Commentary: Is it frivolous to learn Korean to appreciate Squid Game and K-drama shows?
SINGAPORE: Interest in learning Korean spiked worldwide after Netflix's blockbuster show Squid Game hit our screens, reported linguistic communication platform Duolingo.
Information technology observed a forty per cent growth in new Korean learners in the United states of america after the show premiered in September, fifty-fifty though the Chiliad-wave already had success in recent years - from global male child band phenomenon BTS to Bong Joon-Ho's Oscar-winning picture Parasite.
And with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting our social lives, maybe more found motivation and spare time to accept that first pace.
As a linguist, it's e'er amusing, but unsurprising, to see non-English popular culture motivating viewers to try their manus at learning foreign languages.
In that location are many "good" reasons to exercise so – but does interest in a Tv show count every bit i of them? Or is it a frivolous reason?
PRACTICALITY MIGHT NOT Be KEY FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS
T hroughout my 21 years as a French instructor and interacting with like-minded multilingual peers, I've seen many reasons for picking upward a new linguistic communication.
Think of information technology as a spectrum of increasing practicality (or frivolity): On one finish, school, work and travel tend to be common reasons. English is, by far, the well-nigh popular language to study worldwide.
What might be other practical languages for native English language speakers like us?
Looking at economic, geopolitical and cultural indicators, the British Council ranked the elevation three most important languages for the United kingdom in the hereafter - Castilian, Mandarin and French.
Only when one learns languages for work, we tend to be driven by extrinsic motivation– or tangible "rewards".
Depending on the nature of the chore or the value of the reward, this may not ever be sufficient. Afterward all, don't we accept professionalsouthward or machine translation for that?
Studies suggest nosotros may make more rational, less emotional decisions in a strange language, possibly considering we don't acquire information technology through family, friends and experiences infu sed with emotion like with our native tongues.
Some other common practical reason is when a romantic interest has a different language and cultural background, when in that location is greater intrinsic motivation – such equally a pupil I've come up across who wanted to impress and communicate with his next-door crush from French republic.
EMBRACING IMPRACTICAL REASONS
But when picking up a linguistic communication has never been easier, with free apps and online communities to practice with boyfriend linguistic communication learners or native speakers, why tie ourselves to practicality?
Some "heritage learners" seek a sense of belonging to the cultural roots of their forefathers. Others desire less superficial interaction with the locals during travels.
Nosotros could merely be drawn to the aesthetic value and exotic sounds of a language, or the prestige attached to its underlying culture.
As it turns out, language learners doing so out of sheer love for the language are quite mutual. In a 2022 survey of 600 young adults on why they were learning French as a third language, nearly three-quarters cited "liking the French language and/or culture" as their top reason.
The other end of the practicality scale is exemplified by pop culture fans deriving pleasure and pride from learning and using entirely fictional languages. From Star Trek's Klingon to Lord Of The Rings' Elvish, these satisfy their enthusiasm for the fantasy worlds and create a special sense of community among fans.
Starting to learn may be easy merely communicating in a new language takes time, persistent delivery and effort.
Each language has its own peculiar set of listen-bending rules for y'all to internalise: Nouns are gendered in some Indo-European languages co-ordinate to form, not meaning. So in French, a lady'southward blouse is masculine (le chemisier) while men'south shirts are feminine (la chemise).
And you don't just learn Japanese, you learn three dissimilar scripts – Hiragana syllables for native words, Katakana syllables for strange loanwords, and Kanji characters adopted from Chinese.
Intrinsic motivation – doing something for the inherent satisfaction it brings – tends to drive us more strongly in these cases.
GLIMPSE INTO Another Civilization
Learning new languages for the fun of it shouldn't be dismissed as frivolity. And i t'south certainly not new.
In Singapore, you probably know someone who picked up Cantonese watching Hong Kong serials, tried out Japanese after they listened to Ayumi Hamasaki, or dabbled in French after falling in love with Amelie Poulain.
Does amusement serve no redemptive value or purpose in our lives? Watching a Tv prove may propel u.s.a. to learn a language as a personal challenge - the realisation that meaningless gibberish slowly makes sense tin can exist oddly satisfying.
Without knowing a linguistic communication, viewers are express to watching either dubbed or subtitled version – complicated by matching actors' lip movements or constrained past onscreen infinite and display. Worse still, dialogue containing wordplay, idiomatic expressions and culture-specific references tin be quite simply untranslatable.
Korean speakers were quick to betoken out cultural nuances in Squid Game, such every bit honorifics used to hammer abode its critique of social classes and emotional pivotal scenes, that were lost in translation.
And it isn't only about agreement what is being said either, but the cultural and social realities of daily life information technology paints.
The resemblance between Netflix-viewers-turned-Duolingo-learners and fans of fictional universes is the most striking: Entertainment fuels a cracking desire to further delve into a culture, which in turn triggers the motivation to learn.
It signals our yearning to feel connected to and exchange with another culture or people, and in a meaningful way that doesn't gloss over intricacies and subtleties of the linguistic communication.
And in a world where international travel was largely shut down for well-nigh two years, perchance learning a foreign language is our manner of letting our minds travel when our physical selves were isolated.
And this certainly can't be a frivolous reason.
Dr Daniel Chan is deputy director and senior lecturer of French at the Center for Language Studies, National University of Singapore.
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