LI, Jia & HE, Bin, Yunnan University
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‘The Glory’, a Korean drama, has ranked the top among the ten most watched TV and films since its release on March 10, 2023 on Netflix. The Glory has received 1.82 billion views on Weibo, the second largest Chinese social media platform at the time of writing this blog. Chinese youths, the largest group of Weibo members, are enthusiastic about discussing the plot, sharing their memes about this drama, and picking up popular terms for fandom communication.
Over the past two decades, Korean cultural products such as dramas, movies, music and dance, food, cosmetics etc. have gained worldwide popularity, and the global spread of Korean culture is known as Hallyu or Korean Wave (한류). Hallyu has been promoted by the South Korean government as cultural diplomacy and soft power projection since the 1997 financial crisis. The global promotion of Hallyu turns out to be a huge success. There are about 51.74 million population in South Korea, but the number of Hallyu community members reaches over 156 million people across the globe. China constitutes over half of the fan community with over 86 million.
As Hallyu emerges as a global cultural consumption among young people particularly in China, learning Korean has rapidly carved out a niche market for China’s youth to craft their subjectivities and produce bundles of skills. Mr. Bin He, a postgraduate student at Yunnan University under the supervision of Professor Jia Li, has conducted an ethnography with four Chinese university students on how relevant practices and discourses socialize Chinese youths to align themselves with learning Korean through self-study and out of class channels.
Even though China has the largest number of students learning English as a compulsory course, Chinese youths do not necessarily see English as the only source for empowerment and upward mobility. Chinese students who are economically and linguistically under-privileged find it more useful and easier to learn to speak ‘small languages’ (as we previously discussed here and here). This is exactly what happened to Bin’s participants who major in English but found it more desirable and promising to invest into learning Korean and dreamed of taking up Korean-related jobs.
Performing cool posture
Chinese youths develop their initial incentive to learn Korean because of their desire to get close to their Korean idols and their orientation to be part of a Korean-oriented consumption style. The digitization between China and South Korea facilitates such transnational communication. By subscribing to a paid app (about 5 $) per month, Chinese youths can get in contact with their Korean idols by listening to their voices or reading their updates online on a daily basis. They also choose to spend about 20$ collecting a Korean album imported from South Korea to show their distinct cultural taste.
Ming’s Weibo post
Their affective attachment to the Hallyu community gets closer through their interactions with other Hallyu fans on public and private social media platforms. Ming, one of Bin’s participants, has been learning Korean by himself for over six years. Like many Hallyu fans, Ming has developed basic Korean proficiency by watching Korean dramas and variety shows and listening to Korean songs. To test his Korean proficiency and to enhance his reading competence, Ming took up a volunteer job translating Korean idols’ stories into Chinese on Weibo for Chinese fans to keep updated with their idols. In addition to being recognized as a legitimate member of the Hallyu community because of his Korean proficiency, Ming also likes to share his consumption of Korean lifestyle on Weibo.
The screenshot captures Ming’s enjoyment with his friends drinking 참이슬 (“Chamisul”), the most popular brand of Korean liquor that frequently appears in Korean dramas, TV series, and variety shows. 참이슬 is recontextualized as symbolic source styling himself as someone cool and authentic. Using English ‘talk with’ indicates both modernity and the imagined engagement with the Korean world as Ming told us in interview: “感觉喝着烧酒，仿佛喝着烧酒就置身于韩剧中。” (“I feel like drinking soju, it’s like I’m physically in a Korean drama while drinking soju.”)
Consuming desire
Longing is one of the most featured themes in Korean dramas. The filming locations of hit Korean dramas are often promoted as must-go destinations for Chinese tourists travelling to South Korea. For Chinese youths who are living and studying in China, love stories constitute an important part of their romantic imagination as reported by Fang, a Chinese female university student: “想去首尔学习生活，去看看电视剧里出现的各种场景。” (“I dream of studying and living in Seoul. I want to visit the featured locations that appear in Korean dramas.”
Fang’s post
As someone who was born and brought up in the hinterland, Fang has grown up with the imagination of the sea, and the sea is often depicted as semiotic potential for romance in Korean dramas. Fang expressed her sense of attachment to 갯마을 차차차 (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha), a romantic story in a small coastal village. She posted a moment on her Chinese social media in Korean: “아~듣기만 해도 바다 냄새 맡은 것 같애” (“Wow～ Just listening [to the song in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha] I feel like the smell of the sea”).
Fang’s sense of enjoyment and desire is also expressed by her semiotic and linguistic choices. Using tilde ‘～’ after ‘wow’ (아) emphasizes her desire and longing. The choice of using Korean indexes her sense of feeling distinct and unique compared to her Chinese peers who might understand English but who are unlikely to be able to read Korean.
Crafting a niche in learning Korean
Ad for Korean online classes
Both Ming and Fang started to learn Korean online through various apps after they had been exposed to Hallyu for some time. Their desire to seriously invest in learning Korean took a clearer form when they saw an ad for online classes:
Why learn a small language
Korean
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The most accessible second foreign language. You will be surrounded by Korean from the moment you turn on your app.
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There are about 70% of Chinese words in Korean. Korean is the language that sounds like ancient Chinese. Chinese students learning Korean do not start from zero.
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Cheap tuition fee for overseas study. The best choice for the working-class family.
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Advanced educational system with the combination of the East and the West and world-leading IT shipping industry, mass communication, e-sports etc. All of these advantages can provide Korean learners with more opportunities.
In contrast to the way Chinese youths learn English, learning Korean has been discursively constructed as ‘accessible’, ‘easy’, ‘affordable’ and ‘advanced’. This promotion discourse is particularly attractive to those who cannot afford to travel to Western countries and who are fed up with the exam-driven learning style in English. As confessed by Ming, “我就是不知道为什么我对好莱坞电影、美剧不感兴趣，我想可能是讨厌英语总是考试吧” (“I just don’t know why I didn’t have any interest in watching Hollywood movies or American TV series. I guess it’s because I was tired of taking English exam.”)
Feeling cosmopolitan
After two years of formal training at a language school, Ming decided to take the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), and pursue her master’s degree in South Korea after her graduation from an English department in China. When she prepared her application documents, she worked as an English tutor for a Korean family where she taught two children English in Korean. Because of her capacity in Korean, Fang was able to communicate with the Korean mother about her children’s English performance, which in turn facilitated her Korean oracy. Over two years, Fang used the money she earned by working as an English teacher to pay for her Korean language test and tuition fee for Ewha Womans University.
Fang’s chat
In September 2022, Fang started her postgraduate study online due to the restricted travel policy and the Covid-19 pandemic. Fang was eager to go to South Korea and socialize with local people to fulfill her Korean dream. While doing her online classes, she liked to share with her WeChat friends her Korean learning experiences.
The image in Fang’s chat shows the official promotion image of her Korean university with the blooming cherry flowers and one of its famous buildings. By re-posting this world-famous university, Fang also displays her privileged access to advanced education in Seoul, a cosmopolitan city with all her imagination for study and lifestyle in South Korea, as commented by her post “나한테 이게 학교아냐 자유다” (“To me, this is not only a school but also freedom.”) It is worth noting that Fang’s choice of studying in South Korea is partly due to her unwillingness to follow a planned life trajectory by working as an English teacher in her hometown like her peers. Despite her parents’ disagreement with her decision, Fang gave up working as an English teacher and chose to take the risk of investing into an unknown future with Korean.
Becoming entrepreneurial
Apart from desire and cosmopolitanism, Hallyu also displays a strong embodiment of neoliberal discourse upon individuals. Both Ming and Fang have been nurtured by entrepreneurial discourses while exposing themselves to Hallyu. Self-entrepreneurial ethos prevails in many Korean songs, books, and movies. Growing up with Hallyu for over 10 years, Chinese fans have witnessed the ups-and-downs of their idols and have been encouraged by their positive and never-give-up spirits, as Ming shared: “一直喜欢她(Taeyeon),我能从她身上看到许多积极的能量，情绪低落的时候，我就会听听她的歌或是刷刷她舞台表演的视频。” (“I’ve been one of Taeyeon’s fans. I can sense her positive power. When I’m feeling down, I would like to listen to her songs or watch her dancing performance.”)
Ming recalled his struggling experiences when he prepared for his postgraduate entrance exam. For over a year, Ming had to fight alone given that most of his classmates decided to look for a job and very few people including his parents understood his emotional struggles. By listening to Taeyon’s songs, Ming felt understood and comforted. Ming drew strength from witnessing Taeyon’s confrontation with suicide. Taeyon’s re-fashioning herself as someone overcoming her depression became a mental power for Ming to draw from in his own struggles in a competitive and stressful society.
Fang’s post about her Korean readings
Self-regulated and self-enterprising discourses are often circulated on Fang’s social media. Apart from signing up for a gym club and following a healthy lifestyle, Fang also likes to share her reflection on reading Korean novels. The caption about the images of the books she’s reading says: “One section a day; 43 days to finish the book; a story book on life experiences for the youth.”
By purchasing imported reading materials from South Korea, Fang said that she could kill two birds with one stone: enhancing her Korean reading capacity while enriching her life experiences. The philosophical statements of life experiences in the book are mainly self-enterprising and self-driven as indicated by her underlined notes like “너에게 주어지는 기대에 합당한 자기관리를 시작해” (“Start taking care of yourself and meet your expectations”) or “값진 자아 반성 시간” (“the valuable time of self-reflection”).
Navigating between freedom and precarity
Language learning in the digital economy is not problem free. Despite their aspiration to manage their life trajectory through neoliberal promises, Chinese youths find themselves constantly navigating between their desired freedom and structural constraints.
One of the problems that hinder their desire to invest in learning Korean is their lack of time. Chinese youths keep their strong connection with Hallyu but they find it hard to keep learning Korean as learning a language requires consistent and systematic devotion. As English majors at university, they are kept busy by taking exams and getting various certificates to enhance their employment prospects. Two of Bin’s participants imagined that they would have more time for themselves to pick up Korean after they started to work as English teachers in future.
