During the English summer camp I taught this year, the elementary students rushed over to the computer every time I gave them a break and started searching for YouTube videos they liked. I occasionally stayed in the classroom for a while – partly to monitor their media consumption, and partly to enjoy their chosen media with them (I find it much easier to relate to students when I know the kinds of things they enjoy).
I was impressed with a couple of the YouTube users and programs they chose to watch repeatedly – mostly because I could pick up on much of the Korean that was spoken. There are a few things you’ll tend to notice about these programs:
- They are animated.
- They are comedic.
- These are just short clips of longer programs (or playlists).
- The Korean is full-speed, authentic dialog generally performed by only one or two guys (doing the voices for all the characters).
- The animation helps to make normal Korean talk radio much easier to follow.
Take a look at the two best shows the students introduced me to:
1. 컬투쇼 SBS Radio 100
This video is one of the most popular of the 컬투쇼 video’s. It has over 500,000 views and I watched it about 4 times myself already.
The 컬투쇼 (also Cultwo Show) is hosted by 정찬우 and 김태균 and airs on SBS radio daily from 2-4pm. It’s been on the air since May 1, 2006 (almost three months before I landed in Korea for the first time). So, given the length of time it’s been airing as well as it’s afternoon time-slot, I think it’s safe to say that this is one of the most popular radio programs in Korea.
Here are some links with more information:
- 컬투쇼 Wikipedia page
- Radio home page
- Tunein.com online live radio (with links to other Korean talk programs)
- SBS Radio 100 YouTube page (with more animated clips of the show)
- Best 150 Clips on YouTube
- Longer (30-60 min) Clips on YouTube
There are also Podcasts, iPhone apps, and Android apps of this popular talk radio show.
2. Manjoongkim
I’m not entirely sure who Manjoongkim is or what he does besides upload incredibly popular YouTube clips. The above clip is from a series called “Fart City” (방구도시) and has over 1,000,000 hits. In fact, most of his videos have hundreds of thousands of hits and some include hangul subtitles.
Here is one of his hangul subtitled videos:
I’m not entirely sure what kind of popularity Manjoongkim enjoys (compared to the nationally syndicated talk show mentioned above) but at least he’s popular on YouTube and good for Korean listening practice.
Here’s a link to the rest of his videos.
What other good radio programs or short animations do you know to help with Korean listening?
Nice selection of videos. Thanks for sharing!