Last time I tried to learn Korean by watching 무한도전. But even though I watched several episodes, translated unknown words, and tried to use them in a real life dialogue, it just didn’t work out that well. It was hard to apply many of these words since they barely even fit in an actual dialogue. So instead this time I listened to Korean songs. It’s not like I didn’t before, but this time I actually looked up the lyrics and tried to find out what they meant. Before I would read the lyrics and just follow along without actually understanding them.
I found myself learning a lot more Korean since I would listen to these songs multiple times, often more than once a day, and follow along. Listening to modern songs in Korean also helped a lot since there was a lot of modern slang and terminology in these songs. And of course, with modern songs the lyrics are far more applicable to the real life. Often I would listen to Korean rap and R&B songs over the mainstream Kpop songs. In my opinion, listening to these songs was far more beneficial because 1) they align with my music taste well. So listening to them constantly and trying to follow along wouldn’t become a problem or tiring. 2) the songs generally seem to have more Korean lyrics than mainstream Kpop songs which have an incredible amount of English integrated into them. 3) Songs from these genre contain a lot of slang in Korean. Some of these include contractions, similar to English where two words are combined in a shorter form. But unlike English these words aren’t actually real words and are just used in modern speaking. Although this might seem contradictory to actually learning the language, it helps me understand the language in the context of the real world which allows me to actually understand Korean in the modern world.
Outside of just listening to the songs though, I would try to use these new words in a real life dialogue once again. But as mentioned before, they were far more easy to apply in them than the words from a Korean variety show. Clearly to me, this method was very productive and helped me learn a lot in a surprisingly short amount of time. Part of it was probably because I thoroughly enjoyed what I was learning with. Listening to songs that I’ve never heard before and looking up the lyrics and its meaning was actually an enjoyable process. Not only did I learn more Korean that was useful, but it also showed me new songs that fit me well.
Comments
Your decision to focus on modern songs, with their prevalent use of Korean slang and contemporary language, aligns well with your goal of understanding the language in real-world contexts. The incorporation of contractions and informal expressions from these songs provides a practical and relatable aspect to your language learning experience.
Moreover, your strategy of listening to songs multiple times, delving into the lyrics, and actively trying to follow along has proven to be effective. The repetition, combined with the enjoyment of the music, likely contributes to the retention of new words and phrases. It's interesting how your preference for Korean rap and R&B, which aligns with your musical taste, has made the learning process both engaging and sustainable.