For those who squeeze time and save money to take the TOPIK, their devotion to learning Korean may suffer from anti-Hallyu sentiments due to the diplomatic disputes between China and South Korea. Over the past three decades, the surge of Hallyu has also coincided with several waves of anti-Hallyu movements in China. Ming’s diligence and persistence in learning Korean is not recognized but misunderstood by populist nationalists as “媚韩” (literally, “flattering South Korea”), meaning betraying China and showing allegiance to South Korea.
Publicity shot of Korean star Taeyeon
For Fang who is receiving her master’s degree in South Korea, she is confronted with high living expenses in Seoul and thinking of returning to China to settle down. However, when it comes to her future employment prospect in China, Fang seems to lack of confidence. For one thing, she does not think she can compete against ethnic Korean Chinese for a job position in teaching Korean to Chinese students. For another, her master’s degree in TKSOL is not as desirable as an English major to secure an English teaching position.
By the time of writing up this blog, two of Bin’s participants had to give up learning Korean because of their overwhelming workload and new identity as English teachers. Only Fang and Ming still kept learning Korean. As noted, Fang is doing her master’s degree in South Korea, and Ming has just got a job offer from a Chinese multinational automotive subsidiary targeting the South Korean market. After several months of training, Ming will be sent to South Korea to work for this Chinese company in South Korea.
This study has provided a nuanced understanding of Chinese youths’ Korean language learning experiences in the context of emerging Asian pop culture and digitization. Chinese youths’ learning of Korean is not driven by pragmatic pursuits or academic pressures, but largely rooted in their desire to be part of the Hallyu community. Growing up with Hallyu and learning Korean opened up new spatial and affective imaginations for them to capitalize on their performance and cultural consumption that traverse national boundaries in our digital age. Despite having access to Hallyu and learning Korean through new technological affordances, their pursuit of Korean-related subjectivities gets inculcated with the affective facets of language learning activities rooted in the neoliberal logic of self-management, human capital development and surging populist nationalism.
Related content
Li, J. (2020). Foreign language learning for minority empowerment? Language on the Move. Retrieved from https://www.languageonthemove.com/foreign-language-learning-for-minority-empowerment/
Li, J. (2021). Esports are the new linguistic and cultural frontier. Language on the Move. Retrieved from https://www.languageonthemove.com/esports-are-the-new-linguistic-and-cultural-frontier/
Li, J. (2021). Peripheral language learners and the romance of Thai. Language on the Move. Retrieved from https://www.languageonthemove.com/peripheral-language-learners-and-the-romance-of-thai/
Ma, Y. (2020). Empowerment of Chinese Muslim women through Arabic? Language on the Move. Retrieved from https://www.languageonthemove.com/empowerment-of-chinese-muslim-women-through-arabic/
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This article brings back my high school memories. My K-Pop journey started with an idol group called Girl’s Generation that Taeyeon is a part of. Like Fang, I was also worried about her brush with K-pop industry toxicity and the lose of close friends. My playlist is still full of her songs. Nowadays I am not that involved with Korean pop culture like I used to as everything revolves around social media exposure, view counts and visuals. I did pick up some of the words as I really like the tone of this language. I call my mother 엄마 (eomma) when I am being whiny or want something from her ^_^ It doesn’t hurt that the pronunciation is very close to (Ammu) which I use to call my mother in my native tongue. Though I seem to pick up the language from whichever form of entertainment I am interested in. For example, now I am picking up standard Mandarin dialect as it is the standard language of Chinese films and dramas. My playlist now gets updated with Chinese drama OSTs.
Thanks, Saraf! Good point that K-pop may be quite restricted to a certain age segment and cannot hold interest beyond a certain age …
Hi Saraf, I completely understand what you are conveying because I have the same experience as you. I was also first exposed to K-pop many years ago when SNSD, T-ARA and BIGBANG started to emerge. After a long time of exposure, I also got used to using some Korean phrases like oppa, daebak, aegyo in daily life. Later, when I was attracted to Chinese school youth movies, I gradually became interested and started learning Chinese (Mandarin). Our experience indicates how personal interests and pop culture impact broaden language possibilities. It demonstrates the impact of music and media in moulding our linguistic experiences.
This post is very interesting because when I was in middle school, around 2013, Korean music was beginning to become popular among the Asian Americans and it became more and more popular, with groups like BTS and Blackpink becoming known worldwide and having an enormous fan base around the world. A lot of kids were motivated to learn Korean and there was a boom of learning the Korean language and Korean culture. It is interesting because the Asian Americans first got introduced to K-pop and K-dramas and then it spread to other communities, eventually reaching mainstream media and becoming famous worldwide. I think that the rapid increase of Korean music and dramas becoming popular is an interesting phenomenon because in the United States, it was difficult for the Asian music industry to make an appearance on radio stations because the majority of people liked music from the United States and tends to be a little conservative, at least in the northern states. Surprisingly, there are negative views towards the image of ‘Korean beauty standards’ and ‘male Korean idols’ because of the ‘lack of manliness’ which is interesting because this was not a topic that existed before Korean media became famous.
Thanks, Sihoon, for these interesting observations! I love your point that technology changes were vital to enabling the Korean wave. On radio, there is much more gatekeeping, which leads to cultural reproduction of always the same-same. Digitisation has been vital to the diversification we are currently observing…
It was interesting to read this excellent vlog related to Korean language and its influence on the young Chinese people. It reminds me of youths of my home country who are following Korean life with gestures, fashion, and language. As in this article we can find that learning new language opens wide horizon in the development of personal and professional life of Chinese youths including entrepreneurship and future opportunities prospects of their life. I find myself related to Fing and Ming regarding to learning a new language. As I belong from Nepal, I see myself as Ming and Fang in learning language and opening a portal to see a world with new sight with tremendous opportunities. I can speak and write Hindi fluently, which is one of the contributions of Bollywood movies and songs. Other than movies and songs, geographical location, and significantly social media like facebook and tiktoks are other reasons to know Indian culture and language. Most of the Nepalese tend to learn Hindi from the songs and stories of Bollywood movies. The tendency to learn Hindi language is for various reasons including entertainment, entrepreneurship and opening a gateway and platform for future opportunities. Currently, we can see many Nepalese participating in various Indian singing and dancing shows. I think culture and language has a deep connection to each other.
Thanks, Mahaan, for this interesting perspective! Cross-border language and culture contact has really been super-charged by new media …
The cultural and linguistic landscape of Pakistan is mainly shaped by code-switching and borrowing words from various languages because subcontinent remained under constant influence of several conquerors. They brought their culture and languages which intertwined with local languages and cultures. As a result, Urdu emerged as a major lingua franca. Moreover, this process of cultural contact spread fast recently due to social media which allowed almost everyone to have interaction with other cultures. It can be explained by looking at Bollywood industry which has great influence on Pakistani youth in different aspects such as clothing designs and hairstyles but it is also an interesting fact that Bollywood industry is using Urdu language extensively as it shares linguistic similarities with Hindi in speech although both languages have separate scripts.
Thanks, Arslan, for reminding us that language contact and language mixing are nothing new. At the same time, we often use language to put up borders – as in the Hindi-Urdu example – when we’d all be better off focusing on our commonalities and solving problems together …
Thank you for your interesting article. My nae Is Muhammad Umair Ashraf from Pakistan. The pop culture scene in Turkey, particularly it’s film and drama industry , demonstrates an intriguing connection with language interaction. Turkish movies and Tv series draw from various languages like Turkish, Arabic, Persian and English, often blending them in a style called code switching. This linguistic phenomenon mirrors the diversity of languages and cultures in Turkey. The use of different languages in these productions not only represents the multilingualism within society but also adds depth and excitement to the story lines, resonating with the audiences. By incorporating diverse languages , Turkish pop culture captures the intention of current generation also adopting their culture through dressing and the words for example, “Bay” is used for honor which is adopted by the viewers and influencing their language.
Thanks for your reflections on Turkish dramas. Quite amazing language mixing within these shows and beyond…
Being a Bangladeshi, I couldn’t help but realize the profound impact Indian pop culture has on cultural and language interactions in Bangladesh. Indian media industry plays a major part in shaping the cultural and language connections and due to having similar cultural and historical ties, the role of Indian pop culture and language contact is very influential on Bangladeshis. Bengali people have picked up on words and expressions from Bollywood industry quite effectively even though Bangla language is very different from Hindi. Hindi songs have transcended borders and are now played on many, if not all Bangladeshi weddings. I, myself have used about 10 Hindi songs and probably 2 Bengali songs to dance on at my own wedding. 2 or 3 of the Hindi songs were even a personal favourite of my mom and grandmother. Bengalis refer to Hindi like a second language that they take interest to learn in order to understand the Indian culture better and implement in their daily lives in times of celebration and communication. Many words have been borrowed and are now merged easily into everyday conversations of Bengalis. An example would be of my brother using the phrase “Theek Hae”(Hindi) with his friends when agreeing to something, instead of saying “Accha”(Bengali) meaning “Alright” in English. Many famous Hindi movie dialogues have found their way into social meme pages in Bangladesh. People like to use them in their daily expressions, which again shows the impact of Language contact. The exposure of Indian pop culture has a terrific influence on Bengali people not just with the language but also with their clothing and beauty trends. This has resulted in Bangladeshis developing an abundant amount of appreciation for the South Asian cultural diversity.
Thank you for the fascinating description! So amazing to read about the diversity and connections of the languages and cultures of the subcontinent!
