ARMYs have always been considered one of the most holistic fandoms to ever exist. The unparalleled dedication and support for the boys, the invincible determination to make sure the members achieve all that they have ever dreamed of and worked hard for, and the unflinching resolve to defend the boys against any form of mistreatment — these aren’t the only qualities that the fandom is known and loved for.
The fandom has curated some amazingly self-sufficient spaces that are acting as a powerful driving force in bringing people together and encouraging inclusivity. One such space is most definitely on the learning or the educational front. A lot of fans have gone way beyond the set expectations, and have been successful in creating spaces that feel no lesser than any other college resources (virtual of course). In this article, I’ll be briefly touching upon two of the major educational spaces that have earned a spotlight for themselves in this fandom—Bangtan Academy and ARMY Academy.
ARMY Academy
“It's not just one hour, it's a whole year that'll disappear”
It feels like ARMY Academy took this line from “Pied Piper” quite seriously, and decided to come up with a way for the lovely fans to utilize their time in studies, all the while consuming Bangtan content.
ARMY Academy is a free tutoring service with a range of courses and a set of dedicated volunteers for each of these subjects who are ready to help you out with the course content as well as study habits. Oh, and did I mention all these services are free?!
This amazing academy is being run on Discord with tutors that are available 24/7, to help you with the material of 20+ courses! These courses range from science to language and arts; there is something for everyone to take. AA has made it incredibly easy for interested learners to reach out and find a subject and prospective tutor of their liking.
But this is not all that AA has to offer. They have also curated some targeted projects that invite ARMYs to dive into specific fields of interest with some help from the boys. For example: ‘Connect, ARMY’ is the AA art magazine inspired by ‘Connect, BTS’, that allows the fans to exhibit their artistic talents. Under this project, the fans can also explore AA’s traditional as well as digital art classes- all for free!
Another one of their noteworthy projects has to be ‘ARMY Road to College’- a fruitful, one-week event that the fans can join to learn about college majors, and different universities that they can apply to. It’s a virtual event where ARMYs come together and share their college experiences and expertise and help each other out with college matters. Yes - a virtual counseling week, for free and zero scams!
Bangtan Academy
Another such academy that has swept the fandom off its feet is Bangtan Academy. A small group of fans, who were more than just dedicated to learning Korean to be able to understand the boys better, have now created an ever-growing empire with 2000+ people from all around the world—learning Korean and just being the lovely fans that they are.
This dynamic space has found its platform on Discord and offers a diverse range of classes that are suitable for levels starting from absolute beginners to advanced. While the server and its classes are basically open and free service to all, BA also takes pride in offering classes where the learners need to pay for the class materials because they completely believe in supporting the independent creators and do not encourage piracy in any form. These classes are overlooked by amazing volunteers and even sunbaes from reputed universities in South Korea, who are available 24/7 to answer your queries and doubts.
BA is not just limited to the variety of classes it has to offer, which by the way will take you more than a day to go through the list. Apart from studies, BA is also known for its extracurricular activities and challenges like tournaments, dance challenges, cooking challenges, art challenges, etc.
The server has grown so much in the past year, that it had to be branched out into three different servers. That’s right, the parent server of BA now has a library server and a game server. Intrigued yet? The library server of BA is home to a myriad of books and resources, that are just one click away. The server is maintained by a group of librarians and gives you that absolute feeling of being in a virtual library.
On the other hand, the game server is where you will find the interesting and nerve-wracking tournaments to happen, and video games that are also turned into fun lessons. This server is the perfect haven for gamer ARMYs who want to learn Korean while having fun.
The main BA server has also curated spaces like study-to-music, cafe, common rooms, etc. that have all the more help in creating safe spaces for the learners and the fans to bond and share mutual interests. BA also successfully created something similar to the Hogwarts houses- BT21 houses.
As time has passed by, BA has been able to create an influential household name for itself. Notable creators like Mr. Kim (founder of Learn Korean in Korean), Hyunwoo Sun (founder of Talk To Me in Korean), and Mr. Will (founder of How to Speak in Korean) have also acknowledged the hard work and service that BA has been offering by using and promoting these subject materials.
The Future Ahead
I truly believe it is because of ARMYs that the world has learned that being a fan of a certain artist can transcend the stereotypical definitions. Every single person who tirelessly devotes their time to these academies, in spite of having a real life to deal with outside of the internet, does so out of love, respect, and an undying passion. These academies have helped debunk the ‘crazy’ fan allegations and have created something truly phenomenal.
Time and again, people who have been a part of such a potent experience, have expressed their desire for these spaces to be turned into a reality—for these spaces to extend beyond the virtual limits. Needless to say, the practicality of such a reality will never be an easy feat. But we shall continue to dream so, along with being eternally grateful for the existence of such wonderful things in the first place.
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Written By: Ananya
Edited By: Mheer
Checked By: Juju
Bangtan Academy is incredible. I realized that Korean can often be interpreted differently depnding on the translator and I wanted to listen to BTS music, VLives, and interviews with my own ears and understand it with my own mind. Not only does it expand who I am as a person by giving me skills and a different perspective, it helps me gain a new love and respect for an amazing, beautiful culture that I never would have found with out BTS and ARMY. The people that curate and study in BA are so lovely to learn from and work with. I am so grateful to have this incredible resource to help me learn and grow.
I only have good words to Bangtan Academy admins, helpers, volunteers, students. I been there for a long time and i not only learnt Korean but how be a better person as well. People are so helpful and dedicate, that push myself to study more and try to help others too. 감사합니다!