Netflix has an awesome collection of foreign movies and shows and has become synonymous with binge-watching. With its vast library of Korean movies, you’ll be able to do just that—even dedicate a whole weekend to it.
For the language learner, fight the urge to click on the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Keep your focus on Korean. There’s something there for everyone.
You’ll be happy to know that Korea, just like Japan, is an Asian film powerhouse. Ever since the “Korean Wave” hit the shores of America and the rest of the world, Korea’s film industry has been consciously creating moving pictures not only for the local market, but also for an international audience.
This equates to more material and is definitely great news for the language learner and Korean movie aficionado alike. So you’ll be making the most of your $9.99 monthly subscription.
FluentU is a video-based language program that contains a diverse collection of authentic videos, like movie trailers, music videos, news and more, which you can watch with interactive Korean and English captions created by language learning experts.
You can toggle either language on or off, or turn them both off to focus on your listening. If you come across any words you want to learn, you can save them to your flashcards or practice them immediately with the quizzes that follow each video.
Plus, regardless of your level, you’ll find something to watch since all of the videos are categorized by level and topic for your convenience.
This is Amazon’s version of unlimited streaming of movies, TV shows and a whole bundle of other benefits that even includes free two-day shipping for eligible purchased items. But we’re not necessarily interested in those things here, even if you’re planning to buy yourself some great Korean learning books.
They may not be blockbusters in their own right, but for Korean language learners, they contain plenty of gems that make each scene worth the price of admission.
The name comes from two Chinese words which, when put together, mean “holder of precious things.”
And holder of precious things it is. Just barely a decade old, this joint project of media giants NBC Universal, Fox and ABC is rapidly building a treasure trove of Korean films to benefit the movie lover and the language learner alike. The latest releases immediately find their way to Hulu and it’s quickly outpacing the competition in the acquisition of new material.
Hulu Plus, at $7.99, will get you a reduced number of ads. But if you’re gunning for a zero-ad Hulu experience, then you can most definitely have it at $11.99 a month.
Although only available in the US and Japan, Hulu has always declared its intent to go international. So for international Korean language learners, you’d be well-advised to keep an eye out for this one.
YouTube is a warranted stop for Korean films with subtitles.
Like so many times before, you can really go down the rabbit hole with this one as it takes just a single movie and, before you know it, YouTube draws you in and recommends or autoplays one film after another.
Start with the classic “My Sassy Girl”—which has been so successful the world over, it not only revived “Pachelbel’s Canon,” but also spurred a Hollywood remake.
YouTube’s comment section is quite active. If you care to look beyond the teenage girls gushing over Lee Minho, you can really find kindred spirits who have been bitten by the Korean bug and are using Korean movies as vehicles for both entertainment and education.
Speaking of which, in addition to movies, the media giant also serves up the freshest Korean music videos as well as language learning channels that make learning Korean approachable and fun. Give them a thumbs up and a “Subscribe.”
Their movie collection isn’t as far-reaching as the other sources, but they’re much stronger in Korean drama series, which, if you really think about it from language learner’s perspective, are kind of like movies—that never end.
The thing about Viki is that their subtitles come from fans and contributors all over the world. The nice thing about this is that you can really get your Korean honed, practiced and basically tested by fire when you try being a contributor. Don’t worry, you don’t need to translate the whole movie, you can do it one line at a time. You can also rate the work of others. Try it, and get cracking on your Korean.
There’s a healthy community of subtitlers that you can learn from, and, if you reach Qualified Contributor (QC) status, you have the added perk of ad-free HD streaming, plus some feel-good badges.
Viki Pass, the site’s subscription plan, costs $4.99 a month or $49.99 for the year (discounted rate). If you’re not too keen on looking at the ads which are delivered to free accounts, then this is a cheap way of getting that uninterrupted Korean fix.
How to Watch Movies with Korean Subtitles and Learn Korean
After watching the film from start to finish (a few times), crying into your popcorn and enjoying it as you would any other film, you now need to take a different mindset when you begin to mine the movie for its language lessons. Here’s how to do it:
Divide the movie into scenes: You need to consciously cut the film into its constituent parts. Each scene has a focal topic, a unifying theme and is a universe unto itself. So, looking to scenes is a logical way of slicing the whole movie up. It has the effect of slowing everything else down, allowing you to focus on each moment at hand and each key point of the plot and character development.
A 90-minute film watched end to end won’t yield all its linguistic gems for you. You have to pause to really consider the linguistic and cultural lessons throughout the film. So from this point onward, you shouldn’t watch any Korean movie the whole way through. Instead, do a deep dive into individual scenes where there’s more gold to be found.
Hit “replay” with a specific goal in mind. Repeat the scenes as often as necessary. The important key here is to have a specific goal in mind each time. So, maybe for the first few times you’ll focus on vocabulary and hunt for words in the dialogue. Then when you have that down, maybe the next few times you’ll treat it like a podcast and focus on pronunciation, listening closely to the ubiquitous rise and fall of Korean tones when the characters speak.
Then maybe, after you’ve become very familiar with the lines, you can talk along as the actors deliver their lines. This would give you a vivid firsthand experience of speaking Korean like a true native. You can’t assimilate all the lessons in one go, so adopt purposeful repetition where each replay has a specific element of the language as its target.
Build your vocabulary with paper and pen. Scribble down any interesting word you hear or see. Start talking back to the screen and shouting out Korean exclamations and expressions of disbelief. Or try going online or looking up unknown words in a dictionary app and finding out as much about them as you can, or making decks of vocabulary flashcards and practicing day in and day out.
Read between the lines for cultural insights. A very important part of language learning is understanding the culture of the people who use it on a daily basis. For example, you can ask why did the antagonist (as evil as he is in the film), humbly bow to the elder stranger? What does this say about Korean culture? Why did the girl turn down the young guy’s affections, citing age when he was only three years younger than her?
These questions would give you an unprecedented look into the culture of your target language. And the more you understand Korean culture, the more you appreciate the language that reflects it. Words, phrases and expressions take on more meaning. That’s when you know you’re really learning Korean.
Whether you sit for sheer entertainment or language education, watching Korean movies with subtitles offers that special gift of letting you do both at the same time.
And with the online venues mentioned here, I’m sure you’ll have countless hours enjoying the best of Korean cinema.
So, microwave that popcorn and start the marathon!
