Go Ara looks prettier every time we see her! You go Girl, go kick ass!

1. kdrama - 10 years ago; anime - 20 years ago

2. kdrama - 0.5, anime - 1.5

3. yes

4. yes

5. yes

6. no

7. no
8. -

9. yes, because sometimes i skip parts of the drama. recaps help in filling up that gap

10. A.

11. ignore

1. 8 yrs
2. 1
3. Yes (KBS World youtube channel)
4. Most of the time
5. Most of the time
6. No
7. No

9. Yes. If I started to watch a drama that I didn't find good enough to finish I get to know how it continues. If the story has a lot of twists or has a lot of technical terms (lawer, doctor etc.) I can find out things that I missed from the recaps.
10. D
11. Google (usually it's a person or an historical event).

I replied by email, but I'll add here too that Darksmurf subs are not machine-based. Machine-translated subs are available at DSS, but the subs that DSS releases are the work of humans, fans who work hard at translating and editing. That's why they're seldom available as rapidly as some other sites.

1. 2.5 years- didn't know they existed before then.
2. about a 3 (mostly because I take Korean language and culture classes, I didn't learn my Korean from the dramas themselves)
3. Yes
4. Sort of - as I learn more of the language I feel that more and more is lost in translation. As far as getting the gist of what is being said, they do a great job, however exactness is almost impossible because, in my opinion, Korean is a very different language than English so it is almost impossible to translate it in ways that can give the story more meaning/ the correct meaning/ the implied meaning.
5. I feel like fansubs are a little more accurate than commercial subs because they usually take extra care because they do it for the love of the show rather than to make money. Also I often find that they explain untranslatable words, sayings and cultural things unlike commercial subs.
6. Sometimes. I like them when they explain cultural things or untranslatable words because they help me get more out of the drama that way, however I don't always take the time to read them and I don't need to do it always either.
7. No
8.--
9. Yes. I like to read them because they can help me understand things that I didn't fully get and also because I love to hear other peoples opinions on the shows.
10. C - I don't pay a ton of attention to kpop and such. My favorite genre of Korean shows are sageuks (historical dramas) so I know a lot about Korean history. I like a good modern drama once in a while, but never a kpop related one.
11. I usually just ignore it, unless its really bugging me and then I look it up using google, the Korean people I know or books and such.

1. 20+ years if kdrama watching.
2. I understand better than I can speak, Rate 3
3. Yes
4. They're ok. Most of it is accurate, but they tend to annoyingly "Americanize" things. Like translating a person's name instead of what they're actually being called. Ex. You'll hear "Oppa" but the subtitle will have the guy's name.
5. Yes, most of the time. They tend to be more faithful to the translation and the culture. You don't get the whole "Oppa" problem.
6. Yes. They give good information about any content that couldn't be explained in the sub directly.
7. Yes.
8. They give insight on what others think is going on.
9. Yes. They clear up any confusion I had.
10. D
11. I google it, look for other subs or search discussion boards.

1. 6
2. 1
3. Only when Dramafever opened to European viewers as a test. Normally, no.
4. Yes but not better.
5. Viki or With? Yes
6. Yes, more info as I'm neither Japanese nor Korean (not Chinese either)
7. Softy's? I have done.
8. Part of the excitement
9. Yes, gives me more to think about
10. D. Historical references
11. Google or soompi board

1. drama - 4 anime - 7
2. korean - 1 japanese - 3
3. yes
4. yes
5. yes
6. yes, they often have background info or cultural info necessary to fully understand what happens in the drama/movie, so it definitely helps to read them
7. no
8. —
9. yes
—they often catch stuff that i miss when watching the episode, or have cultural info that makes it make more sense
10. When watching a drama, what do you find the most difficult to understand?
D. Historical references - I know Korean history almost exclusively through what I've seen in dramas, and a little bit from personal research/blogs about Korea, so there is a lot I don't know
E. Other - when they use Korean idioms/figurative language that don't make sense in English (and there isn't a subber note explaining it)
11. I almost always read recaps of every drama I watch, and usually these kinds of things are explained in the recap, so I look for an explanation there. Otherwise, I just let it go usually

1. anime - 25 years or more

Jdrama - 20 or more years

Taiwan Drama - 25 years or more

K-drama - 10 or more years

2. anime - 1

Jdrama - 1

Taiwan Drama - 4

K-drama - 1

3. Yes, I watched subs.

4. in my opinion, commercial subs are around 70 to 80% accuracy level.