The comment highlights how Indian pop culture has a profound impact on Bangladesh that influences its language and culture. It shows that language can change and adapt when exposed to various influences. The comment also emphasizes the role of media in terms of bridging cultural gaps and connecting nations. It also focuses that how cultures are interconnected because of shared histories as well as popular cultural practices. It also reflects the value of accepting cultural diversity and this can promote understanding and appreciation for diverse cultures of South Asia. This comment has extended my thinking regarding language and culture in contact in a sense that it shows how cultural and historical ties between countries can lead to the adoption of language as well as some cultural practises and how language is evolving because of sociocultural environment. For example: the comment shows how Bengali people use Hindi words and phrases in their conversations, which shows that languages are flexible and can easily adapt when influenced by outdoor sources.
After reading this article, I first thought about Bollywood or Hindi drama which has a considerable impact on Bangladeshis, especially housewives. I can talk about it from my experience. Earlier I watched lots of Bollywood movies, which eventually led me to learn a little bit Hindi language. Even nowadays I can see many people of Bangladesh use some Hindi words in their communication knowingly sometimes unknowingly. I think these words entered our language through these movies, songs, and dramas. Talking about K-pop is also very popular in our country, especially among youngsters. I also watched some K-dramas which led me to learn some words like “Aigoo”, and “Ne”. Nowadays youngsters like K-pop very much which led them to learn the Korean language because of its simplicity despite of cultural and language differences.
Now let’s talk about Hollywood movies which also have a great impact on our learning English as a second language. Sometimes we are advised to watch Hollywood movies and dramas to speed up learning the English language. So, see pop culture and language are greatly connected and have a significant impact on each other.
So much interesting stuff to watch if one had endless time …
It was interesting to read this article. In the today’s world of digitization and social media, everything is connected by the social media. Every culture has different background connections with other cultures that attract people toward each other. I am from Pakistan and peoples were deeply connected with the Bollywood movies in terms of Pop culture due to same language. But due to change in the social media trends people have returned to another pop culture that is Turkish pop culture because of same religion and history shared by Pakistani and Turkish people and people now like more Turkish pop culture then Bollywood pop culture. Resurrection Ertugrul ( Dirilis Ertugrul in Turkish ) was first drama that changed trend of pop culture in Pakistan and this drama was seen as a worldwide and was very popular drama in the Asian and Arab world. After the release of this drama in Pakistan people started trending Turkish cultures at Facebook and TikTok. After watching this drama People started watching more Turkish pop culture and following their culture. These pop cultures have reconnected their emotions with the peoples living far away.
Thanks, Mazhar! Turkish historical dramas are pretty amazing. Interesting that may be replacing Bollywood in Pakistan. When did this trend start?
Very interesting to read this article and look at different aspects of Korean pop culture spreading around the globe, especially China taking up a good half! Through a variety of channels, including K-pop choreography, K-pop songs, and K-pop celebrities, my exposure to Korean popular culture has significantly increased. A considerable number of young people, especially teens, incorporate Korean expressions, gestures, memes, and trends into their daily life in Iran based on my experience. However, the most authentic situation I have been in with Korean culture was with my very good Korean friend who told me about how Koreans like to use Soju in their beer, and of course, it really went well and this was something Korean pop culture had failed to tell me for so many years!
I cannot say enough about my own personal experience with English (American) pop culture, however. I would just like to point to the fact that countries with a more powerful economy and army, those with indeed more access to freedom and welfare, have been able to spread their culture across borders to a broader extent. Later, I would like to dig into the question of how America is exporting so much culture through Hollywood and their pop industry to all around the globe while countries like Australia, or England have not been as successful.
My quick response to your question would be that Australia is too small and British culture is more niche … American culture, on the other hand, is all-encompassing – it’s not just Hollywood but also a life-style based on consumption of burgers, cars, and all the other goods that constitute “the American dream” …
It reminds me of my friends who are fascinated with K-pop. K-pop gained significant popularity and influence, especially among the youth in my country. It has led to the formation of dedicated fan communities, commonly referred to as “fan clubs” or “fandoms,” where fans come together to support and celebrate their favorite K-pop groups and idols. Filipino fans even engage in learning the Korean language and culture due to their interest in K-pop. This interest has also resulted in the establishment of language schools and cultural centers offering Korean language and culture classes.
This interaction with other cultures has resulted in a unique blend of traditions, beliefs, and practices that shape the country’s identity.
Thank you for your fascinating article!
Thanks, Sharmaine! What are the other ingredients in this blend, beyond K-pop?
Thank you for sharing your perspective towards Hallyu culture in Chinese society and how it affects young people s’ decision in adopting a new language.
When it comes to pop music, K-pop has stood out to be a massive global phenomenon that results in the growth of various industries, including fashion, tourism, and education. Social media, particularly Tiktok, has played a vital role in making contribution to the success of K-pop to a worldwide audience. The popularity of Tiktok has also sparked the viral spread of catchy Vietnamese songs that resonates with thousands of international users. One of the examples for this trend’s success is the song “See Tinh,” the second single from Hoang Thuy Linh(a famous Vietnamese singer)’s album “LINK.” Simple hip swinging in an upbeat tune with unknown-yet-easy-to-pronounce lyrics has quickly spread across TikTok through dance covers, making it one of the most viral hits on the platform with the sound being used more than 1 million times within 4 months of its release. Another instance is a Vietnamese pop song named “Dễ đến dễ đi” (Easy come, easy go) has also become wildly popular on Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok. Dozens of videos have used the song as background music, and several Chinese pop star has repeatedly sung or dance to the song. Thanks to the love and immense attention of Chinese fan for the song, the Douyin team has even made a Chinese version named “Your eyes are as beautiful as the stars.” As a Vietnamese, I’m thrilled to know that there is a growing number of people willing to learn Vietnamese in order to cover Vietnamese songs, and that V-pop has brought people closer to Vietnam and projected a positive image of Vietnam to the world. Not only does Hallyu gain international audience, but V-pop is also making a name for itself in the music industry.
Social media have certainly opened up so many new spaces for language and culture context. Are you saying that the lyrics of “See Tinh” are an invented language and just meaningless vocalizations?
In China, many people are influenced by Hallyu and choose to study Korean at universities, so every year the number of people admitted to Korean majors at universities is a huge number. However, when it comes to the employment market, it can be very difficult for those who have made Korean their only major to find a good job. As far as translation is concerned, there is a city called Yanbian in northeastern China, where most of the people living there are Chaoxian nationality, and their photo IDs are bilingual, and Korean is also their native language. Therefore, in the employment market, most companies tend to prefer hiring these dual native speakers rather than a regular Korean graduate. So pop culture can increase people’s enthusiasm to learn the language, but at least as far as China is concerned, choosing Korean as a career for the sake of pop culture doesn’t seem to have a very good future.
Thanks, Yulan, for adding this important perspective and pointing to native speaker ideologies that undergird many hiring decisions …
Amazing phenomenon! I reflected on the connection between the Thai language and its cultural contact to why foreigners started learning Thai. Thai culture has developed over thousands of years alongside with its language. We use different levels of language in expressing respect and politeness. Learning Thai enables foreigners to understand all finer details and intricacies of the Thai culture.
I met an Aussie colleague here who can speak Thai fluently and that is because he has a Thai partner. So, in this case, ‘Thai woman’ is the soft power! The motherly touch and courtesy are probably our unique strong points. You might be surprised about the numbers of foreigners who have Thai partners. For them, learning Thai is not only to communicate with a partner, but also to grant them an acceptance into the partner’s family. A Thai family will appreciate and acknowledge the efforts; consequently, send a signal that you are fully committed and dedicated to take care of your partner. Learning Thai transcends the culture of family-centered and how we value respect towards the elderly using the language set that represents our collective Thai family. Therefore, speaking Thai allows foreigners to connect with Thai people effortlessly.
Thanks, Jif! Good on your Aussie colleague for learning Thai for his partner. English speakers often don’t do well at learning other languages because they can get away with English … you might be interested in this post: https://www.languageonthemove.com/when-illiteracy-is-a-privilege/
Having said that, love and romance can be powerful motivations to learn another language. It’s one of the research areas of myself and my team and we’ll hear more about it later in the unit. If you want to dig deeper, you might check out these books in the library:
Piller, I. (2002). Bilingual couples talk: the discursive construction of hybridity. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Takahashi, K. (2013). Language Learning, Gender and Desire: Japanese Women on the Move. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Torsh, H. (2020). Linguistic Intermarriage in Australia: Between Pride and Shame. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Back in the 2010s, Vietnamese teenagers started to get accustomed to the Hallyu wave with romantic K-drama series, numbers of K-POP bands with catchy music, fun reality shows that “hot” idols showed up more often and so on. Teenagers started to self-teach themselves some Korean phrases, catchy lyrics, and even movie lines. That had led to a reconsideration of the Department of Education on allowing Korean language to be an extra-curriculum class in private school. In the first decade of the 2000s, beside English and French as main foreign language subjects, Chinese and Japanese were the only choices for students at school. Though there were some Korean language centers, they were not as popular as when the Hallyu wave came. K-POP culture had brought a chance for language learning and teaching to have a stand in schools as in society. According to Vietnam Plus (2023), “Nearly 80 secondary and high schools teach Korean as a second foreign language.” This is proof that Korean language is getting its vital position since then.
Another example to be mentioned is US-UK pop culture which had been dominating for the long time since the beginning of the 21st century. Famous vocalists like Beyonce, Christina Anguilera, P!nk, Britney Spears or Katy Perry have blown a wind to young generations at that time. The young Vietnamese acquired English after school by listening to US-UK music, watching music videos, and reality shows with celebrities participated in. Captured pictures from those media be transferred into memes and GIF and came to daily chatting. Disney pop princesses like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez also play a role in aspiring young Vietnamese to learn English since they wanted to understand and be able to sing trendy songs or sometimes just to show off. In short, pop culture and its waves help spread a language in a short period of time since people feel the importance of using “that” culture language when they talk to each other and later it creates language job opportunities. All starting from phrases and lines, a person may find one’s interest in a language through the wave of pop culture.
