K-pop isn't just music; it's a cultural phenomenon. Millions of people across the world are drawn to it for the catchy songs, the fashion, the music videos, and more. It's recently been increasingly popular in the West, first with Psy's Gangnam Style and now with BTS. Gangnam Style was the first YouTube video to achieve more than a billion views and that's out of all videos on YouTube, not just K-pop music videos.
For many, k-pop is an introduction to the Korean language. For me, repeated exposure to a language makes me want to learn it. Watching anime was what spurred me to take a Japanese course at university. K-dramas and K-pop got me interested in learning Korean, even before I met my husband, whose family is from Korea. The question is, then, can you actually use K-pop to learn Korean?
Why You Should Learn Korean With K-Pop
Language learning is most effective when you're motivated and engaged. For Korean learners who love K-pop, the music can encourage both of those things. You're more likely to stay interested if you're enjoying the learning process.
K-pop Is Engaging
Anyone who had to take a language course in school may remember dry, boring textbooks. While these may be informative, they don't really capture the attention and can make it more difficult to remember what you're meant to be learning. K-pop is different. If you already like the music, then you're much more likely to pay attention.
K-pop Has Memorable Lyrics
While many K-pop songs do have some lyrics in English, most are in Korean. That doesn't make them any less memorable. Plenty of fans who don't speak a word of Korean are able to sing along to their favourite songs. The catchy lyrics are also often repeated throughout the song, which can make it easier to pick out words you know as you start to learn.
K-Pop Helps With Pronunciation
If you sing along to your favourite K-pop songs and make sure to try to mimic the pronunciation, you can improve your own Korean speaking. Korean pronunciation can be difficult because there are several consonants that don't exist in English (Korean has three k sounds!). The more you practice the sounds, the easier it will get.
K-Pop Is Good Listening Practice
Practising your listening skills is an essential component of learning any language. If you use K-pop to learn Korean, then your favourite songs can become both entertainment and a learning resource. You've already likely spent hours studying this way without even realising it.
The Limitations of Learning Korean With K-Pop
Despite all of the advantages of using K-pop to learn Korean, there are some limitations. Enough that K-pop really ought not to be your only learning resource. It can be a great tool for learning Korean, but shouldn't be the only thing you rely on.
K-pop Is Too Informal
One problem with learning Korean with K-pop is that the lyrics tend to be really informal. So much so that if you speak with someone who isn't a close friend or a family member at that speech level, you'll be really rather rude. There are at least 8 different levels of politeness in Korean and it's important to know all of them. K-pop will limit you to the more casual ones that you wouldn't be able to use at work, with strangers, or in a classroom.
No One Talks Like That
On top of being too informal, no one actually really talks like K-pop lyrics. In English, your normal, everyday speech isn't anything like song lyrics. This can limit the practical applications of what you can learn through listening to K-pop.
K-Pop Vocabulary Is Limited
There are certain topics that come up a lot in songs: being in love with someone and recovering from a breakup are common themes. If you learn Korean exclusively from K-pop, then you'll have the vocabulary to discuss your romantic life in depth but may not be able to order something at a restaurant or navigate the train system.
K-pop Can't Teach You Grammar
Explanations of grammar in K-pop are few and far between. You may run across new grammar structures, but the song isn't going to explain to you how it works. You'd need another resource to learn it.
Not All K-pop Singers Are Korean
While most K-pop artists are Korean, not all are. Some are from Japan, Thailand, China, or elsewhere in Asia. A few K-pop groups have members who grew up in the West but are of Korean descent. This means that while most of the time, you'll be listening to native Korean speakers, there will be some idols whose native language isn't Korean. They'll have been coached in Korean pronunciation in order to debut if they weren't already Korean speakers, but there may be instances in which you won't be listening to 100% native pronunciation.
Tips for Learning Korean With K-pop
This isn't to say that you can't learn Korean with K-pop. You absolutely can use it as a supplementary resource. However, if you're serious about learning Korean, you'll need other learning materials. Here are a few tips for learning Korean that may help you.
1. Learn the Basics First
You can keep listening to K-pop throughout the entire learning process. However, I recommend learning the basics with a textbook, a teacher, or an app like Duolingo before you try to start using K-pop to learn. That way, you'll have a solid foundation of some base vocabulary and grammar beforehand.
2. Use a Variety of Learning Resources
There are 6 components of language learning:
Vocabulary
Grammar
Speaking
Listening
Reading
Writing
Not every language-learning resource is going to be good at all six of those things. Therefore, you may need multiple. K-pop can be a good resource for listening, for example, but wouldn't be the best method for learning grammar or vocabulary. Textbooks, Anki, Duolingo, and lessons with a native Korean speaker are all good ways to supplement your language learning.
3. Practice Speaking With a Native Speaker
Finding opportunities to practice using Korean is essential to your success. In fact, it's one of the two major factors that influence whether you'll be able to learn a language (the other is a desire to learn, which you've already got through K-pop). Because my husband and his family are all native Korean speakers, I do have access to more speaking opportunities than your average English speaker. However, I do still have a Korean teacher on Italki, whom I started working with to bridge the gap between my own Korean abilities and my in-laws so I wouldn't have to ask them to dumb down their Korean for me.
4. Study K-pop Lyrics
For each song that you listen to, take the time to study the lyrics. Look up words you don't know. If you don't recognise a particular grammar pattern, look that up, too. This can introduce you to new Korean even if it won't offer you an explanation for it. You'll get a lot more out of listening to a song if you know all of the words you can listen for.
Conclusion: K-Pop Is a Resource, Not a Teacher
If you're a K-pop fan interested in learning Korean, you can use your favourite songs to help you learn. However, K-pop should be just one resource of many that you use to learn. It's a tool, not a teacher. If you rely solely on what you can learn from K-pop songs, you will be limited in what you can learn.
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