Hi. In this lesson, we're going to learn about the influence of popular culture. Today, we're going to talk about popular culture. Do you have any favorite singer or group? Have you ever been to a concert of your favorite singer? Whether they are Koreans or foreigners, there are fans who wait for days to see their favorite singer in front of the singer's house or the broadcasting station where the singer makes an appearance. And there are foreign fans who come to Korea to see Korean singer's performance personally. Some of you may have learned Korean language and culture while listening to Korean songs or watching movies. In this lesson, let's talk about how popular culture affects people. Let's listen to the conversation first. I guess you still like the idol group, Sujin. Yes, I have reserved tickets for the concert next month, too. I wish I could follow the national tour concert to see the performance and attend the fan club meetings. I used to listen to my favorite singer's songs, imitate the dancing, and go to the concerts when I was in my school years but I don't enjoy them any more. I feel strange because, in Korea, people think that so-called Fandom culture like being fond of idol groups and the fan club activities is only for teenagers. What does age have to do with cheering and expressing the singer you like? Listening to the songs of my favorite singer and imitating the dances also helps me release my stress. That certainly sounds reasonable. However, when I see teenagers who abandon their lives and follow and wait for the celebrities all day in front of their favorite celebrity's house or broadcasting station, I feel sorry for them. Depending on how you express your passion and energy, it can have a good influence on society. In fact, celebrities and fans sometimes go to earthquake repair sites to do volunteer work or host charity event. Also, an idol group is working on setting up schools in poor surroundings with the fan club. Did you listen to the conversation carefully? Shall we take a closer look at the conversation now? I guess you still like the idol group, Sujin. Kevin asks Sujin who is watching a singer's video if she likes idol groups. Judging from the expression, '아직까지도(still)', Kevin used, he seems to think that Sujin is not in a condition to like idol groups. Yes, I have reserved tickets for the concert next month, too. I wish I could follow the national tour concert to see the performance and attend the fan club meetings. Sujin says that she has reserved tickets for the concert next month. And she says that she wishes she could follow the national tour concert and attend the fan club meetings. I used to listen to my favorite singer's songs, imitate the dancing, and go to the concerts when I was in my school years but I don't enjoy them any more. I feel strange because, in Korea, people think that so-called Fandom culture like being fond of idol groups and the fan club activities is only for teenagers. Kevin says that he used to listen to his favorite singer's songs in his school years but he thinks that being fond of singer's songs and going to concerts is only for teenagers. Here, school years indicate a period when someone attends school, usually a middle school or high school when he/she is a teenager, i.e., age between 10 to 19. So Kevin says that he feels strange because it's not common for a college student, Sujin to go to the concerts of idol groups and participate in fan club activities. That's the reason why he used the expression '아직까지도(still)' in the previous conversation. What does age have to do with cheering and expressing the singer you like? Listening to the songs of my favorite singer and imitating the dances also helps me release my stress. Sujin thinks that it has nothing to do with the age that someone loves singers and express his/her feelings. And she says that listening to the songs of her favorite singer and imitating the dances also helps her release her stress. That certainly sounds reasonable. However, when I see teenagers who abandon their lives and follow and wait for the celebrities all day in front of their favorite celebrity's house or broadcasting station, I feel sorry for them. Kevin feels sorry for the teenagers who abandon their lives because of their favorite celebrities. Here, '팽개치다(abandon)' means that someone doesn't do what he/she has to do. So, the expression, '자신의 생활을 팽개치다(abandon their lives)' means that he/she doesn't do hard work as a student, for example, studying hard and being a good student. Depending on how you express your passion and energy, it can have a good influence on society. In fact, celebrities and fans sometimes go to earthquake repair sites to do volunteer work or host charity event. Also, an idol group is working on setting up schools in poor surroundings with the fan club. Sujin thinks that it's not always bad about being fond of the celebrities. Sujin says that it can have a good influence on society as the celebrities and fans sometimes do volunteer work or host charity events. Here, '펼치다(spread)' has a meaning of spreading something like spreading a blanket originally. When used like '행사를 펼치다(host event)', it means that someone plans, embarks, and proceeds something. '펼치다(spread)' can be used as '이불을 펼치다(spread blankets)', '기부행사를 펼치다(host charity event)', and '꿈을 펼치다(achieve one's goal)'. And the condition of being poor in poor surroundings means that the conditions of facilities are very bad. Therefore, poor areas refer to the areas that do not have schools or hospitals. Or they refer to the areas that has schools or hospitals but in a poor conditions. Today, we talked about the influence of popular culture. The action of loving celebrities may seem excessive, but I could see that people could use their passion and energy for the good. Focusing on what we learned today, I want you to talk to your friends about the influence of popular culture or the attention and affection for celebrity on society in your country Well, this is the end of the lesson.