Ref:
Vietnam Plus. (2023, July 10). Korean language learning now booming in Vietnam: Society: Vietnam+ (Vietnam plus). VietnamPlus. https://en.vietnamplus.vn/korean-language-learning-now-booming-in-vietnam/256031.vnp
Wow – that’s really impressive that Korean language teaching made it out the personal interest space into the school curriculum in 80% of schools! At a university in Abu Dhabi, where I worked in 2009 students also successfully lobbied for Korean classes: https://www.languageonthemove.com/korean-beats-french/
I has been influenced by both Chinese and Korean pop culture products, but the levels of language effects they had on me noticeably differ, which really intrigues me.
When I was a little girls, Chinese action movies used to be my whole life. There was no day passing without my watching an action movie and imitating their marvelous martials arts. I even tried to show my power by attacking my elder brother and injuring him. The simple and repeated language I accidentally learned in theses movies, such as 老板， 弟弟， 妹妹, was virally used among us children when we role-played parts of the movies. The early exposure to Mandarin activated my schemata to actually learn the language.
When I was a teenager, I used to spend days and even weeks watching Korean movies and cry my heart out. K-pop bands and movie stars used to be the heart of every single discussion between my group of close friends. However, we did not imitate or actually used a lot of words and phrases from the Korean wave. After several years being an ardent fan of Korean movies, I am not able to recall a single Korean word or phrase.
For explanatory purpose, I think that Chinese pop culture exerts a much significant effect on my language because I was exposed to Chinese films at a much younger age, when my language identity had not been too strongly constructed. Besides, there are a lot of similarity between Mandarin and Vietnamese, which makes it easier for me to remember and imitate.
Do pop cultures from different countries have varied effects on your language?
Interesting questions you are raising! Maybe it’s also that the words from action movies – like the terms of address you mention – are easier to remember than more variable dramatic language? I first encountered Korean through Taekwondo and as part of the sport you learn a lot of Korean words (count from 1-2; terms for various kicks and punches; some greetings and commands; etc.). Although I gave up Taekwondo a long time ago, these terms have stuck – but not very useful in everyday conversation 🙃
As I am from Bangladesh, I would like to talk from a Bangladeshi perspective. In our country, we can see the interaction between pop culture and language contact in different aspects of our daily life. For example, Nowadays, Bollywood and Hollywood movies and music are very popular in Bangladesh, and it also introduces many words into the colloquial Bengali language, which demonstrates how pop culture influences a language. Not only this, social media platforms are also playing a significant role where the young Bangladeshis are blending English and Bengali even Hindi together in online communication, which reflects the impact of global pop culture on language.
First of all, thank you for giving me such an interesting article to read and consider this crucial concept that I have never imagined tracing back to my past memory. After reading this article, I gasped because our generation was definitely influenced by the Korean Wave (Hallyu). When I was in high school, all of my classmates tried to wear colorful clothes as much as possible. Recess time was always a girl’s chitchat about K-pop bands, which was 2NE1 and other bands. On the other hand, boys used to copy not only male K-pop bands hairstyles but also their trendy fashion styles. Even our elders were highly involved in k-drama. Especially during the night, our family gathers in our living room to watch Korean soap dramas together and share our thoughts related to the movie. At the same time, I think this is why most of our citizens happily point to Korea as their most desired country to live and study. Therefore, some of my friends live in Korea just to fulfil their dream of being part of that big culture and community. Additionally, I have never thought pop culture and language contact had such power to change and influence our thoughts, fashion, and way of living and thinking. On the contrary, Russian and English were compulsory subjects in our school. Nowadays, we can choose our second language based on our interests and desires; however, English subjects never lose their dominance in any kind of educational institution. Until today, the majority of parents wanted to choose the English language for their children only because of education. So, I wonder what the influence is behind the English language, which is becoming more and more demanding, especially in the education sector.
Thanks, Sonintsetseg, for raising some interesting questions about the connection between pop culture and migration, but also the influence of language policies on language learning. Is Korean becoming a school subject (in some schools), like Iris mentioned for Vietnam?
Thank you for this interesting article. It was interesting to learn how popular Korean Culture is in the Chinese society.
In Germany, every year the youth choose the “Jugendwort des Jahres” (youth word of the year) out of a pool of usually 10-15 nominated words. It is a tradition introduced by the publisher Langenscheidt in 2008 and nowadays is an indicator of trends in the German youth language. When taking a quick glance at the word selection of the past years, you will immediately realize that many words come either from social media platforms heavily influenced by American pop and meme culture or from German rap songs which use many borrowings from Arabic or Turkish. For example, the youth words of 2022 and 2021 were “smash” and “cringe” respectively, which were words commonly used by American youth in TikToks and Instagram reels. While this concept is considered cringeworthy by many Germans, it has found its way to public state broadcasters and is evidence of the influence that American pop culture has on the German language.
That’s so interesting – never heard about it before and just googled it. Most are some really strange English …
It is a ver strange phenomenon haha.
You have to watch this video: https://youtu.be/1WLAn6QohjQ
It is hilarious hearing those words on public state tv.
OMG – surreal poetry!
I have once tried to look back on old Korean pop culture to think about the basis of Hallyu. Personally, Hallyu is the combination of cultural contact between East Asia and the U.S.A. After the truce of the Korean War, U.S troops had deployed throughout South Korea, and an American broadcasting, AFKN, had been broadcasted to South Korea for the welfare of U.S soldiers. For Korean people who were conservative at that time, these Western music, fashion, or food from this broadcasting might have been fascinating, or even culture shock.
With this impact, English started to permeate through Korean culture.
Some Koreans who tried to interpret the meaning of lines in Hollywood movies may have become influential directors or writers in the Korean film industry, some others who tried to interpret the meaning of lyrics in American music may have affected the basis of K-pop.
Subsequently, Hong Kong and Chinese movies, and Japanese idols and TV shows had significantly affected the Korean entertainment industry, so many people had been exposed to those languages naturally or intentionally with the content. These impacts had brought cultural development in Korea, which could be the foundation of Hallyu.
Thank you for your fascinating article!
Thanks for pointing out the deep connections between Hallyu and Hollywood!
Bangladeshis are the only nation in history, who fought for their own language. There were two parts of Pakistan: West Pakistan and East Pakistan. East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, was the majority in the population and they spoke Bengali. However, the ruling class were West Pakistanis, and they tried to impose Urdu as the state language, which was only spoken by a minority of 3.27% of the people, ignoring the vast majority of 56.40% of the total population who spoke Bengali. As a result, the people of East Pakistan protested because they couldn’t speak Urdu. I am excerpting this history because, after reading this article, I have realized that a language can become popular through pop culture without the need for force or enforcement. Nowadays, Bollywood movies and songs are very popular in Bangladesh, and 80% of Bangladeshi people can not only speak Hindi but also follow their culture. I was also influenced by Bollywood movies and songs to learn Hindi. First time when I started listening Hindi songs, I couldn’t understand the meaning. After that, I began learning Hindi, and now I have a good command of the language.
Thanks for sharing your reflections! For sure, if we looked more to Bollywood and less to nationalism, the world would be a better place. Bangladeshis now learning Hindi from movies after rejecting Urdu with so much sacrifice is a good example of the old saying that a drop of honey achieves more than a gallon of vinegar …
Your post reminds me of my childhood memories when I started watching and learning about the world of Hallyu. The reality show that introduced me to Hallyu was Running Man. I have faithfully followed this show for the past 13 years, and it inspired me to learn Korean at University. Throughout my Korean learning, I have discovered some practical ways to associate it with English and Vietnamese, helping me with easier comprehension and longer intention.
I realized intriguingly similar pronunciation between Korean and English; words such as 커피 (Ko-pi) for coffee, 오렌지 (O-ren-ji) for orange, 초콜릿 (Cho-ko-lis) for chocolate. Recently, while watching the movie “Taxi Driver”, I encountered the term 택시 (taek-si) for a taxi, further solidifying my linguistic connections. Korea has two ways of counting numbers: The native Korean number system and Sino-Korean numbers. From observing time counting on Running Man, I swiftly learned numbers 1 through 10 in the Native Korean system. As for Sino-Korean numbers, I could not help but notice parallels with Mandarin, particularly in numbers like number 3 – 삼 (Sam) and 三 (Sān), number 5 – 오 (Uo) and 五 (Wǔ), and number 8 – 팔 (Pal) and 八 (Bā). Remarkably, this linguistic bridge also extends to Vietnamese. Much like Sino-Korean, Vietnamese has Sino-Vietnamese numbers, where the pronunciations of numbers 2 – 이 (I) and Nhị, number 3 – 삼 (Sam) and Tam, number 5 – 오 (Uo) and Ngũ, number 8 – 팔 (Pal) and Bát, and number 9 구 (Gu) and Cửu closely resemble their Sino-Korean numbers. This shows how pop culture has connected languages and cultures across different parts of the world.
Thanks for sharing your Korean language learning story! Really amazing to see all these fascinating connections …
While I was reading this article, I felt that it was about me because I am also one of the people who tried to learn Korean due to being influenced by Korean culture. I kind of gave up learning because my priority in learning language was English. Therefore, I can’t communicate in Korean, but I know a few words thanks to Korean drama. My mother and I are big fans of Korean dramas, so we often share some Korean words with each other, for example, I call her “omma” which means mother in Korean.
Culture is one of the biggest reasons why people start learning a language. Most of my friends who can speak little Japanese told me that they know some Japanese from watching anime. As it is written in this article, an interest in the culture motivates us to learn the language in order to communicate and understand more. In term of this, the relationship between language and culture are really interesting because we can learn about culture through language, and we can learn language by being influenced by culture.
Great to hear the article is so relatable!
There is no doubt that a great number of K-POP or K-culture fans all over the world are influenced by Korean culture, which often sparks learning Korean language and traveling South Korea. Changing the perspective, I have observed how the K-POP and K-culture affected by English. As a 32-years old Korean, a gradually changing trends in Korean culture by intrusion of English is evident, especially comtemporary K-POP and K-drama. To illustrate, songs of popular KPOP idols including BTS, Blackpink and others have English title and English lyrics.
