K-Pop: Korean Pop Music. Guaranteed to get stuck in your head.

RECIPE for the latest hit by Super Junior or Girl's Generation? Find a catchy beat, a catchier chorus, and stick a few random English words in the lyrics. Honestly, they don't have to make sense, just put them in there. Then finish the song off with a themed music video that simultaneously carries a mini-drama storyline, the latest dyed hair style, and memorable dance moves your kids will perform in class for months to come.

Important English lines my students have learned from K-Pop:

"Shut up, boy. Shut up, boy. Shut up. Shut up." - Miss A

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." - Super Junior

"Trouble, trouble, trouble." - Girl's Generation

"I'll be back." – 2pm

“Fantastic elastic.” –SHINee

And of course there are certain dance gestures that accompany these lines. Click the links below to watch, courtesy of youtube posters:

1. Miss A: “Bad Girl, Good Girl.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TeeJvcBdLA

2. Super Junior: “Sorry, Sorry.”

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAWqnA8PdcY

3. Girl's Generation: “Hoot.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4-SxcCO5d0

4. 2pm: “I’ll be back.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMdofhj9WKU&ob=av2em

I mentioned that music videos must have some dramatic back story going on. The same can be said of music videos in any country, but K-Pop especially excels at this. There's a reason Korean tv dramas are so addicting. Here's the longest storyline I've found in a music video so far, so convoluted and intense that it requires a "Part 2" to complete the tale:

4. Beast: “Beautiful.”  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7mtOA1ST4

Now you're hooked, so I'll give you a couple other K-Pop groups I've encountered here: 

1. SHINee: “Ring Ding Dong.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roughtzsCDI&feature=channel

2. Taeyang: “Where U At.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OA5pMoyUoI

3. Rain: “It’s Raining.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om1d2BxD_TE

4. Big Bang: “What Can I Do.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x70aynhOkmc

Anyone have any other favorites? New teachers to Korea, this is a surefire way to get your students motivated if you can quote these groups, OR even better, pull the dance moves.

Note: The above is presented as fiction, not fact.