5. In my opinion, it depend on the website & subber but the accuracy level is around 50 to 70%

6. headnotes - yes i read them. the level they contribute would be around 30%

7. Yes

8. I read live recaps they influence whether I would be watching the drama or not.

9. Yes I do read recaps, this contribute to the overall feeling of the drama, it also clear up what I dont understand about the drama.

10. C

11. I usually read recaps to understand better.

1. 8 years

2. 2

3. yes

4. most of the times, yes.

5. Yes, back then withs2 did the job very well, they even provide notes if the dialogue is a parody of something.

6. not really

7. sometimes
8. they provide context and give me idea of what to expect so i can guess what the character is saying

9. absolutely, help me understand the characters better. especially culture things, like giving tail of the eel to precious one - i got that from pinnochio and why calling oppa is so important to guys, and it has so many meanings. Thanks dramabean
10. When watching a drama, what do you find the most difficult to understand?
A. Culturally-specific situations
B. Humor - toilet humour, others are okay for me.
C. Pop cultural references - I don't really follow kpop nowadays so it's a problem, preHOT and post DBSK references goes over my head
D. Historical references - when they refer to historical figure like Jang Ok Jung

11. dramabeans, if they recap it. otherwise google

welcome :p

1.5 years

2.3 or 4

3.yes

4.They do provide a good translation but I've seen often times that they just summarize the meaning of the dialogue instead of accurately translating it. It's become noticeable to me since just a while ago because now that I understand the languages I can catch those discrepancies.. Sometimes they are very few and not a bad thing but then sometimes they make for a jarring viewing experience

5.&6. Some fan subs give explanations or tie ins along with a few comments especially the japanese and taiwanese ones making for a great watch and they are generally quite accurate .

7.No.

9.I follow recaps if I'm ambiguous about a show to decide if I want to watch it and for shows I like, to talk over them with others who watch them.

10. The phonetic jokes about similar sounding words, references to older shows and puns about sayings or colloquiums.

11. All of the above and sometimes even that doesn't provide the answer. So I keep a list of such things and revisit them again periodically to find if something about them has been added.

Hope I helped and good luck :-)

I'm seeing a new banner with a girl in yellow can anyone tell me who she is.
there are two pictures of her one in a yellow jacket smiling and the other in a yellow dress with a big red floral ring on her finger making a shush gesture over red lips. Dramabeans logo and tag line are in red with a kiss mark in red too.

Hope I described it well enough that anyone else seeing this same banner might identify her.

P.S. I don't why I'm hung up on this either :-)

aww... what a perfect research question ;)
I replied by email.
Perhaps, you could give a short overview what your findings are when done. But don't stress yourself over it.

Best of luck for your paper!

1. 14 years
2. 2
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. Generally yes
6. Yes, for context
7. Yes
8. No
9. Deeper understanding of the plot, putting context on the situation/ dialogue (mostly because of cultural differences)
10. All
11. Waiting for Dramabeans recap? (heheh)

1. 2 years of watching dramas.
2. 2?
3. Yes.
4. I think fansubs do a better job just because they tend to provide headnotes to explain contexts, puns, and references that would otherwise be lost in translation, but they are generally watchable unless you're a watching a drama like Reply 1997 where those references are crucial to the understanding of the drama.
5. Yes.
6. Yes, I feel like I get a better understanding of the drama.
7. No.
8. --
9. Yes, recaps fill in any holes I might have had in my understanding of the drama. For example, to get any references I missed, for explanations, or just to relive the episodes. Other times, I read the recaps if I want to know whether to watch a drama/episode or not. It's also interesting read recaps because it shows me another perspective, that's why I also like reading the comments on the recaps.
10. D
11. Google or try to find it in a recap.

1. 5
2. yes/4
3. yes
4. no
5. yes
6. yes
—It really depends. Notes about pop culture or historical references or about language usage &puns can be informative and interesting while giving non-native speakers greater understanding or insight into the media that's being consumed.
7. no
8. —N/A
9. yes
—recaps serve two purposes. i can read a recap to geta taste of a drama i'm not watching (sometimes this is to see if it piques my interest or just to keep up because there aren't enough hours in a day). i find that recaps also act as a forum for discussion. viewers can, in a way, re-live an episode and discuss plot, characters, themes, etc with other viewers in greater detail than they can in, say, a youtube comment or viki timed comment.
10. C. I don't listen to a lot of kpop, nor do I know much about actors/actresses' personal lives. i've missed many a joke or reference to a popular song/comedian/celebrity because of it
11. I'm lazy and a bad listener so I watch with english subs, but sometimes I know a translation isn't 100%. if i don't understand the context and i'm curious enough i look up korean scripts because my reading is better than my listening. if i still don't get it i'll look at recaps or discussions to see if its mentioned.