The integration of English expressions on their works is I think not only to lower the barrier to global listeners but also borrow some English expressions, which is not existed in Korean language and Korean culture. The song ‘Kitsch’ by IVE is a great example. Kitsch is the English words which doesn’t exists in Korean. Similarly, the song ‘Ditto’ by New Jeans also borrowed English title not Korean due to the lack of Korean equivalent. So, I tihink this movement not only fosters global population’s interest in Korean but also Korean poluation’s engagement with English.
Great point! “Kitsch” btw is a borrowing from German or Yiddish and has only been in English for about a century … everything is connected…
Thank you for bringing up such an interesting topic. It is undeniable that the global phenomenon of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has left an indelible mark on cultural exchanges and language propagation. To be honest, I was first exposed to K-pop during my secondary years, and I started to indulge myself in Korean culture ever since. As a true fan, I yearned to grasp the emotions and meanings embedded in the lyrics, follow interviews, and participate in online discussions about my idols, all of which require me to reach a specific level of proficiency in the Korean language. Moreover, the young generation in Vietnam also has a massive passion for Korean culture. These days, they have a tendency to learn Korean to get scholarships and study abroad in South Korea, meet their idols in real life, and interact with them at fan meetings. Indeed, Korean pop culture and language are inseparable companions. They coexist symbiotically, driving enthusiasts like me to embrace both. My story is just one of countless examples that illuminate the profound impact of K-pop on language contact. As we traverse this path, we not only deepen our connection with music and culture but also contribute to the global interweaving of languages and traditions.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Looking back at my previous writing, I could say that the unit “Language and Culture in Contact” section has deepened this linguistic exploration. The unit’s emphasis on language acquisition as a social phenomenon is in line with the younger generation in Vietnam who are studying Korean for cultural immersion as well as academic purposes. It is about more than just learning a language; it is about becoming involved in a world community that is formed by cross-cultural exchanges. My absorption in K-pop essentially captures the concept of the unit, which is the complex dance between language and culture. It involves more than simply decoding lyrics; it also involves understanding cultural quirks, joining a worldwide community of fans, and establishing relationships that overcome language barriers. The unit has given my language journey a deeper meaning by presenting it as an in-depth investigation of the ways in which language and culture are intertwined in the dynamic universe of K-pop.
It’s a pretty fascinating subject. Here I would like the express my own experience which helped me to realize the influence of pop cultures like Movies, Music, etc. to the language. I developed a serious love for movies after the age of 15, especially South Indian films. Later, I also began to watch Bollywood films. My love for viewing movies was observed by my parents. They, therefore, made me watch Hollywood films with subtitles once I became 18 in order for me to develop a good English accent. Because in my country there was no other option to study English, even though in schools if we select English medium only the textbooks will be in English but the language of teaching is my mother tongue. But now things are changed. When I realized that by watching and listening to Hollywood movies my English had gotten a little bit more fluent over time, I realized that watching movies can also have an impact on how our language develops. I eventually began to watch more English-language movies and listen to English-language music in order to improve my English.
Watching Korean Series like All of us are dead, Hell Bound, and Yah! helped me get started on my attempt to learn the language. Although I am aware that these films are unpleasant, this is my favorite genre. However, because I found it so difficult to understand, I utterly failed to learn Korean. But I did manage to pick up a few new words like 물 mul which means water 음식 eumsig which means food. But the fact is I only learned a few words but don’t know to make a sentence in Korean. But I am sure that one day I will make that happen.
Interesting how your parents made you watch Hollywood movies strategically. Were they not worried that too much TV might have a negative influence?
My thoughts immediately returned to South Asia when I finished this amazing piece of writing. It’s astonishing how a catchy Bollywood song or a memorable movie line can spread like wildfire across South Asia! For instance, in Bangladesh- my homeland, I’ve noticed many friends and family who don’t speak a word of Hindi singing along to Hindi songs or using phrases from Indian movies in everyday conversation. It’s like Bollywood gave many of us an informal Hindi lesson without us even realizing. Bollywood isn’t teaching us Hindi in a classroom way, but it’s making us curious, igniting interest, and, for some, even leading to formal language learning. Just as K-pop might have someone in the West saying “annyeonghaseyo”, Bollywood has had many of us in South Asia throwing a “kya baat hai” into our conversations. It’s beautiful how arts and media can weave languages seamlessly into our lives.
Fascinating explanation! Bollywood really is something else!
When I am a big fan of football, I usually follow football leagues such as Premier League or La Liga. At that time, I realized the similarities between English and Spanish and I started to explore why they have the special relationship between English and Spanish pop culture in the context of language contact. When I think about the words, both Spanish and English use the Latin alphabet and similar verb tenses so it is easier for them to understand. These languages also borrow lots of words from each other. While English words like “internet”,”selfie” are really popular in Spain, Spanish terms such as “fiesta”, “rey ” are easy to understand in England. There are many cognates in two languages, like the word “hotel”.
In terms of entertainment,bilingual music is one of the important reasons why English and Spanish have a strong relationship. To understand the lyrics in the songs, people try to learn and use more words from each other. They make lots of famous songs like “despacito”, which is the first music video that got 2 billion views. The development of football between these two countries is also the reason why their languages become more popular and affect each other.
Interesting to read that an interest in soccer inspired your interest in Spanish … I’m curious why you connect soccer with Spain? 😆
Because my favorite football team is fc barcelona. That is reason why I watch lots of football matches in Spanish league.
I would like to share one example of language contact brings a great deal of implications on a culture as well as ideology which is associated with Mongolia and Russia.
Russian was compulsory subject for all secondary schools in Mongolia before a few decades and the majority of my parents’ generation can speak Russian. This is due to the fact that a plenty of linguistic element code switched from Russia to Mongolia and we still use them in daily conversation a lot. Moreover, many Russian food such as ‘Borsht’, ‘Pirozhki’ and ‘Bifshteks’ became popular in Mongolia.
By the way, the most interesting thing is that the process of learning Russian influenced belief and ideology of Mongolians about Russian goods and services in a positive way. Most of my grandparents and my parents’ generation still strongly believe that anything made in Russia is high quality. They often do not care about material or ingredient of the product as long as it was produced in Russia.
Another good example how quickly these fashions can change and how the influence of Russian language and culture has plummeted in the past 30 years…
That’s so interesting, Undraa. I didn’t know that about Mongolia and the Russian language.
Thank you for sharing your history Undraa. I had no idea of this connection between Mongolia and Russia. How has this relationship shifted in the last couple years?
What a great topic! The fact that K-pop culture, especially Hallelujah, has an important and strong impact in Vietnam. A long time ago, just a few K-pop artists came to Vietnam like DAVICHI, EXO, and T-ARA but since last year, more and more well-known K-pop artists have performed in my country like Super Junior, 2NE1, Blackpink, etc. The appearance of these groups not only helps to increase the relationship between the two countries but also promotes K-pop culture. According to Touring Data, The Blackpink’s shows in Hanoi were attended by an estimated 70,000 people, which means it attracted the attention of thousands of people in Vietnam. Nowadays, the older generation also knows about Blackpink. In the younger generation, the popularity of pop culture is more expressed. They can easily sing along to many songs, even when they don’t understand the languages or can try to say some famous sentences like;” Saranghyeo” (I love you), “Michoso” (Are you crazy?), “Bogo sipeo” (I miss you), “Oppa”…. Many songs in Vietnam try to add more famous Korean words and people still understand “Kachima” (Don’t go) in Chạm đáy nỗi đau – Erik, “Chowahae” ( I like you” in Take it Slow – Lip B. Therefore, pop culture has a strong affected on my country’s language.
Being Korean, I am genuinely delighted to witness the widespread popularity of Korean culture across the globe. I have recognized that people’s perceptions and feelings towards Korea have changed since the emergence of Hallyu, the Korean Wave. The growing interest in learning the Korean language can be attributed to Hangeul, the unique writing system. Hangeul was created by King Sejong the Great in the 15th century. His empathy for ordinary people being illiterate during Joseon Dynasty led to the creation of Hangeul. Before Hangeul, Chinese characters were allowed for only the upper class. King Sejong the Great, along with his scholars created a set of alphabets which can represent the sounds of the Korean language and can be learned easily. Indeed, Hangeul system is clear and comprehensible, allowing individuals to use Hangeul in just a single day. The simplicity of Hangeul would act as a driving force, inspiring those with an interest in Korean culture to begin their journey of learning Korean. Consequently, this would facilitate the widespread embrace of Korean culture worldwide.
Thanks, Yeon! Recognition is a great feeling 😊 … thanks also for sharing the story of the creation of Hangul – readers can also follow up here: https://www.languageonthemove.com/happy-hangul-day/
I don’t think the simplicity of Hangul is behind Hallyu, though … these things are rarely rational; if they were, English and Chinese wouldn’t be as popular as they are, and the Korean wave would have started 500 years ago …
Your comment has highlighted the impact of Hangeul on global spread of Korean culture.
The fact that Hangeul was specifically designed to represent the sounds of Korean has reflected the beauty and connection between language and culture. I believe it is a symbol of cultural pride to every Korean especially when the language has become a powerful tool to connect people from all over the world to Hallyu. Hangeul is a bridge not only for communication but also for the mutual enrichment of diverse cultures. Moreover, it is so remarkable how simply watching Korean movies can immerse people in Korean culture, from understanding slangs to appreciating Korean customs such as enjoying beer and fried chicken in a rainy day. Hangeul system has made it easier for people like me access to the beauty of Korean culture which makes South Korea a must – visit country on my bucket list.
