Things that have recently been on my Korean radar.
- 러닝맨 (Running Man)
- 해를 품은 달 (The Moon Embracing the Sun)
- 닥치고 꽃미남 반드 (Shut Up! Flower Boy Band)
Variety shows, such as Running Man, have recently been the forefront of my Korean self-study. If I had said I started watching variety shows for studying purposes I would be lying. I started watching Running Man a while ago, a few episodes here and there when I needed a good laugh and another show that featured my favorite idols, but it soon evolved into a great learning tool, my funny live action dictionary. People who have watched Korean variety shows are familiar with the hilarious captions that are placed at the bottom of your screen in nice pretty looking font and colors. The trick is to take these captions and pause for a bit and grab some vocabulary words or slang terms and add them to your knowledge bank.
Running man, unlike some other reality shows, has many moments where you’ll actually see what the stars are saying in 한글 captions as well. Something that I find extremely helpful also it helps that running man is just hilarious. ㅎㅎㅎ
So if you get the chance grab yourself a bowl of popcorn or some pocky, or if you’re going for that healthier track, you’d be surprised how many dried mango strips you can eat while watching TV and start your learning.
^.^
Hangukdrama
March 2, 2012
nice post
The captions in variety shows are definitely a good tool to study and it trains you in speed reading too. The captions always disappear before i can read them D: I don’t watch variety shows that often, so I’m kinda weak at all the slangs (:
keep posting ^^ and welcome to the community
etchoeph
March 2, 2012
thanks! and I know I’ve gotten so good at speed reading Korean haha and variety shows help so much when you’re talking to native speakers and they start throwing out slang and you’re like ugh?? but now it’s like ohhhh~ ^.^
apple195
March 2, 2012
Can’t agree more! I’ve started studying Korean since late 2009.. Since then I’ve been watching variety shows til now..
“The trick is to take these captions and pause for a bit and grab some vocabulary words or slang terms and add them to your knowledge bank.” I do that too.
Nowadays I watch dramas without subs as it takes time. So I use online dictionary of Naver.
etchoeph
March 2, 2012
wait I do that too! sometimes I’m way too impatient to wait for the subs so I watch without subs and try to spell out all the words I couldn’t understand into naver’s online dictionary and then re watch the episode with subs if I REALLY didn’t get it.
starxblinded
March 2, 2012
I used to do the same for “we got married” too! Loved the first series, you could try checking that out too! ^^
etchoeph
March 2, 2012
I love 우결! it’s a shame because of the strikes going on there haven’t been new episodes in over 2 weeks.
alodia
March 2, 2012
I’m so bad in watching variety shows since I’m more into dramas. I remember I just ended watching a drama live and was very happy to see how much I’ve progressed in Korean and how I can somehow translate some easy scenes real time. Thus, when my favorite star appeared in Running Man I was so excited to watch because I was hoping that I can understand a big portion of the show as I watch. I ended up not understanding anything at all! I think I should watch variety shows more often so that I can train myself with rapid colloquial and natural speech.
Zara
March 3, 2012
Haha! Two shows in your list are on my radar too! 런닝맨 and 닥꽃밴!^^
I, myself, enjoy watching a lot of variety shows, talk shows, gag shows, etc. since uhm, 2005, I think? HAHAHA. Watching them is really of great help in every aspect of language study – reading, comprehension, listening, even speaking! I enjoy watching these shows since I can benefit many things from them – slang, witty remarks, unknown terms, etc. I am happy that through these things I learn a lot and improved a lot too.^^