📺 Best Korean Dramas on Netflix for B1–B2 Korean Learners
Blog Name｜Smart Smart Smart (똑똑똑)
Already mastered beginner Korean and ready for the next step?
If you're at the B1–B2 level, it's time to move on from textbook Korean and dive into real conversations, emotions, and culture.
These 5 Korean dramas on Netflix will help you:
✔️ Improve listening comprehension
✔️ Learn everyday expressions
✔️ Explore social & cultural context
Let’s take a look!
🎬 1. Because This Is My First Life (이번 생은 처음이라)
- Year: 2017
- 🗣️ Speech: Natural, mid-speed, urban tone
- 📖 Story:
A contract marriage between a logical house-poor man and a struggling writer slowly turns into something real. - 🧠 Learning Tips:
- Modern dating and roommate expressions
- Casual and polite speech side by side
- Real-life job and financial vocabulary
🎬 2. Reply 1988 (응답하라 1988)
- Year: 2015
- 🗣️ Speech: Neighborhood slang, parent–child talk
- 📖 Story:
A nostalgic look at five families living in a Seoul neighborhood in the late 1980s, filled with friendship, family, and laughter. - 🧠 Learning Tips:
- Korean family culture and generational speech
- Common expressions and jokes
- Informal banter and emotions
🎬 3. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (갯마을 차차차)
- Year: 2021
- 🗣️ Speech: Clear and emotional
- 📖 Story:
A perfectionist dentist opens a clinic in a small seaside town, where she meets a helpful yet mysterious man. - 🧠 Learning Tips:
- Friendly conversation and village dialect
- Vocabulary for jobs, medicine, emotions
- Great balance of fun + heartwarming moments
🎬 4. Twenty-Five Twenty-One (스물다섯 스물하나)
- Year: 2022
- 🗣️ Speech: Youthful and expressive
- 📖 Story:
A high school fencing star and a young man who lost everything during the IMF crisis meet and grow together through hardship and hope. - 🧠 Learning Tips:
- School and relationship expressions
- Energetic speech patterns and emotion-driven dialogue
- Historical context (1990s Korea)
🎬 5. Misaeng: Incomplete Life (미생)
- Year: 2014
- 🗣️ Speech: Workplace-focused, formal + casual
- 📖 Story:
A former baduk (Go) player enters the Korean corporate world and struggles to adapt while learning about life, loyalty, and ambition. - 🧠 Learning Tips:
- Business Korean & polite workplace expressions
- Office culture vocabulary
- Subtle tone, sarcasm, and indirect speech
💡 Tips for B1–B2 Learners
✅ Use Korean subtitles first, then switch to no subs
✅ Focus on expressions that appear multiple times
✅ Try shadowing a scene with emotion
✅ Note cultural moments: formality, body language, food, relationships
✅ Final Thoughts
At the B1–B2 level, you're not just learning words —
you're learning how Korean feels.
By watching these dramas, you’ll build:
✔️ Real-world vocabulary
✔️ Emotional understanding
✔️ Cultural intuition