As an American Universal ESL instructor who has lived in Korea for the past two decades, I’ve developed a profound appreciation for the intertwined relationship between pop culture and language engagement. Two decades ago, there wasn’t much interest in the Korean language in the U.S., with North Korea often being the primary focal point. Yet, over the years, Korean pop culture, including K-pop and Korean dramas, has acted as a significant catalyst for language learning and cultural exchange in the U.S. While I was raised on predominantly Western culture in Michigan, the recent tide has shifted. Major Korean musical acts like Wonder Girls, Blackpink, and BTS, coupled with Korean series on platforms like Netflix, have piqued American interest in Korean language and culture. Conversely, the omnipresence of American pop culture in South Korea has provided an engaging backdrop for Korean ESL students, fostering a heightened enthusiasm for learning English. This shared pop-cultural platform offers a sense of familiarity, making their language studies more relatable. The influential role of pop culture in fostering cross-cultural communication and enhancing language learning is profound. Additionally, there’s been a notable uptick in international student enrollment at Korean universities, driven by the allure of learning both Korean and English. Historically, the majority of these students were Chinese, but geopolitical tensions led to a sharp decline roughly a decade ago, a trend that’s only now beginning to reverse. This article has ignited my interest in undertaking an ethnography on a related topic, focusing on my international university students in Korea.
That sounds like a fascinating research project! Send me an email offline if you want to discuss options to integrate into your degree/do this as part of degree research…
Wonderful project, Aaron! Looking forward to hearing from your study with international students in South Korea!
In the night street with starts even whispering
I’m a girl with dreams selling flowers at night in Hong Kong…
It is an old Korean song, titled ‘Miss Hong Kong’ composed in 1954, sung by Keum Sahyang. Upon releasing this album, she gained fame thanks to this mega hit song. For baby boomers born from 1955 to 1963, Hong Kong is imprinted with the image of glowing neon lights in the night streets. As Britain ruled Hong Kong for nearly 120 years since the Opium War, Hong Kong was one of the largest international cities along with Tokyo and Shanghai in Asia. For centuries, Hong Kong has been a cultural melting pot, where the East and the West meet, creating the exotic atmosphere. From mid 1950s to late 1980s, influence of the pop culture of Hong Kong on Korea was immensely huge. Therefore, there are several Korean idioms and expressions that have ‘Hong Kong’ in them. One of them is ‘going to Hong Kong’ which means you are very excited, usually used when you are going somewhere exciting. And also, it is a slang meaning sexually aroused or sexually satisfied. Furthermore, ‘night streets of Hong Kong’ means downtown streets with a decadent atmosphere brightly lit at night. Remember, those expressions were popular back then around 1980s. They are now almost obsolete, only few uses.
Thanks for these fascinating examples which remind us that pop culture contacts come and go in waves of fashion and are often not particularly durable …
Very interesting to hear from the quote about Hong Kong in Korean lyrics. It reminds me of my recent visit in Shangari-la, a northwestern city in Yunnan, China. To the rich, the word ‘Shangari-la’ seems to capture luxurious values attached to fancy hotels worldwide, and to international visitors, Shangari-la might carry romantic and exotic favors because of the published book (Lost Horizon), but my recent visit to Shangari-la is a striking contrast. I saw ‘the poor in paradise’, international or domestic tourism has not seemed to empower local people’s living conditions. Shangari-la for many locals is not as desirable as depicted by mass media but an undesirable place for economic development and individual opportunities.
Thanks, Li Jia, for sharing! The touted opportunities of tourism often only accrue to a minority while everyone else in the destination is inconvenienced at best and displaced at worst …
The Glory reminds me of the Thai movie Girl from Nowhere. One of Nanno’s (the main character) sayings going viral on TikTok is simply “สวัสดีค่ะ แนนโน๊ะนะคะ” (Hello, I’m Nanno). I found her saying interesting, so I learned and used “สวัสดีค่ะ” /Sawasdee kha/ (Hello) to greet each other friends.
When I watch more movies and get more exposure to Thai culture, I seem to learn a few more words, phrases or sentences that can be used frequently when communicating or chatting with friends, such as:
“5555555” means “hahahahaha”
“สวยมาก” /suay-mak/ means “beautiful/handsome”
“ไม่ได้” /mái-dái/ means “cannot”
“ไม่มีตังค์ค่า” /Mai-mee-tang-ka/ means “I don’t have money” (I learned this word after LISA said it – she’s Thai and she’s from a K-pop girl group called BLACKPINK)
I suddenly realize that maybe some Thai pronunciation is similar to Vietnamese, so we quickly imitate and use Thai words in our life. Although not many people choose to learn this language, there are still a certain number of people who have been learning Thai to be able to watch movies without subtitles or even become translators or interpreters. Of course, their passion for the Thai language all started with their favourite movies, songs or idols.
Such an interesting comment to read! Thank you. Reminds me of a post about the romance of Thai, which I think you will enjoy: https://www.languageonthemove.com/peripheral-language-learners-and-the-romance-of-thai/
Hi Hao
Thank you for the info in your comment. I didn’t know Vietnamese and Thai pronunciation were similar. I am very fond of both cultures but as a Canadian English speaker who is not very musical and have low audio intelligence, I find Thai much easier than Vietnamese. It is true both are very musical and tonal. Also, my Vietnamese students and friends have told me my pronunciation is terrible while my husband who has a very good ear for sound and music they praise his Vietnamese enthusiastically. Its very funny.
I was an exchange student in Kyoto, Japan at Ristumeikan University in 1990. Everyone asked me why I chose to go there and stated that they had no interest in Japan. I discovered a fascinating universe of culture and language which began a life-long love affair. I discovered the very popular manga and anime in Japan before the world made them and their characters, so popular and mainstream. I observed their rise in popularity through graphic novels, anime, video games, fashion and related consumer products associated. Recently, my friends 13-year-old son came to have tea. I invited my neighbour who is a retired Japanese man, as I knew his interest in Japanese language and culture. It was amazing to see them talk for an hour non-stop in Japanese and practice writing Kanji together. Yan learned from his passion for online Japanese gaming. Prior to this he had never had a conversation with a Japanese person outside of this very specific interest. I was so impressed with him and learned a lot about better ways to approach my own language learning. Coincidentally, everyone I speak to now loves Japan and Japanese culture and has already visited or wants to visit Japan.
Oh god – reminds me of the time my teenage child made me watch all 700+ Naruto episodes …
Back to 30 years ago, I was a fan of Japanese movies when I was at university. I was so keen on understanding Japan that I taught myself Japanese language for half a year. Three years ago when I visited Tokyo, I still remembered how I felt when I learned to speak Japanese and sing Japanese songs, lots of real and unforgettable memories:-)
Thanks for sharing with us your experiences in picking up Thai by Thai movies. There are quite a number of Chinese cross-border minorities like Dai, Hani and Zhuang who would find it earlier to learn to speak Vietnamese, Lao and Thai than English. The nation-wide promotion of Thai culture in China has provided a new space for these ethnic minorities to valorize their legitimacy both at study and at work. One of ethnic minority students in my previous blog has just been accepted by an elite university in Beijing this year. Her empowerment started from transferring from majoring in English to Thai as the blog demonstrates: https://www.languageonthemove.com/foreign-language-learning-for-minority-empowerment/
Oh wow, that’s such exciting news! Congratulations!!!
This article was very interesting to read as I could relate to my personal experience, while reading it. I started to watch my first k-drama on Netflix since 2019 and it was just a random watch because it just popped in the ” Popular” Tv show item on Netflix and I just clicked randomly and started to watch. As it was my first k-drama to watch I was reading subtitles for the episodes. At first it was quite difficult to follow the subtitles and the scenes at a time but I was enjoying the show because the plot was so good than any Bollywood or some Hollywood tv shows. After finishing this tv show I remember I have watched almost all the tv show that were in Netflix and the more I watched, the more I enjoyed the K-dramas. Gradually I felt that with time I have learned some Korean words and suddenly I didn’t have to look for the subtitles anymore. I think my interest for the k-dramas helped me to learn the language and the culture. K-pop often includes a mix of Korean and English lyrics, which makes it easier for the non Korean speakers to understand and this is the reason I love Korean songs too. I think its not only me but worldwide people are there who loves k-drama and are eager to learn more about the language and the culture. K-pop music is famous worldwide and I remember that many people watched the opening of FIFA world cup this time just to witness popular South Korean singer (BTS) ” Jung Kook” singing for FIFA world cup. Even after coming to Australia I found that people of almost all culture love to watch K-drama and it actually amazes me how interest works as a key factor to learn a totally different language and I think this learning is more natural and has long time effect.
Hallyu is such a fascinating global phenomenon! As you suggest, it also partly rides on the Netflix platform, which has made Korean dramas so much more accessible in many parts of the world.
It is indeed interesting to witness how young people worldwide share a similar cultural taste when they grow up. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience, Nurunnahar.
One of the most fascinating aspect I have learned from this unit is that language and culture are interconnected .While reading this article I have realised that popular cultures can work as an encouragement for language learning and how media works as an effective tool in terms of cultural exchange and language learning process. This can even promote mutual appreciation and helps people to connect with each other from different parts of the world. The unit helped me to understand that language plays a significant role in how people connect with their own culture as well as with other cultures of the world. It felt very captivating to me that how I have started watching “The Glory” show randomly with subtitles and how it changed into one of my favourite Tv shows and how it encouraged me to learn more about Korean language and its culture. The unit has helped me to think more critically about language and culture as it allowed me to read some interesting blogs and by commenting in those blogs my idea about language and culture and how it works have developed.
Thanks, Nurunnahar! So glad to hear that 🙂
Thank you for sharing this interesting phenomenon of Hallyu. It reminds me of the popularity of Chinese in Vietnam. Long before Korean music and dramas started to spread, Chinese movies gained huge interest from Vietnamese audiences. Some famous Chinese films such as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Journey To The West or My Fair Princess were part of many Vietnamese people’s childhood. Gradually, Chinese movies have become one of the most favourite types of entertainment in Vietnam. Along with them, Chinese soundtracks are also favoured by Vietnamese people even though they could not understand the whole meaning of them. For that reason, since early 21st century, many Vietnamese people have known and used some popular Chinese expressions that they heard from movies like 我愛你 (I love you), 謝謝 (thank you), 為什麼 (why?), 對不起 (sorry) in their conversations (a great example for code- switching).
