Lately I’ve been really into a newer webtoon called Spirit Fingers (스피릿 핑거스) and unfortunately I finally caught up with all the currently released chapters, which means that I now have to wait a week between each new installment. While I wait, I thought I’d tell you about why you should check out this webtoon. As I’ve written before, webtoons and manhwa are a great way to practice Korean.

The art is fantastic.

I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to watching or reading things that are created not only to tell a story but also to please or provoke in a visual way, like anime, manga, manhwa, webtoons… These are art forms, and if I don’t like the style, I really won’t be able to enjoy the story. #snobstatus

Spirit Fingers has scenes that are so pretty that I just want to drool on my phone screen. I found this webtoon by accident, I judged it by its art style and decided to keep reading, and I was not disappointed. And not only is the art great, but art is the thing that brings the characters together in the first place!  

It has a fun storyline and lovable characters.

Rom-com, art-themed, friendship problems, and love triangles. It also has some seriously great character development that has punched me right in the feels time and time again. The development is believable, and it also makes me invested not only in the main character but every single one of the supporting ones as well. I’m not someone who generally does well with ensemble casts, but Spirit Fingers has converted me.

It definitely helps that the characters all are distinctly their own selves, both with personalities, clothing preferences, and back stories interwoven into the cloth of the main plot. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is only a funny romance. This is far more about the main character finding confidence in being whoever she wants to be than about her getting a man.

Although it’s definitely fun to root for the main guy to win her heart.

It is entirely dialogue.

This is the best way to enjoy reading in Korean without getting too stressed out about intensively studying every single sentence. I originally thought that reading webtoons with extensive background/setting-based text would be helpful. It’s not, at least it’s not what I’ve discovered I enjoy in a webtoon. It could be helpful if I used webtoons for active studying, but I’ve found that I prefer my books to have descriptions for each scene and my webtoons to have absolutely none.

For me, this facilitates an easier read. I can practice understanding natural dialogue rather than focusing on descriptions that frequently become long-winded and are chock-full of words that hurt my head. For language level upkeep, and the occasional challenge, and just my own leisurely reading, I like a webtoon. For active studying and note-taking, I like short stories and novels.

It doesn’t have perfect Korean.

And it doesn’t have to. Things are written the way people speak, not necessarily the way a word is formally spelled or the way a phrase is taught in a textbook. At first, it threw me, but now I love it. It’s part of the reason I sound a bit more like a Korean person when I text a friend and a bit less like a Korean textbook.

The more webtoons you read, the more you’ll notice this. Sometimes there are even spelling mistakes in webtoons – but the good part of this is that I noticed.

Check out the first few chapters of Spirit Fingers and let me know what you think! But don’t judge it by just reading one or two – give it a chance, because before you know it, you’ll join me in hungrily waiting for the newest chapter each week.

읽어 주셔서 감사합니다.

지금 재생 중

OneRepublic’s new song features titles written in 한글 and the boring life of a Korean office worker…until that life gets a bit more interesting.