In this modern digital world of streaming, there are few people who have never seen a K-drama. Squid Game is the most-watched show in Netflix history. Crash Landing on You converted millions of new people into avid K-drama watchers. It seems like every other day a new K-drama is in the top 10 most watched shows on Netflix.
What I am trying to say here is K-dramas are big! They are popular in every meaning of the word. The fact that they are popular and so widely accessible makes them a great tool to learn Korean.
But, it's going to take a little more work than just turning on a K-drama on your favorite streaming platform and binging it. In this blog, I am going to reveal all of the tips you need to know to learn Korean from K-dramas and recommend K-dramas that are especially good for Korean language learners.
Tips to Learn Korean from K-dramas
If you are an avid K-drama watcher, you might have noticed that just by watching K-dramas with English subtitles, you can pick up on some Korean words here and there. You might have even caught yourself using some of these words. But, what if I told you that you can pick up 10 times the amount of words you are currently learning and much more by following just 5 simple tips…
Dual Subtitles for Netflix
If you are a beginner or even an intermediate Korean learner, it might be difficult to understand K-dramas without English subtitles. But, if you watch K-dramas with just English subtitles, it becomes easy to tune out the Korean that you are supposed to be learning. To learn Korean from K-dramas, it is important to understand what is being said and also focus on the Korean in the show.
A solution I have found for this is downloading an extension to your browser that allows dual subtitles on Netflix. If you use Chrome as your go-to browser you can do this by simply googling ‘dual subtitle extension’ into the search bar and downloading an extension that pops up in the results. There are a few different extensions available, so you might want to try a few out to see which one you like best.
After downloading an extension, watch a K-drama on Netflix in your browser. While watching, listen for any words you don’t know and compare the English subtitles to the Korean to learn the meaning of words and get a sense of how Korean sentences are formed compared to English ones.
If you watch a whole drama like this, I guarantee you will learn double the amount of Korean than you might have learned by watching the show with just English subtitles. Here are a few links to Netflix extensions. Open in a new tab and continue reading this article, I promise the tips get better and better!
Netflix Dual Subtitle for Learning Languages: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/netflix-dual-subtitle-for/oejbkdefifpkcldpkdfkhigapiifmjcl
Dual Subtitles for Netflix:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dual-subtitles-for-netfli/ljnmedkgcgidbbjhbkdonempgcgdhjfl
Listen and Repeat
While watching a K-drama, pay attention to the actors and actresses' intonation and diction. Then, try to imitate it. What I like to do while watching a K-drama or Korean movie is listen to a line be said and then pause and go back and listen to it again. I then follow the exact intonation that the actor or actress uses. I also try to copy their accent exactly.
I then repeat this cycle of rewinding and copying until I feel satisfied that my pronunciation and intonation are the same as the actor or actress’s. It might be a big task to do this with a whole K-drama episode but doing it every 5 minutes or so makes the task more digestible. If you do this frequently, you will see an improvement in your pronunciation, diction, and intonation.
Set Goals Before Watching Korean Media
Just like with anything you do, you are likely to be more successful in learning Korean from K-dramas if you set a goal before doing it. Before I watch an episode of something I like to set a few goals for that episode. For example, while I watch this one episode I want to learn 10 new words, repeat 10 lines, and notice 3 examples of the grammar I have been learning.
Now when I watch my episode, I can be more focused on the Korean aspect of the show because I have my goals in mind. Make sure when setting your goals that you are being realistic. Don’t make a goal to write down every word in an episode that you don’t know. That will take way too much time and take the joy out of watching the K-drama.
Extra tip: Have a notebook and pen handy when watching a K-drama. Right down your goals and everything you learned from the episode in your notebook. This will help you stay on track when watching a K-drama and also assist in retaining the information that you learn.
Pick Media That Fits Your Level and Interest
There are many different kinds of K-dramas to pick from. K-dramas vary in length, genre, seriousness, etc. When picking a drama to watch you should consider your interests and your Korean level. If you like romance and comedy, pick something in that genre, or you might get bored and give up on the drama.
However, when picking a genre, be aware of your Korean level. If you like crime dramas, you might find it more difficult to find a K-drama that is not filled with crime and law jargon which will make watching and understanding the drama more difficult.
As a general rule, if you are watching a K-drama not just for pleasure but to learn from, avoid medical, crime, and law dramas. These dramas tend to be filled with jargon that frankly, is not worth learning unless you are an advanced Korean student because you will likely never use it.
Talk to Others About the K-dramas You Are Watching
Talking to others about the K-dramas you are watching makes watching them even more fun. When you discuss dramas with friends it gives you the motivation to finish the dramas you started and provides opportunities to talk about the Korean you learned. This helps you retain the stuff you learned.
If you don’t have any friends who share your interest in K-dramas, check out the website Hilokal. Hilokal makes it possible to talk with people from all over the world who are native Korean speakers or learning Korean themselves. There are tons of people who love K-dramas on Hilokal. You can even start your own chat to discuss your favorite drama and allow others to join.
