How to Learn Korean with Squid Game

Squid Game is one of the most watched shows in Netflix history. It is also one of the best accidental motivators for learning Korean that has ever existed. The moment the subtitles start rolling, something clicks: the characters sound nothing like what you expected, the sentences feel more interesting than the translation, and you find yourself wondering what you are actually missing.

If you are learning Korean, or thinking about starting, Squid Game is a genuinely useful resource. Here is how to use it well.

Why Squid Game Works for Korean Learners

The show is set almost entirely in Korean. The dialogue is natural, conversational, and dense with cultural context that subtitles cannot fully capture. When English speakers discovered that Netflix’s official captions were missing significant nuance in key scenes, it sparked a wave of interest in learning Korean directly.

That is the motivation. What you do with it is what matters.

How to Import Squid Game into LingQ

The most direct way to use Squid Game as a study resource is to import the subtitle file into LingQ and turn it into an interactive lesson. Here is how:

Step 1. Find the episode you want to study and download the Korean subtitle file (SRT format). Several subtitle databases carry these for free.

Step 2. In LingQ, click the Import button and select the SRT file. LingQ will split it into sentences automatically.

Step 3. Read through the episode transcript with audio. Tap any unknown word for an instant translation. Every word you save gets tracked across all your future lessons.

This workflow takes about two minutes to set up per episode, and it turns passive watching into active vocabulary building.

Using LingQ’s AI Simplification Feature

Squid Game uses natural Korean dialogue, which means some episodes are linguistically demanding for beginner and intermediate learners. LingQ’s AI simplification feature addresses this directly.

Within any imported lesson, you can ask LingQ to simplify the text. It rewrites the same content using more basic vocabulary and sentence structures, so you can follow the plot and engage with the Korean language at your actual level. Once you have worked through the simplified version, move on to the original. The familiarity with the content makes the jump far more manageable.

Level-Appropriate Squid Game Content

The show itself is not the only option. There is a broad ecosystem of Korean content about Squid Game that is more accessible for learners at different levels.

For beginners: BDB Korean published a beginner-friendly lesson breaking down Korean grammar points directly from Squid Game Season 3 dialogue, released alongside the show in June 2025. It is one of the most current resources available for learners who want to study the show as it is being watched globally. Watch it here.

For intermediate learners: Search for Korean-language reaction videos to the series. A Korean speaker reacting to scenes they already know gives you a lot of contextual repetition at a natural but manageable pace. Here is one example designed for intermediate learners.

For all levels: Korean-language interviews with the Squid Game cast are a strong resource regardless of level. The structure of an interview is predictable. Each question gives you a natural pause to check comprehension before the next answer begins. The vocabulary stays relatively consistent across the conversation.

All of these resources can be imported directly into LingQ using the browser extension. Find something useful on YouTube, click the extension icon, and it becomes a lesson with instant word lookups and vocabulary tracking built in.

Korean Vocabulary You Will Encounter in Squid Game

Several key words and phrases come up repeatedly in the show. Here are a few worth knowing before you watch:

오징어 게임 (ojingeo geim) Squid Game. The word 오징어 means squid.

참가자 (chamgaja) Participant. Used throughout the show to refer to contestants.

선생님 (seonsaengnim) Literally “teacher” or “superior.” Used as an honorific when addressing someone of higher status.

형 (hyeong) Older brother, used between males. The moment Ali starts using this word for Cho Sang-woo is one of the most culturally significant exchanges in the series.

무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 (mugunghwa kkochi pieotseumnida) “The mugunghwa flower has bloomed.” This is what the robot sings during the Red Light, Green Light game. The mugunghwa is South Korea’s national flower.

The Subtitle Translation Issue

When Squid Game was released, Korean-speaking viewers quickly identified that Netflix’s English subtitles missed or changed significant meaning in several key scenes. What reads as casual dialogue in English is sometimes formal, emotionally loaded, or culturally specific in the original Korean.

The subtitle debate itself became a reason many people started learning Korean. The idea that something important was being lost was more compelling than any textbook argument for language learning. If you want to understand what was actually said in those scenes, the only solution is to learn Korean. That is a real and sustainable motivation.

Starting from Zero: Korean Mini Stories on LingQ

If Squid Game has made you want to learn Korean but you are not yet at a level where the show is comprehensible, LingQ’s Korean Mini Stories are the right starting point.

The Korean Mini Stories series consists of 62 lessons covering close to 3,000 high-frequency words. The stories are short, designed around simple sentence structures, and recorded with clear audio. They are built on the comprehensible input principle: exposure to Korean at a level just above your current ability, enough to understand most of it, enough to be slightly challenged.

Work through the Mini Stories first. Then return to Squid Game with more of the language already in you. The show will sound different. More will click.

Once you are ready for authentic content, LingQ lets you learn Korean through any content you actually want to consume, whether that is Squid Game episodes, Korean podcasts, news articles, or anything else.

Happy learning!

FAQs

Writer Bio

Tyler is an American language teacher and language learner. He’s taught Spanish, French and Latin in the K-12 system since 2018. Tyler also speaks Thai and Italian. Currently, he’s learning German and Polish on LingQ!