The popular Netflix show ‘Squid Game’ sparks interest in learning Korean

SEUL, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Interest in learning Korean has increased since the launch of the successful Netflix (NFLX.O) program.squid game“The training services highlight a global passion for South Korean culture, from entertainment to beauty products.

Duolingo Inc. (DUOL.O), a nine-part language-learning app in which cashless contestants play childhood lethal games in a bid to earn $45.6 billion ($38.19 million), raises hope for developing the skills of students old and new.

Deolingo announced that in the two weeks following the show’s premiere, there was a 76% increase in new users learning Korean in the UK.

South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, has established itself as a global entertainment hub with its vibrant pop culture, including seven-member boy band BTS, and Academy Award-winning films like “Parasite,” black humor about deepening inequality and “Minari” about A Korean immigrant family in the United States. See more information

This week, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is using 26 new words of Korean origin to describe the global success of South Korean music, film and television, including its most recent version, “Hallu,” or the Korean Wave. Fashion and food.

President Moon Jae-in welcomed this week’s addition, describing the “soft power” of the Korean alphabet as “hangeul.”

“Language and culture are closely linked and what happens in popular culture and the media often influences language and language learning trends,” Duolingo spokesperson Sam Dolceimer said via email.

“As the global popularity of Korean music, films, and television increases, so does the need to learn the Korean language.”

According to the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, there are approximately 77 million Korean speakers worldwide.

Pittsburgh-based Deolingo claims to know more than 7.9 million active users KoreanIt is the second fastest growing language after Hindi.

King Sejong, headed by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, had 76,000 students in 82 countries last year, a rapid expansion of just 740 students in three countries in 2007.

Milica Martynovich, a student at Sejong Institute in Russia, said she wanted to master the language so she could watch K plays without subtitles and listen to K-pop without having to translate songs.

Katrina Costa, 24, from Portugal and Toronto, Canada, said the language has become very popular since she started learning it two years ago.

“People are fascinated when I say I’m learning Korean,” Costa said.

The program is read by 1.2 million members in 190 countries, including the words in the CEO’s office, which are Kimbap, a dish of cooked rice wrapped in a sponge; Mukpong, a video, usually on air, that shows a person overeating and; Manoa, cartoons and comics of the Korean genre.

“Thousands of people wanted to learn Korean before the Squid or BDS craze, but they usually study alone,” said Sun Hyun-woo, the Korean founder of the local e-learning website Talk to Me in. 1.2 million members in 190 countries study the Korean language.

“They are now part of a ‘global event’; learning Korean has become an even more amazing hobby,” he said.

($1 = 1,194,000 won)

Sangmi Zhao reports; Additional reporting by Yeni Xiao, Tokyun Kim, and Heejang Jung; Editing by Jane Wardle

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