K-music on Last.fm

I've started using Last.fm online radio to listen to Korean music. It seems like an ideal choice because it'll automatically select more music for me on the basis of what I like to listen to (as well as what I don't like). I'm starting off with the "F.T. Island" station (F.T. Island is a Korean band that started instrumental and branched out to vocals), which seems to have a nice mix of slow ballad-y songs and faster dance and hip-hop music. It's great to be able to ban tracks - I'm banning Japanese and English tracks right and left.

It's surprising how much English is in a lot of Korean songs. I'm trying to make myself ban those, but it's difficult. The trouble is, if I don't ban them and start to hear them multiple times, I end up with the English running through my head instead of the Korean. I doubt that it'll improve my Korean speaking ability to have "Feels like insomnia" playing back in my head all day. The English is often part of the chorus - loud, memorable, short, frequently repeated sections. Perfect for permanent etching into your memory.

But every chicken has its bones. Maybe I'll ban WheeSung's "Insomnia" a little later, after I get it out of my system...

Korean talk radio

I've started listening to Korean radio at work. It's strange to hear a stream of Korean speech for about 7 hours straight, punctuated by Korean songs. It's frustrating to understand literally nothing, but I suppose I'll keep faith in Khatzumoto's insistence that just hearing it is good for you. I have to admit, it's probably a good way to start becoming familiar with what a normal Korean speech cadence sounds like - plus hearing words go by at normal to fast speed, rather than the slow, exaggerated fashion typical of language learning materials. From what I know of Korean speech levels, it sounds like everyone on the radio speaks pretty formally.

I must confess that I like the songs best, and sometimes station-jump to find more music and less talking... Masan MBC FM 98.9 has been a pretty decent station. Seoul Top Radio has a bad habit of playing lots of American songs, but Masan seems to stick with mostly Korean.