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.
Comments
I remember that in high school I would religiously watch Korean comedians and prank channels on YouTube too. They are really entertaining and often have really well produced content.
I love Korean comedic shows, I remember some of my favorite were Gag concert and Infinity challenge. Its great that short form comedic clips/videos are on the trend, as I can watch these with little commitment. It was interesting to learn about the rise of these videos and what they entail