Squid Game is the globally successful South Korean Netflix series that represents the biggest series launch ever for the streaming platform.
In fact, fans over in India are apparently so passionate about the series and other K-dramas, that many are now flooding a language learning center in Delhi-NCR with requests to learn Korean, Hindustan Times reports.
Similar to other K-dramas popular in India — such as Hospital Playlist, True Beauty, and Yumi Cells — Squid Game does provide subtitles in English as well as being dubbed in English and Hindi. However, the subtitles for Squid Game and other shows are notorious for completely botching the meaning of the dialogue. So it’s no wonder fans want to learn the language first hand.
However, the people who work at the language center warn those interested in picking up the language that it takes a lot of dedication and hard work.
“We get so many queries on a daily basis. People call up and say, ‘I am really keen to learn the language as I want to watch these shows in Korean. I want to learn so that I can understand the shows!…However, we tell them that please don’t take up the language only because of this reason. Do it if you want to learn an extra skill. It takes a lot of dedication and time and the fees are also high,” said MD Ashique Elahi, who runs the language center called iB Language Classes.
In addition, there’s been a surge of interest of people attending school in Korea, so much so that Arirang Korean Academy even had to start turning students away, for example.
If you’re not familiar, Squid Game follows financially destitute people who get recruited by a shadowy organization into a macabre competition held in secret on a reclusive island. The 456 contestants are promised a life-changing sum of $38 million if they can win a series of children’s games. But the catch is: if they lose, they die.
You can watch all nine episodes of Squid Game on Netflix now.