Here are some popular K-drama community groups on Hilokal. They are active and you can drop into audio calls with other avid K-drama watchers anytime:
Tips for Picking a K-drama
Not all K-dramas are created equal and not every K-drama is ideal for a beginner Korean learner. Follow these tips below to pick out a drama that is best for you and your Korean goals.
Pick Dramas Based on Your Goals
As I wrote above, setting goals before watching a K-drama will increase the amount you learn. To be even more effective in your Korean studies, try choosing a K-drama based on your goals rather than setting goals after you have already committed yourself to a drama.
If your goal is to learn vocabulary, pick a drama that includes the type of vocabulary you want to learn. For example, if you want to become more equated with slang, try picking a lighthearted drama with young characters. If your goal is to improve pronunciation, avoid dramas with a lot of dialect or fast dialogue.
Pick Dramas That Will Keep You Engaged to the End
K-dramas can get quite long depending on the series. One episode is usually 1 hour long and seasons can go for 20 episodes or more. Personally, I often get bored after 10 episodes and quit in the middle. Then, I lose interest in K-dramas for a while until a new plot sucks me in for a bit and then the cycle repeats.
You might have noticed that some of the most popular K-drama series on Netflix are only 8-10 episodes long. I’m convinced that part of these dramas’ popularity is because they are a digestible length. When picking a K-drama to watch, be aware of your attention span and how likely you are to watch 20 hours of a series.
Picking a series that matches your episode capacity will help you stay engaged throughout the drama you are watching and keep the motivation to watch and learn from K-dramas regularly.
My Recs
Having read all these tips now, you might be thinking "Where do I even begin to find a drama that fits my interests, is at my level, matches my goals, and is popular enough to talk with others about?”. Well my friend, don’t worry and certainly don’t fear.
I am here with my top recommendations of K-dramas for Korean learners to start you on your K-drama language learning journey. Here are some of my favorite Korean dramas that kept me engaged the whole time and motivated to learn Korean.
- Squid Game
I know, obvious. This drama has broken multiple records around the world and is the most-watched drama on Netflix,..ever. So needless to say, if you haven’t seen Squid Game already, you need to watch it right now!
This drama is great for Korean learners because there isn’t too much jargon and is super entertaining. I guarantee you will not lose interest at any point in this drama.
- My Name
If you like crime and action shows, this drama is for you. It is about a girl whose dad dies while he is undercover in a gang. She vows to take revenge and joins a gang to learn how to fight.
This series is short with only 8 episodes, but with all the twists and turns, you will wish it had 8 more. This drama is accessible to a Korean learner because there is minimal jargon and moderately paced dialogue.
- The Glory
Have you ever thought, “I wish I knew more swear words in Korean, and I wish I could learn them by watching a woman take revenge on her high school dummies.”? If you have thought these exact words, then you are a peculiar human being, but also the right fit for this drama. This drama is epic. Amazing. Enthralling. Stunning. Emotion-inducing. I could go on and on.
It was written by one of the most famous drama writers in Korea and amassed a huge following in Korea when it came out. I do warn you though, that this drama is not for the feign of heart, and whether you set out to learn swear words or not before starting this drama, you will inevitably learn them. I think it consists of around half the dialogue.
- The World of the Married
Simply a classic. This drama took Korea by storm when it was released in 2020. It’s all everyone was talking about. Everyone watched it, old people, young people, dogs. Everyone. It broke multiple records and became the highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history. Nearly 30% of the country tuned in to watch the last episode.
This drama follows the life of a middle-aged woman as she finds out that her husband is cheating with a much younger girl. There are multiple twists throughout the series that tug at your heartstrings as you root for the main character. The World of the Married has minimal Jargon and uses standard everyday language, which makes this drama good for Korean learners.
- Vincenzo
Are you a comedy fan and also a Song Joong Ki fan? Who isn’t? Vincenzo is a must-watch for K-drama fans. It is incredibly funny and yet still manages to have a plot that draws you in. This drama is about the son of the head of the Italian mafia. Upon the death of his father, he returns to South Korea where he has had his father’s wealth buried underneath an apartment building.
The main character soon gets wrapped up in the lives of those who live in the apartment building as he figures out ways to extract his father’s gold. This drama uses standard language and is full of great lines that will make the average Korean learner excited to learn.
- Reply 1988
This drama is another light-hearted drama. It follows the lives of 5 families that live on the same block in Seoul as they experience monumental events in the 80s. This drama is filled with nostalgia for the 80s. You will follow in love for every character in this heart-warming drama and begin to root for them. If you want to learn more about Korean culture and slang from the 80s this is the drama for you.
Other Recommendations:
Check out these K-dramas as well. They were all huge hits when they came out and have accrued a huge following.
- Mask Girl
- Extracurricular
- Sweet Home
- Hellbound
- All of Us Are Dead
- It’s OK to Not Be Okay
Conclusion
After reading this blog, you probably have some ideas for ways you can improve your Korean with K-dramas. Take these ideas and run with them! Put them to the test! If one way doesn’t work for you, try another method until you find one that works. You know you will find one that works when you notice that your vocabulary has expanded, you start to think a little more like a Korean and sound like one too.
Thank you for reading to the end of this blog. Please check out some of our other blogs below for more Korean learning tips. 다시 만날따 까지… (Until we meet again…)
