely appreciate it and this is an amazing trait someone can have.
During this month I have been continuing my journey in learning more business professional terms and concepts used in Korea. While reading multiple articles that are business related, I have learned a lot of methods that are very different from American companies. Jason provided me with a variety of different articles that were entertaining and on point with the emerging marketing trends. An example includes this article: https://m.blog.naver.com/jeu0312/222730787495
This specific article is called “디지털 마케팅 트렌드 가치 투자" which means Digital Marketing Trend Value Investment. The first time I read the article, I went through all the vocabulary terms that I am not familiar with. Here is a list of terms for this article that Jason helped me understand and translate:
가치 투자 마켓팅: value invest marketing
유의미: meaningful
염두에 두시고: in your heart, keep it to heart, keep it in your mind
성과: achievement
정의: justice/define
재화: goods/products
각광: spotlighted/highlighted
중시: 중요하게 여기다
OTT 서비스: streaming services
비롯하다: be originated from
상승세:rise
메체: medium/ platforms/ mass media
구축:construct a system
꼽히다:considered
관점: perspective (관람)
테크: technique
공모전: contest
공모작: product that you portray during the contest
출간된: publicate
매각:sale in a business format
창출: created
Then I would read it again with Jason, paragraph by paragraph and work on translating and understanding the article as a whole. I learned these new platforms that are currently trending when it comes to digital marketing. Those platforms are 뮤직 카우, 테사, and 요기페스 where companies use these platforms or promote in similar patterns to reach their audience and make investments.
Apart from these business articles, I have been continuously watching Korean YouTube videos that are short clips from entertainment channels or famous YouTubers. Topics I enjoy to watch are travel vlogs, mukbangs, recommendation videos, and workout videos. I tend to watch YouTube videos because I feel like it is the easiest way to reach current trends in Korea. I am also able to learn about the trends on specific content within the topics listed above. Relating back to my business skills, I learned a lot of ideas for marketing tactics if my audience were to be Koreans.
It is interesting to see how I can really learn deeper knowledge and content as my skills are improving. I am able to read and watch more complex videos, although there are numerous terms I am not familiar with. I think I will continue to read more articles, communicate with Jason with more advanced terminologies, and watch entertainment videos to learn more about the trends and casual conversations.
K-pop, shortened to Korean pop, is now a well known genre of music that people worldwide love and follow. The video that I have attached is actually a foreign YouTuber who makes videos on what typical Kpop fandoms look like. It is fun and interesting to see how these foreign fans are sometimes more knowledgeable about the K-pop culture than actual Koreans. This YouTuber shows highly detailed fandom activities and habits by targeting specific K-pop groups. K-pop has now reached its fourth generation with more groups and supporting companies coming up. I personally am more knowledgeable about the groups that appeared during the first and second generation and have lost track of the newly trending Korean pop culture. However, I can definitely tell that K-pop has evolved over the years. K-pop has been known for its catchy melodies, stunning visuals, and captivating choreographies as these companies make their potential idols go through rigorous training. I also would say that the help of the developing technologies have upgraded K-pop with their music videos, sound tracks, and auto tunes. Also, the members of the K-pop groups started becoming more diverse with members coming from different countries like China, Japan, America and many more.
I personally had a phase when I was a huge K-pop fan back in middle school. I always grew up listening to K-pop and was a fan of the second generation groups such as BIGBANG, 2NE1, and many more. My love for K-pop peaked in 6th grade when I encountered the group called EXO. At the time, EXO had # members and was known for their one-take dance choreography video and a diverse group of people. I used to collect their posters, CD albums, photo cards, stickers, and many more with their faces on them. When I think back at this behavior, I am a little freaked out on how obsessed I was with them. However, it is very normalized in Korea. The fandom these Kpop groups hold are enormous and somewhat creepy. For generations, K-pop idols have encountered numerous problematic situations where stalking and obsessions were out of their control. It is quite interesting how these idols have to hide their personal lives, especially when it comes to dating someone. The fans treated the idols as if they were their own significant other and would follow them around wherever they performed, did a meet and greet, or wherever they visited during their leisure time. Although there are some downsides within these K-pop fandoms, it is great to see improvements and the increase in popularity of the K-pop culture and the influence it has on the overall attraction towards Korean culture.
For the past month, I have been planning the semester and started focusing on specific areas that I am currently lacking on. My language partner, Jason, has been very helpful in figuring out the areas I should focus on to improve my fluency. These areas include fluency during casual conversation, knowing business terms and attitude, cultural knowledge, and general reading and writing skills.
