K-pop, also known as Korean pop, has been increasing in popularity in the United States over the past decade. However, it wasn’t until 2017, when the boy group BTS was nominated for an award at the BBMAs, that more K-pop groups and idols started to gain fanbases and recognition within the US. With the increasing interest in K-pop, UT Korean language professor, Eun Joo Kim, noticed that more of her students were coming to class already familiar with the language due to their fascination with Korean music.
“When I first started teaching there weren’t that many students who actually knew (the) Korean language. They just took the classes for other reasons, or absolutely no reason,” Kim said. “But this semester is actually different in that the students already know how to read letters and how to count numbers.” It wasn’t until this semester that Professor Kim started using Korean music in her classes.
“I thought that this semester is pretty tough for everybody, even tougher than the previous one,” Kim said. “The music works well to motivate them, especially those who’ve never known any Korean songs.”
Professor Kim added that K-pop has influenced students in the US by teaching them Korean culture. “Students are getting more curious about Korean culture and more open toward it even though there are many differences—they are not afraid,” Kim said. “I think it’s due to the power of music. It naturally opens peoples’ hearts so it can overcome many obstacles easily.”
Professor Kim even had her own experience with K-pop impacting her life. “Before BTS, I actually thought K-pop was not my genre. For me, K-pop is more like an entertainment industry where they want to sell songs, make it look good so it can become consumed— BTS changed my mind,” Kim said. “They just really make me feel it. No barrier in language; no barrier in age.”
Despite being a second generation immigrant, I did not grow up speaking or learning Korean. When I first started listening to BTS in middle school, I didn’t understand much of the Korean language other than what my parents would often say to me (we communicated mostly in a mixture of Korean and English (Konglish), but I would always speak to them in English). One day, when listening to the song “Butterfly,” I started to cry despite not understanding the lyrics. I felt the music more than understanding it.
After sharing my own experience with Professor Kim, she mentioned her students felt similar comfort listening to Korean songs.
“It’s more personal and deep than I thought,” she said. “It’s becoming their part of life.”
Professor Kim said these comments touched her heart, knowing that despite being in a foreign language, the music speaks to her students. She mentioned how happy she felt learning more about her students, and how asking these questions to her students deepened her understanding of them.
“Language doesn’t have to be verbal. It can be melody, it can be numbers, it can be anything,” Kim said. “Whatever touches our heart becomes a powerful language, and I think that music is one of them.”
