Kath

Hey there! :) It seems you're from Germany, too, or somewhere nearby (seeing that you were at the Animagic)?
Pleased to meet you!
I'm originally pretty much from the West, the Niederrhein area but I moved to Baden-Württemberg for university. Where are you from? =)
I only recently started really watching dramas again... right now I'm watching "You Who Came From the Stars" (just because of Kim Soohyun) and "Prime Minister and I" (I really love it so far!), and I just finished re-watching "White Christmas" (it's toooo good, isn't it?).
By the way, your taste in music is awesome! I'm not much into J-Rock but I love me some One Ok Rock and Spyair, and I listen to all the K-Pop artists you have in your profile. :D

It's Christmas time! :) I might be late but I still hope you had wonderful celebrations, relaxing holidays and have a great 2014! May all your wishes be granted within the new year!
It's been a while since I was on here but I hope your studies are going well - do tell me about them if you've got time to spare (unfortunately, my plans of studying Korean had to go for something more practical, so I keep wondering what it would have been like ^^).
Lots of love to you! <3

Hi there! :) It's been a long time since I was on here but I guess, Christmas brings all the memories back - anyway, a merry (though belated) Christmas to you (I'm not sure whether you celebrate it but I hope there's nothing wrong with wishing you one ^^), have super fantastic holidays and a happy new year!

Hey there! I'm finally back after having survived my uni entrance exam... I think it went well but we'll see. And while waiting for the reply (probably in about a month) I have lots of time to spend on dramas. I saw that you progressed fast with I Hear Your Voice and Monstar... I really need to catch up! I'm afraid of spoilers but I hope they're still both exciting?
Hope you had relaxing two weeks since we last wrote to each other - just wanted to say hi, and I'm looking forward to discussing Korea with you again. ^^

You never forget your first love, I guess. xD I liked Block B the best before encountering SM and lots of different styles of music... I still want Block B to come back soon and get the recognition they deserve, even if it takes them 2 years like it took 2PM. ^^
Grown and its repackage (so many songs, I was overwhelmed when they came out!) are both awesome, I couldn't decide on one... but I think I liked Game Over, as well. It's just that the teaser promised some cool vampire theme and my expectation wasn't quite fulfilled. :P It would've made a great comeback, but I'm still satisfied (with A.D.T.O.Y more than with Come Back When You Hear This Song).
Oh, and I'd love to see performances of Dangerous and True Swag... I might be a bit Jun.K-biased. ^^ Or the rock feel of Just a Feeling. <3
But they're really all perfect, they probably thought A.D.T.O.Y was just the catchiest of them.

Hey again! My uni entrance exam is finally over, so I guess I'd better reply now. :D How's it going with your exams? I pity you so much for still having school, especially in that heat. :( End of the year is really not the time for concentration and exams anymore. Hwaiting!

I agree with you a lot about SM, they're so hyped (and well, there are always some songs you personally don't like) and actually seem to produce idols on the assembly line, but we can't help but like it. And I also think SNSD is mostly talented except for Yoona (and, to me, Jessica, as well). ^^
I loved Dream Girl! Trap more, of course, and I was thankful for the Henry/Kyuhyun version on the album and in some lives. It's such an amazing song!
I liked EXO more in the What Is Love and History eras, I'm not too fond of Mama and Wolf... but I'd admit they are still quite talented. And the looks just add to their success.

I definitely need to catch up on Monstar first... can't miss the final when it comes out! :) I wish it were longer, too... but well, maybe the plot develops a lot quicker then. ^^
Oh, so you're a ZE:A fan? I always think I need to look more into them... any show recommendations? Kwanghee is definitely hilarious. :D Among the likes of a Jokwon at least. I don't find Kwanghee especially talented but he's the face of the group, and the others seriously ARE underrated. :/
I watched MBLAQ's Weekly Idol by the way (the most recent one) and they're just so entertaining! <3 I'm loving them more and more since "Smoky Girl". :)

FT Island are so quiet at the moment, you're right. They did have their Japanese singles but that's it... hm. :/ I hope they'll have a Korean comeback soon, just like it's time for CNBLUE after Lady was released. ;P

You'll have time for all the videos, I guess... I haven't even watched half of the FAPFAP videos or the ones about their trips in general, but I'll try to, as well, you never know when it comes in handy to know about certain places (maybe even at university ^^).
They're such role models... except when it comes to learning Korean, I guess. :)
I can read the Korean alphabet, yes, though very slowly. But I like to pretend I can... I think the pronunciation is so much easier if you know how it's written, the rules seem quite simple to me. I even set my iPod into Hangul to practice. :)
How about yourself?

