Music / Idols
20111124_TiffanyandJessica

Is K-Pop Ruining Idol English?

125
Written by On November 26, 2011

The Korean Pop industry is filled with laughable English. From “fiscal theory of porno” to “easy access line,” Korean Pop creates fluidities in the English language that simply do not exist. Call me an ignorant supremacist, but phrases like “if you wanna pretty, every wanna pretty,” “I wanna gossip girl,” and “blue tumbler like a puppy lover,” are so hilarious that I’m pretty sure my entrails are just floating around in the cavity of my body. But alas, while all the bad Engrish has kept my guts bursting for hours upon hours, I have found another source of entertainment, another source of entertainment that still involves English, K-Pop, and the massacre of the former by the latter.

httpv://youtu.be/CDyMQ7M0sSs

SNSD‘s Tiffany and Jessica were both born and raised in California. While I have no proof that English was their first language, it probably was. If not, then it was definitely a close second. Regardless, in this video, their English is almost perfect. There are no alarming errors in their syntax, diction, or pronunciation. But then why oh why do they sound like they have cotton candy for brains?

Tiffany and Jessica are only examples of something I have noticed in Korean entertainment. With only a few exceptions like Brian Joo and f(x)‘s Amber, native English speakers tend to speak in simplified, baby talk. And so, while they speak English with fluency, they are not particularly eloquent. In fact, they sound like bimbos.

Jessica: Tiffany have you heard about the newest smartphone application on our Run Devil Run album?
Tiffany: Yes, I did.
Jessica: Really?!
…
Tiffany: Say, ‘Thank You’
Jessica: Thank You
Tiffany: Yay!

But again, Tiffany and English aren’t the only ones. Ever hear Kara‘s Nicole‘s excruciating pronunciation? Or G.Na‘s simple comebacks to Brian’s smackdowns? Or the ellipses in 2PM‘s Taecyeon‘s sentences?

It may be funny but upon further reflection, it’s more sad than anything. But I don’t think this is something that these idols can help. After all, when your company hacks away at your English in a nation where English is not the official language, what else does one expect?

A native English speaker is a huge asset for a K-Pop company. As a genre that is becoming increasingly global, the perks of having a fluent English speaker are more than obvious. But companies are both misusing and underusing their English speakers. Instead of using them as speakers and representatives of the English language, they are being used as talk machines that will spit out any given phrase—nothing more, nothing less. But what companies may not be realizing is that not only is this a poor use of their English speaking skills, it is also sending their English speaking skills down the sewers. As Korean Pop grows as a global brand, when these speakers need to put their skills to the test when they speak at global concerts and events, they aren’t particularly eloquent. While no one is expecting them to speak with phenomenal oratory skills, hearing Tiffany speak like an airhead, with a bunch of “OMGs!,” “Really?!,” and “Totallys!” at SM Town in NYC was really disappointing to someone who was looking forward to hearing her speak my native language in the flesh.

As K-Pop grows, I can only hope that companies begin realizing the error of their ways and actually use their idols’ language skills. Ask them if “get it in” is family friendly, ask them what else rhymes with “mystery” besides “history,” ask them what “fiscal theory of porno” actually means. Don’t use your idols to simply whip out these IQ numbing phrases; it will hurt them and you in the long run.

Related Posts

TAGS: , , , , , , , , , ,
← Older Comments
  • Leigh

    As someone who has a Southern accent/vernacular, which is constantly derided by mainstream American media with their “neutral” accents and way of speaking, I’m a bit sensitive sometimes to talk of the “correct” way to speak.  In a nation as linguistically diverse as the United States, we should celebrate diverse speech patterns/dialects as well as the many Americans whose accents are influenced by foreign languages/time spent oversees instead of being so quick to write them off as idiots (especially when the evidence is not compelling). It’s just boring with mainstream media constantly trying to homogenize speech in this country (although you notice it in a lot of other countries too, South Korea included).

    • RC

      For the most part I agree, and as someone who went to college in MS, I’m not one to dump on the South.  But accent and pronunciation, while not exactly the same thing, do overlap.  For example, I had a TA (from China) once who pronounced “feathers” as “feeders”.  It took 5 minutes of roundabout explanations to figure out what he was saying.  It’s primarily a pronunciation problem, but would this problem exist if not for his so-called Chinese accent?  I’m not sure.

  • Anonymous

    What a relevant topic! I just got back from two back-to-back Kpop Masters experiences in Las Vegas. Somehow all the English in Kpop gave me a false, heightened expectation of how well the idols could speak in English. All the acts tried to talk to the audiences in English; some were better at it than the others.  There were moments when some of them literally just pieced random English words together. I’d say Changmin of TVXQ had the hardest time. By comparison, BEAST were pretty good at communicating to the audiences. G.na being Canadian born somehow seemed to struggle with speaking. I’d write it off as nerves at work. On the 2nd night, some genius finally figured out that maybe a translator would be a good idea for TVXQ. An anecdote: The translator mistakenly called the event AllKpop Masters while translating TVXQ. Or was it really TVXQ themselves? That was pretty funny.

