How did non-Korean K-pop idols like Lisa from BlackPink, Momo from Twice or Minnie from Idle learn Korean so fast? Do they have secret techniques for learning new languages quickly, while other people seem to need much more time to study Korean and still not see results that quickly? Today, let's discuss how foreign K-pop idols achieve Korean fluency in a relatively short period of time and what WE can learn from their experiences to make progress in OUR Korean learning.
First off, the first reason that they improve so quickly is their significant amount of output. When it comes to language learning, both input and output are crucial, input meaning listening and reading and output meaning speaking and writing. But, here, I'm focusing more on output because normally, self-study learners tend to lean towards input-based learning because, you know, it's easier to hit grammar books and study by yourself compared to finding someone to converse with in Korean.
It is especially the case if you don't live in the country where your target language is used. If you have been following us, you might know that Talk To Me In Korean has taught Korean on YouTube for 13 years now. According to our stats, only 7% of views are from Korea, meaning that 93% of our subscribers are learning Korean outside Korea and thus, probably don't have enough chances to use Korean as much as they need.
And that might include you. But what about idols? You will already know most of the foreign members of K-pop groups start to take Korean classes since they were trainees.
Lisa from BlackPink once mentioned in an interview that her Korean teacher had her to speak only in Korean during the whole class. And they spend a lot of time with their band members, which gives them enough chances to speak in Korean in a comfortable environment. Now, numerous studies have shown that learners can best practice their speaking skills when their anxiety and stress levels are low.
In other words, high levels of anxiety and stress have a negative impact on language acquisition. That is, you can better practice your Korean when you talk with your close friends in a chill atmosphere rather than when you're being evaluated for every single mistake. In that perspective, they must have benefited a lot from always having Korean members around them to talk to in Korean!
For most of our learners who don't have fellow band members or a giant agency to train them, or Korean friends to talk to on a daily basis, I'll introduce 2 easy methods that you can practice speaking Korean on your own. Number one is to watch a YouTube video and try summarizing it in your own words. For instance, in this video, I talked about 4 reasons why it seems too hard to make friends in Korea as a foreigner.
You can go watch it and summarize the four points verbally in Korean! Actually the content you're going to watch doesn't have to be in Korean, which means you can listen to a podcast in your native language and summarize it in Korean. However, if you could, I think it's always better to consume content in Korean, because that way you can pick up some native-like Korean expressions from that video and use them when you summarize it.
If this method is too difficult for you for now, an easy way is to think of something fun that recently happened to you and imagine that you're explaining it to your friend in Korean. The second method is reading out loud. Reading out loud is '๋ญ๋
' in Korean.
Reading aloud is a very good way to improve your reading skills and vocabulary but it also greatly helps your speaking. You might think that it wouldn't be as effective because you are reading what someone else wrote, instead of you forming your own sentences. But muscle memory plays a role in speaking a language, too.
In order to naturally and fluidly spit out Korean sentences that you formed in your head, you need to have said them multiple times so it just rolls off your tongue. And reading aloud can definitely help you with that. So definitely try it yourself!
And the second reason is K-pop idols' strong motive to learn Korean. There are 2 types of motivation when it comes to language learning. One is internal motivation and the other is instrumental motivation.
Now, when we asked our learners why they learn Korean, 70% of them said they're learning Korean to understand K-pop or K-drama without subtitles. This is called "internal motivation" which is the kind of motivation to accomplish your goal that comes from within you. If you're learning a new language because you like how it sounds or you want to communicate with native speakers, these are all internal motivations.
And having internal motivation greatly helps your language learning so keep it up! How about idols? First of all, they will have the same motive as you because they must have made up their mind to study Korean in the first place because they were into Korean songs and music.
But they also HAVE TO be at least somewhat fluent in Korean, to fully express their lyrics, and build bonds with their Korean fans. And their Korean should be even more fluent if they want to be in dramas or reality shows! These kinds of motives are called "instrumental motivation" which means a practical or pragmatic reason for language learning.
So, foreign idols have strong and various motivations to achieve Korean fluency no matter what. What lessons can we apply to OUR Korean learning from their experiences? It can be a good strategy for you to make more pragmatic reasons for achieving Korean fluency, other than being able to communicate with Koreans or understanding Korean content without subtitles!
To talk about my experience as an example, I'm also a long time language learner myself. When I was job hunting like 6 years ago, I was intentionally looking for a job that required a high proficiency in English. Back then, I didn't know the concepts of different types of motivations, but I had a hunch that it's going to be really difficult to always set aside time for my English unless I HAVE TO do so because of my job.
That was one of my reasons why I wanted to work at Talk To Me In Korean. Likewise, try making more powerful reasons to keep you motivated to improve your Korean! Lastly, the third factor for non-Korean idols' fluent Korean is systematic and consistent learning opportunities.
1:1 tutoring, group lessons, books, conversation classes โ music labels actively support their artists' Korean learning. And like anything else in the world, having a systematic curriculum to follow will be a great help to make significant progress. And this part is where you could use the help of experts or Korean learning services because you know, it's way more convenient to use an established curriculum that professional Korean teachers have made rather than to create an entirely new curriculum by yourself, right?
And we'd be very happy if you could consider using our service, Talk To Me In Korean! We have the full Korean curriculum of Levels 1 to 10 that is proven to be effective by 1. 5M users.
And we also have dozens of books and courses that cater to your Korean learning purposes, so definitely check them out at TalkToMeInKorean. com. So, today, we talked about how foreign idol members have become fluent in Korean quickly and how we can achieve fluency while we don't have band members to talk to in Korean all the time or music labels to constantly provide Korean classes!
But before I wrap up, there's one thing that I'd like to mention. In fact, when you talk about how fast someone has learned a language, there are many factors, important linguistics factors that are often overlooked. For example one, how close their mother tongue is to Korean two, whether an idol is already an experienced language learner, in other words, if they already know how to acquire foreign languages by experience three: if they were exposed to Korean during their childhood and so forth Comparing your Korean learning progress to a certain idol ignoring all these factors is just not fair for you.
๐ญ And I figured most of the foreign idols have significantly improved their Korean AFTER they debuted and they've gotten better and better as time went by, just like any of us! Additionally, many idols publicly stated that they have been struggling with Korean a lot. So, I believe learning a new language is as difficult for them as it is for us.
I hope none of you who are watching this video feel bad about yourself because you think your Korean is not improving fast enough. It's natural to take time to learn a language and the key is to not give up and consistently expose yourself to the language and practice. And we, at Talk To Me In Korean, are here to help you learn Korean in the most fun and effective ways possible.
So, ํ์ดํ
! ! โค๏ธโ๐ฅ I hope you enjoyed this video.
And if you did, don't forget to subscribe and share this video with your Korean learner friends who are also K-pop fans! ์ฌ๋ฌ๋ถ ๊ทธ๋ผ ๋ค์ ์๊ฐ์ ๋ง๋์!