I'd love to write Korean on here, too, sometime in the future! =) That'd be so awesome!

I do know Simon and Martina, most certainly - and I cannot express how much I love their videos. I used to only watch K-Pop Music Mondays but nowadays, their other tips and additional videos are so much more interesting! I learnt so much about Korea thanks to them. :)

Ah, okay, the pdfs are for free, too? That's useful! I'll check that out soon, definitely. I just hope you can learn a lot with it... I guess the store's not even necessary for that, there's lots of free material. I figured out that the store is just a little additional site if you want to support them or want it all in a more organised way, I guess. ^^
I think listening and reading (or repeating) are some of the best methods ever, especially since you have to get used to Korean sometimes, the "melody" of the language is so different... but that's what makes it fun of course. :D
Good luck with learning again! <3

I'm looking more and more forward to Monstar... so many dramas to catch up on. O_O You'll be the first to know what I thought of it! There aren't many episodes left now either, right?
I need to study for the entrance exam in two weeks but after that I'm free until October. I'm anticipating it. ^^ Thanks a lot for wishing me luck!

I know, variety shows can give an insight into idol's personalities like nothing else... I got attached to so many rookie groups mostly through them, an ZE:A and MBLAQ are absolutely hilarious on shows, you're right. :)
FNC only ever seems to send out Yonghwa or Hongki but their times have kind of passed, as well... but as long as they stay true to themselves and give us awesome music (and dramas) in exchange, I think I'm okay with it.

Have fun with the C-Clown videos then. Just to warn you, they aren't naturals but it's so cute to watch them try. :D

So sorry for the short delay!
I've meant to answer you directly... but well, I'll just do it now before being off for some days again (I really need to study for an entrance exam).

I know where you're coming from, if you like a group, how can you hate the label? I'm not purely SM-biased somehow but I like their style of music, I can't help it.
I listened to SHINee's latest songs and I think they're great, yep. I only started to notice Taemin gets more spotlight when he was on more variety shows and featured in Henry's song (which suits him really well!). I don't mind it because I like the colour of his voice but of course he shouldn't be compared to Jjong and Onew because they're the original vocalists. Hmm, SM policy again.

I'm getting curious, did you lose interest in 2PM or were the other groups just more appealing somehow? And what do you think about their more recent albums/songs?

I forgot one, the show where they learn how to do variety: C-Clown Channel episodes 4 and 5. Worth watching if you're into it. ;P
Wow, that was one single comment about C-Clown, sorry again. ^^ You don't have to watch any of it, I just wanted to recommend.

I wonder why CNBLUE's not as funny sometimes, too. They're just too serious with their music... although I do think Yonghwa has some humour in him, as well. Or it's his charm, I don't know. :D They're also quite respectful, I noticed that ages ago. Maybe that doesn't go well with jokes. ^^

Unfortunately, I couldn't watch Monstar yet... I'll make sure to do so within the next few days, I'm actually a bit on hiatus now to study a bit but I really want to catch up on everything (it's also difficult because dramacrazy.net is down and the other sites don't work so well for me, but we'll see).

Okay, then, I'll start inviting you to the joy of being a Crown step by step. It actually took me almost half a year, I was interested in them but only recently thought they were striking.
1.) Look for Rome's Instagram. He's an artist, I tell you (well, Kangjun is for real, he majors in it and can draw so well... and they all like to draw Siwoo, I think, that's how weird these kids are ^^).
You saw the dorm introduction? It's hilarious, yes! On C-Clown Channel (ep. 3, I think) they also did a room raid... don't we all love shows about stars waking up? I thought it was so cute. And Maru's the one responsible for letting the crew in. ^^
They have some variety sense, too, haha, and if you really want to crack up, you should watch Gurupop.
Aw, and my favourite video of them's MTV Diary ep. 47 (10 minutes long - it got me intrigued right away, you'll now why, they're so dorky). :D

