People who aren’t familiar with South Korea tend to stereotype the nation by what little they do know. That usually means Korean technology, thorny relations with North Korea, or kimchi and barbeque. Korea is much more than all of that. One way of delving deeper into the culture is to take a look at Korean to English translation in regards to South Korea’s love of karaoke.
Welcome to the world of “noribang.” These are the joints where karaoke (a Japanese word) style singing goes down. Don’t let this cute-sounding word fool you: Noribang is serious business in South Korea. People love to meet up with their friends and then sing their hearts out.
Actually, if we examine the Korean to English translation of noribang, we’ll see it’s made up of two words. “Bang” means room, and “nori” means to sing. Thus “noribang” is the “singing room” where all the action takes place.
In South Korea, and in Seoul especially, space is hard to come by. Living conditions are exceedingly cramped. That’s why people meet in noribangs to sing and drink until they can’t sing (or drink) anymore. In the West, some people tend to scoff and make fun of people who are into karaoke. That’s absolutely not the case in Korea.
In Korea, if you’re brave enough to wade through some Korean to English translation, or sing in Korean or English, you can become a “superstar” for a night. It helps that the guests in a typical noribang tend to be incredibly enthusiastic, cheerful, and oftentimes quite drunk. There’s no reason to ever be shy with a crowd of Korean singing enthusiasts.
So, the next time you’re in Korea, warm up your singing pipes and head out to a noribang. You’ll find them in bars, in the back or restaurants, in hotel basements, and just about everywhere else. It’s a great chance to relieve some stress, hang out with locals, learns some Korean words, and have a very good time.
