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Gangnam Style

Learn English with this music English lesson

Date: Jan 28 2013

Themes: Music, Pop Culture

Grammar: Present Perfect Tense

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Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Who would have thought that the first video in the history of the Internet to be viewed more than a billion times would be a Korean pop star dancing as if he’s riding a horse?

The title of the song “Gangnam Style,” by PSY, refers to a neighborhood in Seoul, but the hit is a global phenomenon. The song reached #1 in 30 countries. Everyone from other famous pop stars to President Obama has imitated the video’s signature move on camera.

Despite being one of the biggest hits of all time, there are still people who haven’t heard “Gangnam Style.” Learn English in this music English lesson, and listen to Sara and Greta discuss the most popular video in the world.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Sara

Greta

Sara: Have you heard of this video that’s totally blowing up on the internet? It’s called “Gangnam Style?”

Greta: No, I haven’t.

Sara: You’re probably like the only person in the world who hasn’t heard of this thing. It’s a new single by a South Korean pop artist, I don’t know, he’s called PSY or something, and it’s the most-watched video in the history of YouTube.

Greta: Oh my gosh, like, why did it go viral? Why is it so big?

Sara: I mean, I guess it’s sort of a catchy song but the idea is it’s totally over the top. It’s this guy in all these situations doing this really fancy choreography. It’s kind of goofy. I think maybe some people like it but maybe some people are kind of just making fun of it.

Greta: Isn’t it strange how things that are just so random all of a sudden become these huge cultural phenomena that everyone’s seen?

Sara: Yeah, totally, and almost as popular as the version that this guy has done are these parodies that people have done. Like, the Oregon Ducks did one, I think. All these different celebrities have done their own versions of “Gangnam Style.”

Greta: Wow, I’m going to have to go home and Google that.

Sara: You should.

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Although it’s already one of the most popular videos of all time, Greta hasn’t seen “Gangnam Style,” so Sara tells her about the #1 hit by Korean star, PSY.

She says the video is over the top and features dancing that is both great and goofy. That’s why she thinks it is blowing up.

The video is such a phenomenon that all sorts of people have imitated its signature style. Greta might be next. She is going to watch it right away.

Is “Gangnam Style” popular in your country? What is your favorite dance move from the video? What do you think it takes for a video to go viral?

Comments

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Hiva Sh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I don’t Like it…I Just Like the part that BigBang’s Sungri and Taeyang (I’m not sure) Show up as two unique oldmen :)

I think there are greater singers and Idols than Psy in K-Pop (Korean Pop)...

But there are so many people out there that LOVE Psy…

A few months ago, A two years old boy was dancing with this song on the street and it was really cute :)

bravevivian

Ecuador

That video was really popular in my country. I even learned to dance it :D

I think what a video needs to go viral is to have something new, different, easy to learn but fun.

The music is good :D I love dancing, maybe that’s why it was good for me :D

Fatima888

Russian Federation

I’ve noticed :all the kids like this song:) Kids random do mistake :))

Sandra95

Sweden

The way they dance and move & the lyrics n beat of song was attractive.. the first time that i saw the video on youtub i couldn’t stop watching that.. i replay it from first again and again.. that was unique and awesome n emusing ;)

AppleRome

Antarctica

Oppa means “older brother” in Korea.

And opa means “grand dad” in Indonesia.

Just random trivia ^^

Anyway, I liked this song first (stuck in my head for weeks).

But I hate it extremely now. :(

You experimented something, Psy?

zoebaby

China

just dont know why it goes viral..just me,,,it’s suck and sick song…

tamilytam

Viet Nam

This song is very popular in my country. There are a lot of fanpage on Facebook where crazy fans can share informations. And there are a lot of people used this song for dance and exercise in the morning. Many dance club in my country taught how to dance GangNam Style

in my opinion, I like this song, cool background-music, its fun, creative. But I dont know korean, I cant understand lyric and the meaning of this song. All what I can hear is “hey sexy lady” and “gangnam style”. Anyway, I think Psy’s success was very significant respected K-Pop artists have been building up the K-Pop image globally.

wannicho

China

in a sense , yeah, but i never liked it in the first place , because some day i got online, i found everyone was talking about it , so i google it trying to find out what it is , just out of curious. sometimes we watch a video not because we like it , but it is everywhere to be seen .

Liana's Dream

United States

the best video in this year;)maybe,after Justin;)

yuminaga

China

sure, We love it because you cant help but laugh and feel relax when you watch it on the video, you dont need to think too much ,in our modern lives ,its really incredibly fantatic thing

Lully

Brazil

;)

irinz'

United Kingdom

hey sexy lady ;D

Flyaway

South Africa

yes de video its blowing up everywhere, wth goofy dance moves and lyrics going together wth instruments.. its a hit indeed!

Nabilo

Germany

I like this song and dancing. So far I don’t know any one who didnt’ see this video. I think PSY seems to be a likeable and pleasant singer. He deserves this big popularity;)

modaher

Iraq

I do not like the songs a lot, but there was a religious songs or national

Shadyy

Slovakia

gagnam style !!!!!!<33333333333

knuschu

Germany

First I liked the song. The rythm/beat, melody – great. But now I hear this song daily about 2 times per 8 hour work shift, and I am starting to hate it ;)

Honest, I am not a realy fan of bulks-hysteria, so I left the dance floor, when it was playing. ;)

ola33

Japan

This song looks like has got everything to appeal to the public. The kids, teens, adults – all imitate the signiture move of horse riding or just do their signiture moves :). Though, when I first listened to the song, it didn’t sink in until a couple days later i turned it on again. And now I’m totally love it! What made this song a phenomenon I think rhythm, humor, goofy dancing and love :) that was my fav piece of the video of Psy and the subway girl. He was like “riding a horse” the whole song and all of a sudden he saw her! and it kind of stopped him, transformed him for a second and made him flying to her and in a minute he got back to himself :) involving her into his goofy style and the girl instead of her cool dance in a subway followed his rhythmic movements.

P.S. He’s really blowing up. Was performing on Times Square on New Year’s Eve. And being parodied is the best compliment to him. Every one wants gangnam Style.:)

Opa Gangnam Style !! :)

Reshad_86

Azerbaijan

COOOL song / From the first time i like it / I wish you every success

Maiwil

Philippines

I haven’t heard this Gangnam before this. It got some cool moves as well as goofy. No wonder it goes viral. It is different, there are new moves to it. The music video ideas how its performed is way over the top.