Learn Korean with BTS: Big Hit to roll out educational tool to help fans learn language through band's content
One of the greatest laments of international fans of KPop is that they have to wait for subtitles to be able to understand lyrics or watch their favorite idols on shows. But thanks to BTS, that's not going be a problem anymore!
The band's agency, Big Hit Entertainment, held a corporate briefing on February 4 and rolled out several new projects, including a new Weverse for the group SEVENTEEN. They also made the announcement for two new boy bands — multinational group to debut within the year through Belift, a label created by Big Hit and CJ ENM, and another group slated to debut in 2022. A girl group is also being formed and is set to debut under Source Music in 2021.
One announcement that caught everyone's eye, however, was an educational tool called 'Learn Korean With BTS' that aims to help fans of the group learn Korean through BTS content. A teaser was shown to the audience which included segments from the variety show 'Run BTS' being used to teach grammar and vocabulary.
Big Hit also announced that they would expand the tool to include other artists in the future.
In addition to Korean language education, Big Hit is taking BTS into the gaming territory with a new character game that is currently under development with Superb Corp and will feature the Mattel 'chibi' dolls from the band's 'House of BTS' pop-up shop.
The company also announced a second installment 'The Notes' book as a follow up to the first one released last year which featured fictional diary entries from the 'Bangtan Universe' — a franchise of films, webtoons, short stories and books that all feature characters based on BTS members.
Other announcements included a first world tour for Tomorrow X Together (TXT), as well as improving the experience for fans at their concerts by extending the immersive features from their Korean shows to international ones as well.
BTS concerts will also feature a 'Playzone' area, a staple at the Korean concerts which includes a variety of activities such as massages, games, AR booths and random photocard printing. The BTS Seoul concert in October also included the 'F&B Zone' and a 'Rest Zone' for fans to relax.
Big Hit's 'tour village' will also experiment with attractions such as a BTS-themed hotel, pop-up stores and exhibitions featuring exclusive content, food and beverage stores with exclusive limited edition BTS-themed products and souvenirs.
What exactly is a 'tour village' you might ask. CEO Lenzo Seokjun Yoon said that as part of the company's goal to make fans the priority, they would "turn the city hosting the concert into a festival. It will be like the Olympics, a festival by and for BTS and their fans."