Korean webtoons, a form of manhwa, are colored comics in digital format. Instead of reading a comic book, you’re holding a phone or a laptop and using an app or going through a website to get your fix.
In this guide, I’ll talk about how to read them in such a way that you can learn Korean while going through the exciting twists and turns of a story.
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Naver Webtoon is a digital comics platform launched by Korea’s Naver Corporation—the internet company who owns Naver, the search engine, and Line Messenger, the communication giant with around 220 million monthly active users.
It was launched in 2005 by Jun Koo Kim, who’s a fan of comics himself. Today, it’s the leading source of Korean webtoons, covering a whole range of genres, which includes romance, comedy, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, drama, slice-of-life, historical and sports.
If you’re new to webtoons, your first stop should be Naver. Why? Because it contains a robust cross section of the different stories the world of webtoons currently offers. Plus, it has a whole different outfit (Line Webtoon) that translates Naver’s stories into English. And if you like, you can download the app (Android/iOS).
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Is a fantasy story about Rai, a noble who has been sleeping for the past 820 years. He has no idea how different things have been since the last time he was awake. Follow his adventures and that of his newfound high school friends in this Line Webtoon favorite.
Is about a mysterious, otherworldly tower that’s a universe unto itself. The tower is one big hierarchic climb, and the higher you go, the better life is. But there’s a catch. You can only go higher by passing increasingly difficult challenges that test your strength, stamina and brilliance.
With its slew of original stories and interesting characters, the portal has also become a leading name in Korean digital comics, amassing millions of Korean followers and even forging partnerships with Disney’s Marvel Entertainment.
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Intermediate and advanced language learners will enjoy the more complex storylines and dialogues. You can also learn more slang and idiomatic expressions here.
There are plenty of stories on Kakao that are totally free. For others, later episodes require payment for instant access. If you don’t want to fork over any money, then it’s really just a waiting game. There’s a set number of days before the episodes are automatically unlocked for non-paying readers. Kakao also has an app you can download (Android/iOS).
Is a melodrama about a 19-year-old girl who has a growth condition that’s left her body frail and small. She becomes a friend to a 17-year-old boy with a mental disorder. Theirs is an endearing tale of daily trials and challenges. If you don’t mind shedding a tear or two while learning Korean, then this might be up your alley.
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Is an action-packed tale of a man who dreams of becoming the strongest warrior in the Red Desert. He meets a character from another dimension who trains him in a different form of martial arts. This webtoon is set to get your adrenaline pumping.
You could be reading dozens of webtoons, but if you’re reading and digesting them in English, then they won’t bring you any nearer your goal than reading about swimming teaches you the butterfly stroke.
Fight the temptation to look for the English versions of webtoons. That should be the last, culminating step—not your go-to strategy for dealing with them.
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And like we said earlier, there’s not much text presented in webtoons, so you can actually take the time to wrestle with the text. The general rule with authentic content like this is that the harder you work with it, the more of the language you absorb.
This can help you improve your comprehension skills in both listening and reading, which will in turn help you better understand your favorite Korean webtoons.
Do. Doing these things will help imprint vocabulary, phrases and sentences in your head. Because you’ll have undergone a specific process, wrestled with the text, your memory of it will be stronger. The connections in your mind will be clearer, and you won’t forget them as easily as you would vocabulary you memorized from a long, dry list of words.
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Guess. This is one of the very first things you need to do when you approach a Korean webtoon. Of course, it’s going to be in Korean, and if you’re not very advanced in your studies, you may not know exactly what it’s all about.
You’ll really have to get comfortable with the idea that your speculations might be wrong. It’s part of learning any new language. When you were a child, you didn’t have any problems guessing what words meant, and it didn’t bother you that you were making assumptions. And when later you found out that you were wrong, you simply adjusted your thinking.
Engage in that child-like approach again when you deal with Korean webtoons. Remember that you’re processing them in the context of learning the language (as opposed to pure entertainment). Guessing will hone your ability to read context, which is crucial in learning language.
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So have at it! Who cares if you turn out to be wrong? What’s important is that you’ve gone through the act of reading itself.
If you’re not aware of it yet, Hangul can be learned in an afternoon. This really is true. This is not an exaggeration! It can be mastered in a week, or much less if you like.
Some people who haven’t learned an East Asian language may not realize that written Korean is different from written Chinese or Japanese. Hangul was created to be learned very easily! In fact, it was created as a response to Chinese characters being so gosh darn hard.
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So don’t be turned off by Hangul’s boxy combinations. They’re there to help you read. Just memorize the sounds the characters make, combine them together and there you go!
With webtoons, you’ll seriously be reading Korean even before understanding what the words actually mean! Just like you learned to read words like “data, ” “flint” and “tarmac” before really understanding what they were all about.
Transfer what you see on your phone or computer onto a piece of paper. On this piece of paper, you’ll be writing three things:
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Now, you might think this is a little bit more involved than just looking up the ready-made English translation and being on your way. But that’s exactly the point! You’re going through the process of working through the text, struggling with the text and manually writing stuff by yourself.
As it turns out, writing by hand is an extremely powerful learning strategy. Getting your fingers and hands to go through the motions helps with retention and comprehension. So even though this technique drastically slows you down, I urge you to practice it.
As mentioned, the tips and techniques mentioned here will drastically slow your pace. You have to be comfortable with slowing things down. Again, you’re digesting webtoons with a particular agenda in mind—learning the language. So you can’t read just like a kid looking to be entertained. There are thousands who read Korean webtoons (in English) but don’t learn the language because they’re in it for the story.
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Sure, you can look up the English version and enjoy the story a few episodes ahead. But this can kill your ability to work with the text—gradually discovering what it’s all about, negotiating meaning, finding out you were off base and self-correcting.
Makes it possible to learn with K-pop videos, funny commercials, entertaining web series and more. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of videos on offer:
Really takes the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It's already hand-picked the best videos for you (which are organized by level and topic), so all you have to do is simply choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started.
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Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and easily review words and phrases from the video under Vocab.
Keeps track of what you're learning, and tells you exactly when it's time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.
Start using the website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)Reading webtoons has to be one of my favourite ways to study Korean, and I mostly use them for light reading alongside heavier, more advanced novels. The vocabulary you get out of them is very different from that you would expect from a novel, though, since they don’t rely on lengthy descriptions to establish settings and describe actions. It’s also more dialogue-driven. As such, you’ll end up learning words and phrases that people actually use in daily conversations. You’ll probably pick up some slangs, too.
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There are several sites you can go to for webtoons, but my favourite so far
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