Squid Game and the future of Korean language, pop culture

[dgc1970]

Godzilla would win Squid Game.

[Axon]

I'm not much of a show-watcher so I can't say anything to Squid Game, but I do feel that I'm influenced to learn languages at least in part by the pop culture awareness of that language. I was introduced to 1980s-1990s Japanese "city pop" a few years ago and although I'm far from a hardcore fan, it's been something I've enjoyed listening to and something that's helped push me toward starting Japanese. I'm not that interested in learning Korean at the moment, but I'm certainly much more interested in Korean than I would be if Korean pop culture was virtually unknown internationally.

There are still many adults in the Western hemisphere, even educated ones, who have little to no concept of really any East Asian country or culture beyond what's visible in their own countries. I think the success of Korean, Japanese, and eventually Chinese* media can only be a good thing to diversify the tastes and experiences of people who never would have taken notice otherwise. For all its problems, I think Netflix has been a major driver of this by making East Asian media immediately available to monolingual Western audiences without them having to go to a separate streaming site.

*Without derailing the thread, I urge anyone who last paid attention to Chinese pop culture more than five years ago to take another look. There's a world of difference in TV especially when it comes to the quality of what's available. I agree, though, that it's still far away from getting the kind of welcome that Korean pop culture is currently enjoying.

[Yunus39]

I teach Korean to people here in Europe and my entirely anecdotal data are my students. The age bracket is teenagers to young adults and all are female. They become interested in learning Korean due to Korean TV shows and music. I'm very happy for them, but I'm still waiting for forty year old men to answer my ads.

And K-Pop has more than just a niche appeal. There's been a K-Pop song in the Top Ten on the Billboard charts regularly for the last two years, and the current number one song on the billboard charts is a K-Pop song.

Can you show me on the billboard.com website? Are you referring to the collaboration between BTS and Coldplay?

Yeah, I'm talking about the Billboard Top 100. And I don't think "Butter" is a collab with Coldplay. Even if it is, it's pure K-Pop to my ears:
https://www.billboard.com/charts/the-bi ... 2021-07-03

I also looked at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_B ... es_in_2020
And this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_B ... es_in_2021

[Yunus39]

I teach Korean to people here in Europe and my entirely anecdotal data are my students. The age bracket is teenagers to young adults and all are female. They become interested in learning Korean due to Korean TV shows and music. I'm very happy for them, but I'm still waiting for forty year old men to answer my ads.

And K-Pop has more than just a niche appeal. There's been a K-Pop song in the Top Ten on the Billboard charts regularly for the last two years, and the current number one song on the billboard charts is a K-Pop song.

Can you show me on the billboard.com website? Are you referring to the collaboration between BTS and Coldplay?

Yeah, I'm talking about the Billboard Top 100. And I don't think "Butter" is a collab with Coldplay. Even if it is, it's pure K-Pop to my ears:
https://www.billboard.com/charts/the-bi ... 2021-07-03

I also looked at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_B ... es_in_2020
And this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_B ... es_in_2021

I had been distracted from my language learning by a music theory guy analyzing pop trends , which is why this was at the front of my brain along with the popularity of Squid Game.

[Jean-Luc]

K-pop and dramas are, of course, great incentives to learn Korean like Mangas for Japanese but attract mostly young people. Korean innovation and work made groups like Blackpinks or BTS, dance studio like 1 million dance or some dramas top world class. The market seems to be more mature and can attract older people but you have to dig in to find the gems as this industry was used to focus on younger people. Youtube and Netfix are bringing a tiny part of the Korean culture to the world because their "market" is the goal.

For over 50

A different k-pop group Mamamoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ELYg8XilJY
Some of my best of dramas (for French speakers or use an automatic translator https://labdeslangues.blog/2019/01/10/2 ... -a-tomber/ )

I have studied some Korean to understand how it works but choose for the moment Chinese instead for a deeper learning (with C-pop and dramas too

[breeda1]

I could definitely see Korean being a more popular language to study because of Korean media. Much akin to how most anime nerds at least attempt to learn Japanese once in their life. I wonder what Korean loanwords will enter our lexicon.

[Sayonaroo]

I could definitely see Korean being a more popular language to study because of Korean media. Much akin to how most anime nerds at least attempt to learn Japanese once in their life. I wonder what Korean loanwords will enter our lexicon.

glad you asked! https://www.npr.org/2021/10/14/10461050 ... korean-oed

[ShivChan]

I do not think this is a fad or phase but rather a trend that has been gaining momentum over the last two decades. For example, k-dramas have been translated/shared since the early days of the internet, the director of 'Parasite' Bong Joon-ho released his other well known film 'Memories of Murder' in 2003, the k-pop band BTS formed over 10 years ago, and some of the heavyweights of Manhwa such as 'Tower of God' and 'The God of Highschool' have been releasing for over a decade. These are only a handful of examples, if you delve deeper into the export of South Korean culture you'll notice a trend that's even been described in three generational waves; Hallyu, Hallyu 2.0 and now Hallyu 3.0. Will this translate into a trend of Korean language learners? most likely, as pop culture is something many of us wish to connect with and embrace.

[Lemus]

The most recent studies of American universities show that Korean is one of the only growth areas in language study. Twelve of the fifteen most commonly studied languages in the US are in decline, including the traditional heavyweights of Spanish, German, and French. Korean is one of the few to get additional course offerings at a time many universities are cutting language programs to the bone.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/201 ... ear-period

That is from 2016, so presumably the pro-Korean trends should be getting even stronger. The next report (due in 2023) I would have to imagine will show Korean gaining at an even faster clip.

While any interest in American students in languages warms my heart, I can't help but worry about the discouraging effects of students choosing to make Korean the first language they learn. How many of those K-drama fans enrolling in Korean 101 their first year at college are going to be overwhelmed and conclude that languages aren't for them? That's common enough with Spanish and French and Korean is massively more difficult than either.

[FyrsteSumarenINoreg]

Many people would prefer to watch it dubbed, just like I did...