Nowadays, the Vietnamese young generation have a tendency to learn Chinese besides English. Even though Chinese is not a compulsory subject, they still allocate much time and effort to study it as a way to discover their favourite culture. It can be said that their inspiration for Chinese language was nurtured by Chinese films and songs played around them from their young age.
Thanks, Chloe! Interestingly, Vietnamese is apparently also becoming popular among some young people in China … see https://www.languageonthemove.com/foreign-language-learning-for-minority-empowerment/
Wow. Thanks so much for sharing that article, Ingrid. I didn’t know that Vietnamese is also popular to some Chinese young peple. I think it’s an interesting idea to encourage people to learn “small languages” for minority empowerment. Better and easier access not only to education but also to other aspects of life!
Thanks Chloe for sharing your observation with us! I just returned from my fieldwork in China-Vietnam borderlands. I visited many China’s towns bordering Vietnam last month. It was amazing to see many Chinese people find it useful and meaningful to speak Vietnamese because of their job commitment and business contact. As a university teacher, I also got a chance to interview Chinese teachers teaching Vietnamese and their exposure to Vietnamese has broadened my understanding of learning a foreign language. Learning a foreign language like Vietnamese has provided a shared cultural synergy and restored ethnic pride. These interesting findings can be read from one of my recent publications: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0346251X23000933
I ALWAYS use ~ (tilde) when ending cheerful messages and I never really knew where I picked that habit up from until I learned Hallyu in this blogpost. In fact, I can also speak, read, and write basic Korean. I realize now that it all stemmed from enjoying K-dramas so much that I wanted to be able to watch all sorts of content without needing subtitles. I oddly feel targeted in this article to be honest, as I am currently in the middle of watching Glory on Netflix, among other things.
[The way I learned Korean was mostly through using a Chrome add-on called Language Reactor (https://www.languagereactor.com/) while watching Korean content on Netflix and YouTube. Using that add on, all subtitles were written in Korean, but when you hovered your mouse over the words, it provided English translations. Furthermore, you could bookmark specific words by clicking on them and it would be added to a library of vocabulary words that you specifically want to focus on. It’s my favorite Chrome extension and it’s perfect for polyglots~]
The notion of the Korean Wave as a form of “soft power projection” by the Korean Government is a little irksome to me though as I have been unconsciously subscribing to it for the past few years, and now I feel somewhat tricked. My best friend in the Philippines went as far as opening a Korean Mart/Convenient store because we love Korean products so much, from makeup, food, comics, music albums, and other merchandise. Korean Pop-culture has indeed boosted my language learning motivation, moreover, if Covid did not complicate things last 2021 for me, I would have accepted a job at a tutoring center in Korea as an English teacher. I have somehow unknowingly indoctrinated myself into the Hallyu community; supporting the Korean economy by constantly purchasing their food and skin-care products and also learning their language for the sake of enjoyment.
Similar to the Chinese youths mentioned in this blogpost, I also didn’t learn Korean for pragmatic pursuits, instead, it’s mostly inspired by the desire to communicate with Koreans and understand their culture better.
Thanks, Panda Girl!
First, thank you for drawing our attention to LanguageReactor – sounds great and I’m looking forward to checking it out!
Second, I’m sorry you feel a bit duped re the soft power projection! I don’t think recognising that media trends are part of (international) power projects should make us feel bad, but give us another lens through which to view our favourite cultural products … and we can’t lose sight of the fact that we all speak English – and enjoy its associated cultural forms to various degrees – as a result of both hard and soft power projects…
Thanks Panda Girl for sharing with us your story in learning Korean. I believe all of us have the right to choose which language to learn and what movie to watch. It’s definitely better to understand a new world through a new language:-)
Pokemon is one of the popular Japanese pop cultures around the world. Pokemon movies, anime and games gain popularity among children to adults. There are more than a thousand kinds of pokemons in the series, and some of the names in English are the same as Japanese. Caterpie, Butterfree and Mankey are good examples. On the other hand, some names are different from the original ones, for instance, Pidgey, Wigglytuff and Meowth. As seeing the difference, I noticed that names coming from English words are used as they are whereas names coming from Japanese altered for different names. In terms of language contact, it could be said that English affects Japanese in the former case because these names are accepted in kind of English form. However, elements in names are replaced from Japanese to English in the latter case. For example, “Nya-su” is a pokemon based on cats, and “Nya” is the call of cats in Japanese. However, it changes to “Meowth” in English because the call of cats in English is “Meow”. Like this example, it can be said that a language is sometimes borrowed and changed to suit for another language when language contact occurs.
Thanks, China, for the great example! I know the Meowth character but didn’t know the Nyasu backstory … I guess English-derived names have international popular appeal, both in Japan and elsewhere, but Japanese-derived names are limited to the Japanese market. Do you think that’s right, or are there Japanese-derived Pokemon character names that are used internationally?
Very interesting to read your comment, China. Thanks for your follow-up comment, Ingrid. There are a number of Japanese words/characters that have been borrowed into Chinese sub-culture, like video games. These years, I’ve been supervising some Chinese students studying the representation of linguistic and cultural elements in Chinese video games. Chinese video games have imported many Japanese characters, like Mai Shiranui in Honor of Kings, and those Japanese figures who used to be favored by Chinese players have gained a new popularity when Incorporated into a transnational market.
I have also watched The Glory although it was not my cup of tea. After reading this article a friend of mine popped into my head. It would have been nice to share my personal experience but unfortunately this is a story of my friend. She had dated a Chinese person and learnt how to speak and write in Chinese to converse with him as he could not speak English well. It was amazing to see her learning a foreign language so quickly and being able to be converse fluently with her boyfriend and his family in Chinese. If there’s a will theres a way! She had told me that listening to Chinese music and watching Chinese movies helped her but most importantly applying what she had learnt to her boyfriend was a game changer as it helped her practice the pronunciation and being involved in a dialogue/ conversation helped her improve rapidly. I think language is amazing how it can be learnt and be applied by anyone who actually tries! ( Pssst, it is a secret that I gave up learning Chinese because it was too hard for me… I didn’t have any patience to learn it myself! But one day, I wish to take time and learn it!)
Romance is a great way to power up your language learning … and also exploited by marketers; some time ago I co-wrote a paper about the use of romantic imagery (of attractive Caucasian men) was used by Japanese English language schools to attract more learners:
Piller, I., & Takahashi, K. (2006). A passion for English: desire and the language market. In A. Pavlenko (Ed.), Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression, and representation (pp. 59-83). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. It’s available here: https://languageonthemove.com/downloads/PDF/piller_takahashi_2006_akogare.pdf
Oh, and then there is iBoyfriend … https://www.languageonthemove.com/iboyfriend/
Thanks, Durian, for sharing with us your friend’s story in learning Chinese through her Chinese boyfriend! Your observation is very similar to what I observe in China-Myanmar borderlands where an increasing number of Burmese brides can strike up a fluent conversation with local Chinese people in local Chinese language (non-standard Chinese) after crossing the border and marrying their Chinese husband for a year. The way they learn to speak a foreign language is very interesting and truly deserves our further exploration in a variety of contexts!
The relationship between Asian pop culture and cultural contact is an interesting topic. I would love to talk about “manga” and its moving form, “anime”, from Japan have an enormous impact on learning and teaching Japanese in Vietnam.
Manga and anime have a strong appeal to many ages and backgrounds in Vietnam. It has many genres such as shoujo (少女マンガ), josei (女性マンガ), shounen (少年マンガ), gekiga (劇画マンガ), shounen ai (ボーイズラブマンガ),… Especially, many topics such as love, friendship, slice of life, family, hobbies,… can be discussed in only a series of manga, which makes reading mangas become a leisure activity for thousands of Vietnamese including teenagers and adults.
People who are passionate about the Japanese language and culture are known as Wibu or Otaku. In the past 10 years, Japanese has become one of the languages chosen by Vietnamese young people to study as a major when they go to university with the dream of studying in Japan and having more exposure to Japanese culture. As Hashimoto, K. (2022) mentions that some students learn Japanese because of exposure to manga and anime from childhood.
Some words commonly used by characters in anime, such as “naisu” (ナイスmeans “very nice”), “baka” ばか means “fool” or “idiot”) became common in constant talk of Vietnamese young people. These vocabularies become code-switching words in everyday face-to-face communication and also in cyberspace.
Reference:
Hashimoto, K. (2022). Why are you learning Japanese? Vietnamese university students’ perspectives on work and life between Vietnam and Japan. Asian Studies Review, 46(4), 631-649.
Thanks, Melisa, for the reference! I’ve added it to my reading list 🙂 … it’s fascinating how the meaning of “otaku” has changed outside Japan; in Japan is a bit like “geek” or “nerd” or someone with poor social skills because they are so involved in their fantasy worlds; but in English – and apparently in Vietnamese, too – it’s become a term for someone with an (excessive?) interest in Japanese culture.
Thanks, Melisa. So interesting! Anime seems popular all over the world. My French niece has become really interested in Japanese culture. Her family are visiting Sydney from France, and when they went to the city to explore the other day, her choice of a restaurant for lunch was a Japanese one 🙂
Very interesting to hear from your observation, Melisa! Many of my Chinese students are fond of subculture including Japanese video games, like female-oriented Otome games. Some of them even pick up Japanese just to catch up with their fandom community.
I hadn’t really considered how language contact could influence pop culture, so I had a great time doing some more research about this! After the end of World War II, Germany was occupied by the US (as well as Great Britain, the Soviet Union and France), and this language contact was the start of America’s influence on German pop culture. The Germans’ defeat in the war left them needing to rebuild their society; as a result, the they were more open to foreign cultural influences, and thus, the American occupiers were in a position to share their culture with the country’s inhabitants. Over time, they introduced the Germans to their literature, music and movies, and English became the dominant second language learnt in schools. American pop culture was especially significant for young people in Germany, who were less set in their ways than older Germans, and who used American pop culture to rebel against the older population. Today, American pop culture continues to thrive in Germany (and many other countries) due to America’s powerful presence in the entertainment industry and the hyper-centrality of the English language around the globe.