I just spent half an hour watching a few of the videos on the koreangirlinsg site, they're good! Quite basic, though, just useful phrases, but still well explained (and I always think it's important to see the words written in Hangul and hear their pronunciation) and I guess there will more to come, so I'm saving that page already, thanks!
TalkToMeInKoreas's audios are free, yeah, and so are the videos but I saw that they released books and e-book lessons, as well, so I just wondered. There might be more features? I didn't really look into it enough to judge that. ^^
A friend of mine (greetings to Nana, if you're reading this - she also on MDL and might decide to stalk me ^^) also learns with TTMIK and I think they won some voting on being a top language learner blog?
Definitely reliable but I'm curious what you say about it once you've tried more lessons.
Anyway, thanks for the tips! :)

Oh, you must love Jonghyun's long hair in his pre-debut days then. :D
Siwoo is so funny and weird sometimes, you can't help but like him. And he really sings well (they're all too talented, Gosh!). I'm not into long hair but I agree it can be handsome on handsome men. ^^
Maru's just too cute... I hate how they always tease him for his darker skin (so typically Korean, I don't know if you noticed that -.-) but somehow it's okay when Rome tells his stories about how he thought Maru was a foreigner. At least they can laugh about it. ^^ They're a great team, I didn't even think that possible for rookies but they are. I like them, and their songs are awesome! And the choreographies! <3

I should stop rambling about C-Clown, sorry. :D I didn't want to scare you away from them... just keep listening to them. ;P

Back to CNBLUE again: Jonghyun's composing skills are indeed prominent these days... but Yonghwa never stops to write, too, so I guess it's all the better for us fans. ^^

Hey again! :)
Sorry, it took me a bit... I've scrolled through the site and their Youtube videos now and they are amazing. I ended up watching the English conversations about Korean lifestyle, though. I need to motivate myself more. ^^
You don't pay for any of the lessons, though, do you? That's the only flaw I found now, although they're probably worth it and aren't that expensive.

I hope it'll be a good basis for you to continue your studies in autumn then! Keep me updated if you find any other sites or a certain feature of TalkToMeInKorean. :)

You're right, I almost forgot about the times in Japan and even more about their current success there. But it all makes sense then... whether in Korea or Japan, they're still great. Sadly, Japanese singles aren't promoted so much or played live, so that's a pity... but we'll just have to wait. And if I remember correctly, the last Japanese CNBLUE album was quite long and I loved every song on it... "Lady" will be enough, and there are also two other Yonghwa-written songs - that's all I need for now. :D
Summer is definitely going to be hot with all those idols coming back AGAIN.
I read somewhere that A-JAX' album will be released next week... woah, that's so quick. I need a teaser, now. ^^
C-Clown, oh, don't get me started on them. Great coincidence, though, I only recently saw all of their shows and they're really soooo likeable. <3 Any biases? Mine are Kangjun and Rome. +goofy smile+

A Korean CNBLUE comeback... that'd be so cool! I don't know why but FNC seems to extend to Japan a bit more again. FT Island's last album was Japanese, too, wasn't it?
I'm not disappointed but Korean would just make me happier, too (for both of them, though I guess FT Island are really claiming the Japanese market now and they deserve to be successful there).

I watched Arirang's After School Club with LC9 today... it was way too funny. King's still hilarious and J-Hyo fighting for my bias position with him. xD

Are you by any chance a bit into MYNAME? I wasn't sooo much, though I liked their fun party kind of songs... but the last MV, "Baby I'm Sorry" just blew my mind. O_O
Comebacks are coming toooo quick these days. There are still two B.A.P left, A-JAX and I heard something about a possible Block B one... July and August are going to kill me, seriously.

It's still a long time anyway, so I don't blame for not knowing when you start. And there's lot of time to learn a bit until that, so yeah, good luck!
I know talktomeinkorean.com, I've heard a lot about it but didn't really have time for it... I'll be sure to check it out, too, now you've recommended it. :) They have lots of good lessons, don't they?
I hope it'll help with your studies!

Hey again! How's it going? :)
Thanks for cheering on me, I'll do my best to be accepted... it depends on the uni if there's a test or an actual selection process, and seeing that I've chosen my alternatives, I don't think it'd be THAT bad if I won't be accepted at the one.
Political science would be my major and there are quite enough opportunities for that... I can always learn Korean by myself.
I'd still say that you'll have a big advantage because you'll only study Korean... more time to concentrate and study everything thoroughly. I haven't heard of the academy but I've heard of the designer Gerrit Rietveld (my father's interested in arts a lot since he's a media designer, so I might be the only one here but he's quite famous). It'd be impressive if you got there, I think it's a good plan.
But until then, have fun in Leiden... when does your term start by the way? =)