Korean Courses

Back to the 90s

Famous television entertainment program ‘Infinite challenge’- Muhan dojeon (무한도전)’ produced a 90s music concert in January 2015. The show had become sensational, which lead a new trend of entertainment programs in early 2015. Not only the episode of the show reached a high viewer rating, but also 90s music regained popularity.

The concert was filled with 90s K-pop singers such as SES, Turbo, Hyunjeong Kim, Chanhui So, who were particularly popular yet no longer appeared on TV programs as they were replaced by new younger singers. As time goes by, their fans seemed like that they had forgotten their favorite singers. However, it turns out they still remain as their loyal fans, remember all their popular songs and enjoy the concert. Even the TV viewers appreciated the 90s music and were eager to listen to more 90s hits.

Afterwards, in the main Korean music chart of January and February, the old 90s music dominated compared to new music created this year. The popularity of 90s music is expected to continue in 2015. KBS, MBC and SBS broadcasting stations have produced a number of programs focusing on 90s musicians and music. For instance, MBC ‘human documentary, Sarami jota’ on 24th January discussed one of the singers and the host from the 90s music concert in ‘Infinite challenge’. KBS morning program also went through the details of all of the singers from the concert.

However, this trend has attracted criticism that the 90s same stories are repeated by the same singers, that may easily become tedious. Moreover, the retro music trend may be neglecting to create new music. Nevertheless, most people consider this trend as a ‘fresh COMING BACK’. The elders can recall their precious memories of childhood and for the youngers, they can experience what the 90s music was like. Thus the current retro trend will continue to have a positive effect on the entertainment programs.

~나 보다 ( ~na boda) _ I guess~

Korean culture is “indirect”. That is, we tend to avoid saying ‘I’m sure….’.  Instead, we try to say “I guess / I assume/ I suppose” even it is the obvious context.

Hence we have several expressions regarding “I suppose”. Let’s find out what they are.

Firstly, ~나 보다 (~na boda) is used when you are talking about people other than yourself. For example, ‘I guess you don’t like Shinee : 샤이니를 안 좋아하나 봐요 (Shinee reul an joa hana bwa yo)’ or ‘I assume that you never tried it: 한 번도 안 해봤나 봐요 (han beon do an hae buanna bwa yo).’

Another common expression is  ~것 같다 (~ geot gatta) which is similar to the first one but is stronger than ~ 나 보다 because ~것 같다 is based on the face or evidence. For example, “유리는 저 보다 더 키가 큰 것 같아요.” ,means that “I think Yuri is taller than me.” If you try to say “It’s a sunny day, isn’t it?”, you had better to say “오늘은 날씨가 좋은 것 같아요 (oneureun nalssiga jo eun geot gattayo)” rather than “오늘은 날씨가 좋아요 (oneureun nalssiga joayo).”.

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