Thanks, Natalie! Great example – what do you think is different about the influence of US culture in Germany in comparison to Australia?
American pop culture was also popularised in Australia after World War II, but rather than through a physical language contact situation (like in Germany), the influence mostly came from American products being imported into Australia. America was able to export their goods after the war because of their powerful economic status at the time, so they were in a position to influence the Australian market. I suppose another difference would be that both countries speak English (albeit different varieties), so the cultural contact was perhaps less noticeable. Maybe it’s just because I was born in the 2000s, but I find that I don’t even realise things are American sometimes because the language is the same and I’m so desensitised to hearing American accents in daily life – it’s a much more subconscious association with American pop culture. America has dominated the film and music industry here for so long that I actually find it more surprising to hear my own accent in songs and on TV than an American one – isn’t that strange?!
Do you still notice Halloween as American? There was no trick-or-treating in Australia when I first arrived in the 1990s and now it’s big deal every year …
No actually, I didn’t know that! I know a few people who celebrate Thanksgiving and that still appears very American to me, but Halloween was definitely part of my Australian childhood so I hadn’t thought about it!
Thanks for sharing with us your observation, Natalie. It’s interesting to see how the ownership of certain cultural practices might be shaped and contested by sociopolitical power across time and space. Recently, I’ve been conducting a fieldwork in a Chinese minority region. Cultural authenticity seems to carry multiplayered, sometimes contradictory forces that challenge/reinforce the traditional norm for doing, being and becoming.
Thank you for sharing valuable information and your thoughts about English pop culture in Germany and Australia, Natalie. Your comment made me reflect how American pop culture to be dominant all over the world and in South Korea.
I didn’t know how increased impact of American pop culture after WWII. In addition, I found other causes of the prevalence of American pop culture, which are advanced media and entertainment industry, economic power, English language, globalization and its trendsetting reputation. As we learned in this unit, English as Lingua Franca emerged by multiple factors such as colonization of British empire, globalization and English education as second language. At this point, I think we can conclude that the influence of American pop culture and the English language can be defined as a virtuous circle.
The story of how American pop culture became known in Korea is a little different. After Korean war, U.S. army decided to be present in South Korea to support South Korea government against North Korea and the economic ties between South Korea and U.S. established. These two political movements led to increase of the significance of English and American culture in South Korea. Of course, emergence of digital revolution accelerates the prevalence of English and American pop culture in South Korea as well.
When I finished the first one of The Glory, I was very eager to see the ending of the second one. But when completing the second one, it seemed like the end was just that. I didn’t learn the language because of Korean Wave, but Korean Wave did help me understand the language. Korean can be a swift language to learn. You may not be able to speak German after watching a film or listening to a song in German for daily communication. But when you finish watching a Korean drama, you can perfectly say a few familiar everyday sketches. Even My mum could learn a lot of Korean when I finished watching a Korean drama. Haha! Of course, making proper use of the Korean Wave is helpful for language learning, but some Korean Wave fans in China are so crazy and obsessed that they are considered to be the not-so-sane type. It doesn’t help much in language learning but rather affects everyday life. But songs, films, and TV dramas are beneficial in learning a new language when you go to understand or learn a different country’s language.
Interesting that you and your mum learned some Korean from watching Korean dramas. My favourite Korean show is Brown and Friends (https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81096893) and the characters don’t speak at all 🙃
Thanks Hazel for sharing with us your observation. It’s good to hear that your mom is interested in Korean movies. When I did my PhD fieldwork ten years ago, I happened to hear from a similar statement that many ‘mothers’ in Myanmar were fond of Korean movies.
When reading this article, I thought about my experience, I didn’t start learning a language because I liked a pop culture. On the contrary, I started to pay attention to Western pop culture because I wanted to learn English, and I wanted to try my best to integrate myself into Western culture so that I could really learn a language well! So I began to watch English TV and listen to English songs. “Friends” was the first English TV I watched, in fact, I didn’t think it was good at first, because of cultural differences, I felt different to understand why it was funny. When I watched more and more, I began to like “Friends”. As far as I am concerned, the pop culture and language contact are mutually reinforcing.
Thanks, Lily! So true about the mutual reinforcement – to appreciate another language and culture there probably is no way around immersing yourself in it …
Thanks for your note, Lily! I used to turn to Friends as a good teaching resource when I taught my students Comprehensive English course ten years ago. It’s good to see that in recent years, young people worldwide get empowered by expanding their cultural exposure through multilingual movies/operas imported from different countries.
Hi Lily, the first English TV I ever watched was also Friends, which was recommended by my English teacher when I was still in high school in China. She would even use the dialogues in Friends as examples to explain English culture and grammar to the students in class. It can be said that English culture has been integrated into our education and daily life. Even the out-of-school English tutorials that my aunt is looking for for her three-year-old daughter are using cartoons to get the kids interested.
Thank you for your experience!
Interesting post! I reflected on the relationship between Arabic in the German pop culture. The language contact can be found most profoundly in the everyday life of the consumers of German Rap.
One could say that this affects only a small range of people, but due to the transition of nowadays Rap towards mainstream, the spread of Arabic words in music, on the streets and through social media, can be seen as part of pop culture. Fans don’t really need to speak Arabic to enjoy the sound and poetic meanings.
The utilized words were originally used in the context of Islam. Through high numbers of non-Arab Muslims who live and rap mostly in German, the phenomenon spread and can be commonly found in many (non) music related contexts, in short videos, comment sections, through phrases like Salla llahu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, or expressions like Mashallah.
For true listeners terms like Astaghfiru lillah, Jannah, haram or halal aren’t alien and can be heard on the streets. Often the original context disappeared, in return are some terms even used in German, like “Ich küss’ dein Auge”, an Arab way of showing affection.
Doubt remains, whether parts of the Arab community could feel disrespected though this development.
Thanks, Carla! A couple of years ago, I remember the hashtag #YallaCSU trending 😉 … I wrote a little post about it at https://www.languageonthemove.com/yallacsu/, which you might enjoy.
Interesting question about cultural appropriation you raise at the end …
Thanks a lot, I really enjoyed reading your posts, especially because I am exactly from that region in Germany and followed these events… When I was looking at the exemplary tweets I could not stop myself from laughing!
That’s fantastic observation, Carla! Your observation reminds me of quite a lot of Chinese verses circulating in English pop songs. Expecting to read your study on valorization of Arabic in and through German pop culture!
Thanks so much for this interesting read! Pop culture appears to have broadened the scope of language contact in recent times, and we only have to browse through the Netflix catalogue to see programs which include various languages today. One of these programs which caught my interest was ‘Emily in Paris’. I loved watching it for its escapism, views of Paris, and French language interwoven through the series. While it’s not a serious drama by any stretch, it does make a social comment on the assumption some people have that English is or should be spoken. I spent a lot of the series calling out to the main character, Emily, “Learn some French!” And I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling this – perhaps the writers wanted us to feel this way. The French characters often speak in French but quickly switch to English when Emily appears. Emily finally does learn some French through new friends, work colleagues and formal lessons which comments on the various ways language can be learnt. It has certainly inspired me to brush up on my French before travelling again.
Thanks, Larissa! I’m always on the look-out for shows featuring language learning and intercultural communication, so will add this on to my list 🙏
It is fun to watch – a real escape. It also presents some differences between the ways French and American people view work which is exaggerated but interesting!
Thanks for your kind note, Larrisa. I also like Emily in Paris, very interesting to see how people from different countries position each other. Expecting to hear more of your exploration in French!
Thank you for your interesting article. Through my experience as a teacher of teenage students in Thailand. I found that pop culture, especially K-pop and J-pop, has been very popular and played an important role in creating a language trend in Thailand for many years, since I was a teenager. Throughout the movies, TV series, music, or literature by introducing new vocabulary and expressing societal, cultural development. Many Thai teenagers are now more eager to learn Korean and Japanese than in the past because it is important to them to have a clear understanding of the context in which they are being appreciated.
Thanks, Luna! You might enjoy this post about Japanese in Bangkok: https://www.languageonthemove.com/japanese-in-bangkok/
Thanks for sharing with us your observation in Thailand. In addition to K-pop and J-pop, an increasing number of Chinese youth show their interests in Thai cultural products. This short blog captures how Chinese students, particularly cross-border Chinese minorities, get empowered by getting exposed to Thai opera and learning the Thai language:-) https://www.languageonthemove.com/peripheral-language-learners-and-the-romance-of-thai/
Your article is a really interesting read, and I appreciated how it highlighted pop culture’s influence on language learning. I also think your example of the impact of Korean language pop culture is topical. Although I couldn’t find academic articles on the topic, it definitely seems as though Korean pop culture, and music in particular, is having an impact on people choosing to learn the language (tinyurl.com/NewsSCMP, tinyurl.com/38w7by3d). Moreover, despite Korean not being as accessible of a language for English speakers as the Chinese learners of Korean you discuss, I’ve noticed small amounts of Korean borrowings online that normally are associated with Kpop: oppa, daebak, or my favourite Fighting (화이팅/hwat’ting). I’m a fan of ‘fighting’ in this context because it’s a good example of languages in contact: ‘Fighting’, in this context used as a cheer, is a romanised version of the Korean hwat’ting (화이팅), which is borrowed from a Japanese term popularised in Jpop ‘faito’ (ファイト), which is borrowed from the English word fight; the word was back-borrowed through three languages and made a full circle due the popularity of music.
Wow – that’s an amazing example! I didn’t know that – love it!
Very interesting to see how east Asian youth take up pop culture and transform the language use in daily life. Thanks for sharing with us many useful websites!