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Now that K-Pop has made its way to the top-40 charts in North America, you may be keen to start learning Korean. Or, you may have already decided to improve your language skills after finishing season 5 of your favorite K-drama.

Wherever you are in your Korean studies, podcasts are an excellent medium to listen to authentic conversations with Korean speakers and improve your listening comprehension.

We have searched the internet for these 16 podcasts to support your learning endeavors. We hope you find something educational, or at least entertaining, to take with you wherever you go with your digital device.

Korean Podcasts for All Levels

KoreanClass101

Speaking of Korean Class 101: This resource requires a paid membership, but it comes with some advantages. There are thousands of bite-sized, podcast-style dialogues for beginner to advanced learners, plus lesson notes, quizzes, flashcards, and translations.

The site can be a bit confusing with all the available lesson paths and episodes, but once you find your lesson path, you’ll have no trouble binge-learning several episodes in a row. Also, if all you need are survival phrases, they have a free series available on Spotify.

There’s a 7-day free trial when you sign up for a free account, and if you use the promo code “ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES”, you’ll save 25% on a subscription. Read our full review of KoreanClass101 here.

Talk to Me in Korean – Core Korean Grammar

The hosts for this channel have a fun dynamic, with frequent banter and silliness. They focus on grammar from all levels of the TTMIK courses—from your first sentence to advanced expressions. Whether you’re practicing sentence-building drills or adding another grammar tool to your repertoire, each 15- to 20-minute episode will keep you engaged and amused.

You may recognize the voice of one of the hosts from other Korean learning resources, such as KoreanClass101.

Kingka Podcast – K-Drama and Language Learning

Were Korean dramas your inspiration to tackle a new language? With Rome, you can continue your journey, learning new vocabulary and expanding your cultural knowledge as they relate to K-Dramas. If you’ve seen 18어게인 (18 Again), 미나리 (Minari), or 철인왕후 (Mr. Queen), you’ll surely enjoy reviewing new words through the context of these films.

Keep in mind that Rome is not a native Korean speaker, but he is a passionate and experienced Korean learner. He uses both Korean and English on his channel.

Rome also regularly updates 별자리 (Constellations)—an ASMR podcast for Korean learners.
 

Korean Podcasts for Beginners

Pimsleur

Pimsleur is one of the most popular and longest-standing resources out there for learning a foreign language. Its courses place a strong emphasis on aural and verbal communication skills, paying less attention to grammar explanations and reading or writing skills. There are over 50 language courses available with Pimsleur, and the bulk of the material is taught with audio lessons. Check out our full review here!

olly (I will teach you a language)

Olly Richards, the creator of I Will Teach You A Language, has written a series of books for beginner and intermediate learners to improve their conversation skills in several languages. He also has a Short Stories series.

Most of the languages use the most common words in your target language, with natural phrases that you would overhear locals using while conversing amongst each other. In the short story lessons, the plot follows the same characters and adventures, with some adjustments for cultural differences. Here is our review!

Real-Life Korean Conversations For Beginner‪s‬

If you are new to the Korean language and you’re keen to jump into practical, everyday conversations, you can tune in to this series by Talk to Me in Korean (TTMIK). Each two-minute episode contains a realistic dialogue between native speakers, followed by a translation of key vocabulary.

You’ll need to listen to each dialogue several times to follow along, but these can quickly help improve your listening comprehension. Check out the TTMIK website to purchase the accompanying workbook and for a ton of free beginner courses.

Essential Korean

Essential Korean gives you simple, high-quality lessons to learn Korean from scratch. Your host, Kay, is an experienced Korean teacher who invites you to visualize scenarios and practice speaking Korean. She will also give you tips on how to practice effectively and quiz you on what you have learned.

Her website has full transcripts with lesson notes for each episode.

Hangugeo con AngDuck for Beginners

This podcast will be difficult for absolute beginners, but upper-intermediate and intermediate learners will learn and reinforce their knowledge of essential vocabulary—including but not limited to movie genres, everyday routines, music, and international food. These episodes are shorter and easier than the original Hangugeo con AngDuck; if you find them too easy, you can move on to the intermediate podcast.
 

