K Pop.

Unfortunately, the language barrier makes it a little difficult to absorb Korean culture. I know that there is so much going on around me that I don't even see.

One way that this isn't true is the Korean Pop music, a.k.a. "K Pop". I hear it at the gym, in the grocery story, and in taxi cabs. I see the stars on commercials and billboards, and most of all, I hear about them at school. My kids talk about their favorite Korean groups all the time. They sing the songs under their breath as they work on assignments and do the dances in the hallway. A lot of the songs have a few lines in English, too, so I can say something like "sorry" or "I don't care" and the whole class will break out in song and dance. No joke. Even the kindergartners know this stuff.

Having a basic understanding of the currently popular songs and dances is a total ace in the hole in terms of impressing Koreans with your knowledge of their popular culture. And Koreans love to see foreigners appreciating and consuming Korean anything, so there's another ace in the hole. I highly recommend this humorous and educational link for the beginning of your K Pop instruction before moving on to the information below.

The groups I hear the most about are:

• Girls' Generation, or 少女時代;소녀시대. They are often referred to as SNSD, which is the acronym for their Korean name. Nine girls bringing us gems such as "Chocolate Love", and "Gee".

• Wonder Girls, or 원더걸스 rock some "Nobody" and "So Hot".

• Brown Eyed Girls, or 브라운 아이드 걸스, who sing one of my favorite K Pop songs, "Abracadabra".

• I'm also partial to SHINee's "Ring Ding Dong", Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry", and 2NE1's "Lollipop".

Class dismissed.