K-pop band BTS launch web series to teach Korean to their ARMY of fans in a fun, interactive way
Immensely popular K-pop boy band BTS are launching an online educational effort aimed at helping their fans pick up their native Korean language. As MEAWW previously reported, this new learning initiative comes in the form of an ongoing series of helpful Korean language lessons dubbed the 'Learn Korean With BTS' educational tool, and it is now open for members of the worldwide BTS ARMY to enjoy picking up Korean, via some help from the Bangtan Boys themselves.
The first part of the concise 30-part web series debuts today, March 24, on the Weverse social media app, which is a fan community aimed at connecting various K-pop artistes with their ardent supporters.
That means by merely downloading the app, you'll be able to instantly connect with various bands like BTS, TXT, SEVENTEEN, and GFRIEND via the platform and start learning Korean in a fun, interactive way.
The mini-episodes, which are each approximately three minutes in duration, are "designed to make it easy and fun for global fans who have difficulty enjoying BTS's music and contents due to the language barrier," said BTS's record label Big Hit Entertainment in a press release. This was actually the reason the learning initiative was launched in the first place - English-speaking fans had been begging BTS to include English subtitles on their online video content for many months, as they wanted to understand what their favorite singers were saying. Always up for more fan engagement, BTS decided to take this solution further by initiating the Korean-learning series, using a lesson plan developed by Professor Heo Yong from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and researchers at the Korean Language Content Institute. "There are only limited ways our fans could learn Korean with ease," revealed Big Hit's founder, Bang Si-Hyuk. "Big Hit has created Korean-learning media using artist content for a more rewarding and immersive experience for our fans."
Big Hit Entertainment said that they would be repurposing existing BTS video content, like the ‘Run BTS!’ ‘Bangtan Bomb’ and ‘BTS Episode’ series in order to make their 30-part Korean language lessons easily understandable and engaging. These series are already readily available on YouTube and VLive, but they will be edited and reworked to place an emphasis on the Korean words and phrases frequently used by the BTS members RM, Jin, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.
Each video will be posted in easily-digestible 3-minute chunks and will feature rudimentary Korean grammar, as well as common expressions such as "hyung" (older brother), "saranghae" (I love you) and many more. The first three episodes are already out - they were released at 2:00 pm KST (1:00 am EST) on March 24. After this, one episode will be released every Monday at 9:00 pm KST (8 am EST). Make sure you catch them as soon as they come out!