Korean Podcasts for Intermediate/Advanced Learners

Intermediate Korean

Intermediate Korean learners will be pleased to discover this simple and free Korean immersion podcast. Even if you find it a bit tricky at first, these scripted dialogues and presentations have full, free transcripts available in the episode descriptions so you can easily follow along.

The hosts talk about the weather, K-Pop, popular expressions, and grammar in three series: 쌤들의 수다 (Teachers’ talk), 배워 봅시다 (Let’s learn), and 민쌤과 함께 (With Teacher Min).

IYAGI – Natural Korean Conversations For Learner‪s‬

With IYAGI, intermediate learners can improve their listening comprehension through authentic Korean conversations. Explore a wide variety of topics with this lively team of hosts: space travel, nicknames, housewarming parties, and the famous city Gangnam—just to name a few.

Subscribe to a Talk to Me in Korean membership to get access to transcripts for this series. Read our full review of Talk to Me in Korean of this resource for more information.

Sponge Mind

Sponge Mind records many of its episodes twice: once in Korean, and once in English. This way, you can get the full context of each dialogue or presentation, but also immerse yourself in Korean if you wish.

Beginner and advanced students alike can tune in to a variety of series: Sponge Loop tells Korean stories; the slow and easy episodes accommodate beginners; and regular episodes discuss a variety of topics, such as personal anecdotes, language learning tips, and Korean culture.

Get free transcripts on the Sponge Mind website.

Hangugeo con AngDuck

In Hangugeo con AngDuck, the host immerses you in Korean with unique topics. She talks about Korean traditions, but she also explores comparisons like the pros and cons of paper books and e-books, and the difference between what we look like in the mirror versus in photos.

You won’t feel like she’s repeating herself in any of the over 60 episodes already available.

Korean NewYorker

Originally from Seoul, Sophie is now a certified Korean and French teacher living in New York. With five-minute episodes, she immerses you in Korean to reinforce commonly used words and introduce some new ones.

She often talks about teaching foreign languages and language acquisition, but also about her relationships and raising her child as multilingual.

Twinkling Korean

The Twinkling Korean podcast sometimes features a bilingual conversation between a Korean speaker and an English speaker, but most of the over 100 episodes are entirely in Korean.

You may hear some outrageous claims about medical cures, but also tons of helpful expressions, vocabulary, and grammar.

The audio doesn’t work on several platforms and websites, but it still functions on the Apple podcasts app.

Korean Storytelling by Coco Mom

Korean Storytelling by Coco Mom is pleasantly soothing. It’s hosted by a Korean mother who reads stories to her two young children. You’ll often hear her kids’ voices helping her narrate or translate individual words into English.

If you’re looking for something engaging and relaxing for your Korean studies, check this podcast out on Spotify. If anything, it will at least make you smile.

뭐말영 (뭐라도 말해보자 영어로) / SSE (Speak Something in Korean and English)

This bilingual channel translates texts from the public domain into Korean or English. Intermediate and advanced learners can practice Korean-English translations with the host while listening to these popular tales: Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, and more.

Some of the English translations are a little odd, but if your goal is to practice Korean, this shouldn’t interfere too much with your learning. There are full transcripts available in the description of every episode—though you may have to click around depending on what platform you’re using.
 

Korean Podcasts for Advanced Learners

Talk To Me In 100% Korea‪n‬

Once you’re comfortable with Talk to Me in Korean’s IYAGI and ready for the next challenge, you can move on to Talk To Me In 100% Korea‪n‬. This series is for upper-intermediate to advanced learners, teetering between material for Korean learners and material for native speakers.

Podbbang

Make your way over to Podbbang to immerse yourself in native speaker content. This Korean podcast site has endless channels for you to explore.

Check out some of their most popular channels: 정영진 최욱의 매불쇼 for comedy; TBS 김어준의 뉴스공장 for current events; or 송은이&김숙 비밀보장 for counselling and relationship advice.
 

Final Thoughts

We hope you aren’t discouraged if you struggle to understand authentic Korean conversations at this point in your learning. With consistent exposure to the language, you’ll likely find that your comprehension steadily improves. And, if you would like more structure to your studies, you can take a look at our recommendations for the best Korean courses.

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