Korean Dramas with English AND Korean subtitles???

[Gudrun]

Does anybody know of some K-dramas available that have both English and Korean subtitles? I would like to watch an episode first with English subs, then I would like to use Korean subs to try to improve my (poor) listening comprehension. I have a code free DVD player so I can watch DVDs from any region. I just can't seem to find dramas with both Korean and English subtitles.
Thanks for any advice. (cross-posted in other categories)

[paekdusan]

Hmmm... I can't answer your question directly, but I can give you two leads.

If you're in Seoul, I would go to the DVD vendors at the Electronics Market (전자상가) near Yongsan station. If you go to Yongsan station (not the track/platforms, but the actual station/terminal on the 3rd floor) and go out Exit #3 you'll find a walkway that takes you across the tracks into one of the buildings of the Electronics Market. Go down to the ground floor of that building and exit, then go straight ahead toward the busy intersection. There's a row of green stalls where vendors sell DVDs (ahead of you and off to the right). They know their product pretty well and should be able to tell you which ones have Korean and/or English subtitles. They also cater to foreigners and all speak passable English. Just make sure you're not stopping at any of the other DVD/CD vendors on the short walk from the building to the next street -- they're nothing. You want the vendors in the row of green stalls (ahead of you and across the street, to the right). You'll probably have to ask them to see the Korean movies and TV programs. Otherwise, they'll just see a foreigner and point you toward the American TV programs. The best thing about this option is that it's a) ridiculously inexpensive, and b) if the vendor was wrong about the subtitles, you can always bring them back and swap them out for something else.

If you're in the U.S., you can always go to YesAsia.com (or a similar site). Their product descriptions tell you if there are subtitles available. Beware though! American-made DVDs always list the foreign subtitles, even though English subtitles is always another option. This is not the case with Korean DVDs. Just because they have English, Japanese, and Thai subtitles, it does not mean that there will also be Korean too. But this option is rather expensive, especially if you just want to "try out" some programs and aren't sure if you'll be interested in it. If you're not sure, then find a Korean-owned shop that rents Korean DVDs (lots of them do) and/or go online and watch several episodes there first.

Well, I hope that helps out a bit.

wbg

[gerdaleigh]

I've been looking for the same thing the past few weeks. The only program I've come up with on the streaming on the internet is Boys Over Flowers on viikii.net. Their subtitles can be changed to Korean. Unfortunately, the majority of the programs aren't subbed in Korean. However, if you are willing to run a movie through either VLC player or gom player with subtitle files, Korean subs can be found here: http://www.cineast.co.kr/bbs/board.php? ... sd_caption . Did anyone have any other ideas?
Link for gom player: http://gom.gomtv.com/index.html
Link for vlc player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

[Gudrun]

I live in the U.S., so unfortunately I can't check out the vendors in Seoul. However, I will definitely look for them on my next trip. As for "Boys Over Flowers," what do you think of that drama? Do I need to be under 25 to like it or does it have more popular appear? I know it was a huge hit in Korean. It's one of the very few DVDs where I've actually been able to find English and Korean subtitles. I wish I could find the same for Coffee Prince...
Wow, I think I need to embrace more sophisticated technology before I can add subtitles.

Thanks for the advice!

[paekdusan]

Hmmm.. well streaming video and DVDs are two different animals to tackle (imho).

Gerdaleigh,

If you're looking for sites loaded with streaming media (of Korean dramas, movies, etc.) then I can give you a list of 20+ sites that do exactly that. Just shoot me a PM and I'll send it your way.

Gudrun,

DVDs, on the other hand, have proven far more elusive (now that I no longer live in Seoul.) I would think that there would be resources available online, but I'm not savvy enough to know how to use them. I also don't speak Korean well enough to do a sophisticated search. So… I'm stuck with streaming media in my web browser.

As for technology, I don't know anything about the GOM player, but I use VLC a lot. Even if you don't think you'll use it, it's small and unobtrusive so I would download and install it anyway. You might download a media file from the internet and find that you can't play it on your computer. If you launch it in VLC, though, chances are that it'll play. It plays nearly everything. (Really.)

By the way, you should DEFINITELY check out the DVD vendors at the electronics market when you're in Seoul. If you've never been there before I think you'll be pretty amazed.

[gerdaleigh]

I concur. I like the VLC player the best, too. It's really easy to use and combines the qualities of a lot of players together (ie. after installing this I was able to uninstall DivX and Flash). The reason to use these players (for me at least) is that I can sync korean subtitle files with them. Korean subtitle files (for the most part) use the .smi extension, which Divx and the like, can't process. Using one of these players is much easier than converting the .smi to a .srt file (which you can actually do, if you really want to -- It's just more work. ). It will also process the .srt and .ass file extensions, if you find subtitle files with those.

Gudrun-
The technology actually isn't so bad here. If you can find a .avi file (like one that will play on DivX) in korean, download it and open it on VLC player. Then find the corresponding subtitle file. Using the insert subtitle function will play it. Hope that helps! As for Boys Over Flowers: I'll answer on the your boys over flowers post.