The resources I am using for my Korean learning journey include business related articles, Korea trend focused articles, YouTube videos, and a Netflix show called “Moving.” Instead of having a specific day Jason and I meet, we have decided to meet whenever we are available throughout the week. We purposely did this to increase our times that we meet and to make it a welcoming experience. Another helpful resource is meeting up with my student, Henry. While preparing for his lessons, I also encounter a lot of new vocabulary terms and cultural factors.
For this month specifically, I have been heavily focused on business related Korean. As a marketing and business analytics major, I am currently applying for multiple jobs. One thing I have noticed is that a lot of these jobs require Korean fluency in consulting customers in Korea. To fulfill this requirement, I realized that I should know a lot of the business terms in Korean to communicate with other departments located in Korea as well as Korean customers. I have been using Naver.com to find marketing related articles and highlighting key terms to memorize. One exemplary article is called “온라인 마켓팅 필요한 이유.” It talks about different types of online marketing and the importance of it. Some vocabulary terms I learned through this article are
소비패턴 (spending pattern), 비중 (importance), 매출상승 (increase in sales), 파급력 (power of influence), 원고 (manuscript). Now I am able to write marketing ideas in Korean using these key terms, related to customer attraction.
Another reason why these business related articles are helpful is because I am able to see how and what platforms Korea uses to reach their audience. One interesting platform this article talks about is the usage of “Mom Cafes.” These mom cafes are a blogging platforms that usually, mothers get on to shared and receive information. I would have never thought that there was such a heavy community based platform that shares digital content.
https://blog.naver.com/easy-company/223160266830
Jason has also helped me in finding these business articles for me to read and provide a summary (요약) before our meetings.
For the next upcoming month, I am planning to start a show called “Mask Girl” alone during my free time. I will start off with keeping the Korean subtitles and slowly take them off so I can practice my listening skills.
Media / Live-streaming (Afreeca TV)
In one of my previous Ning posts, I have covered the topic of Mukbang. Mukbang is a type of content for live streaming, which has been very popular among Koreans for many years. Along with mukbang, other types of content include talk-bang, cook-bang, game-bang, study-bang, and girl or boy cams. These content names are abbreviations of the activities followed by “bang” which means room but also an abbreviation of bang-song (show). This popularity of live streaming all started with Korea’s own internet broadcasting platform, Afreeca TV. Afreeca TV stands for “Anybody can Freely Broadcast TV.”
After its appearance in 2006, the popularity of live streaming has greatly increased due to its ranking system and star balloons sent by viewers that convert to real cash. Viewers tended to send these star balloons as they were also ranked between other fans. There was an unwritten rule that streamers should have a signature reaction for their fans who sent the star balloons. These reactions included dancing, singing, or aegyo (expressing with a cute, baby-like manner). This platform became another influential community, allowing streamers to personally connect with their fans.
However, there seemed to be a limit of Afreeca TV as it was only used among Korean users and specifically younger users. A problem with the Afreeca TV platform is that it could tend to get very violent, disturbing, and inappropriate to attract more attention. Another controversy was that Afreeca TV did not treat their streamers fairly. Due to the falling Afreeca TV trend and appearances of competitive live streaming platforms, the popularity of foreign entertainment platforms started arising. Users started using YouTube, Twitch, Popcorn TV, and Kakao TV to reach their fans. YouTube has been around for a long time but now with different functionalities like live streaming and shorts. Twitch is mainly used for game-bangs (gaming) while still communicating with the viewers. Popcorn TV is an LLC that supports the development of the live streaming while incorporating free ads. Finally, the Kakao TV is a Korean based messaging platform but incorporated the live streaming process like Instagram.
The streamers were able to reach a wider audience using these platforms that were used worldwide. Some of these streamers became extremely popular, they started entering the broadcasting television shows. This transition also applied to broadcasting television shows. These shows would edit their episodes into shorter videos to stream on YouTube to attract more viewers and provide convenience.
One of the live streamers, Poongja, started off her career on Afreeca TV. Her typical content was talk-bang, sharing her personal experiences. When YouTube became the new trend, Poongja shifted from Afreeca TV to YouTube Live. She would also edit snippets from her live streams into full YouTube videos. After shifting to YouTube, Poongja started collaborating with other popular YouTubers to gain more attraction. She had also broadened her content by putting up mukbangs and makeup videos. When she reached a high number of subscribers, Poongja started appearing on television shows. These live-streaming/video content platforms started blurring the line between all different types of entertainment platforms. I believe that the shift of the fast-paced media has greatly affected this transformation.