    In any case, I’d say that the Kpop idols I saw this past weekend were generally better at speaking English than the Japanese artists that I’ve seen. That said, I’d like to pay respect to Glay’s lead singer who couldn’t speak much English the first year they played in L.A., but came back very fluent the next year! Now that’s fan service!

  • Pr3vail

    Why is everyone getting their panties in a twist? the author pretty much said what I’ve always thought, but i just chalked it up to them trying to talk “cute” or something.
    But the author is right, their English is perfect but something about it sounds robotic. Even valley girls don’t speak so stiffly…
    Every time I hear them talk i think to myself “why are they speaking like that…”
    Its as if English is new to them or something. Odd.
    But its not really a big deal, and i don’t know if it deserved an article, but eh.

  • RC

    I actually find this topic very interesting, but I do believe we’re conflating 2 different issues here.  One is the (often laughable) English lyrics in Kpop songs, and the other is the individual idols’ spoken English ability.  They’re separate topics to me since most idols have nothing to do with the lyrics in the songs.  

    Lyrics-wise, I find it pretty inexcusable.  There are dictionaries, translation software and these companies surely can afford to hire proper English translators/quality checkers, something to ensure that the English that’s been forced into these songs at least nominally make sense.  In my opinion, if Kpop really wants to try to rule the world, having coherent lyrics can only help.

    As for idols and their spoken English, that part is a little harder.  There’s no denying that having an idol that’s fluent in English/Chinese/Japanese etc is very helpful when promoting in that country, but the fact is that spoken language is easily lost when you’re not in that language environment at all.  So, short of having designated English (or other language) days with non-stop verbal interaction with native or near-native speakers, the quality of spoken language is hard to improve or even maintain.

    Also regarding some idols who have spent a number of years growing up and studying in USA or Canada, I’m not sure that it should inflate people’s expectations as much as it does.  When I was in college, I interacted with a lot of international students; and for the same amount of time spent in the USA, some continued to speak very haltingly with below average grammar while others spoke comfortably in well constructed sentences.  It’s very individual.

  • Anonymous

    I always thought Tiffany and Jessica sounded like Valley Girls? They are right?  Unfortunately for the rather stereotypical idea that Valley girls are air-headed and shallow, they give me the same impression with the way they speak English. I guess spending all those years in Korea they’ve lost the grasp of English at a deeper level since they don’t use it expect for the few times they have to sing nonsensical/meaningless Engrish lyrics in their songs. It’s understandable. Their aim here is to sound cute as opposed to intelligent, an accurate Californian accent is a bonus.

  • Anonymous

    It’s easier to learn new languages when you’re young. So if the entertainment want them to be fluent in other languages they better start teaching trainees with fluent teachers that know how to speak correctly.

  • mikeee

    Yeah I quite agree with these girls’ English but no one can blame them. Practicing English is just like learning English and the fact that Korea does not use it makes everything understandable. They both left US when they were still very young and maybe their fluency has deteriorated a bit.

  • Guest

    As a linguistics major, I’m kind of offended at your insinuations (i.e. bimbo-speak). I hope you are aware that English does have dialects (i.e. AAVE), and seeing that they’ve been living in Korea for quite some time now, their English must have been undoubtedly affected (somewhat akin to pidginization or creolization if you may). 

  • Anonymous

    LMAO … Since when did speaking proper King’s English become a requirement in the music industry? Most if not all hiphop, rock and roll, country, and R&B artists slaughter English language beyond recognition… Calling people bimbos is a new low even for you guys…

  • jess1

    My only question is, “don’t they really have a say to the English lyrics knowing that they know the language?”

    I’m not just talking about the 2 GG girls. That’s really sad tbh.

  • http://twitter.com/TheBlockB TheBlockB

    All I can say is Thank God For people like Jay Park and Brian Joo. They never let me down when it comes to english. And some people in my mind that are trying hard to learn the language are Taeyang and Ye Eun. Both are doing really well with it. Taeyang even bothers to tweet in english a lot.

  • http://twitter.com/jms177 Justy

    I don’t know, they sound like any other girl in America. What they say, I hear on a daily basis everywhere I go without people thinking twice about it, because it’s not that serious. Saying stuff like “OMG” and “Totally!” are simple phrases that people use commonly all the time, so what’s the problem? I wouldn’t mind them sound apparently more “intelligent” when they speak English, but I don’t think it’s really an issue. Like at all. I wouldn’t have even thought twice about it if it wasn’t for this article. Is it really THAT bad to say things that English speakers say all the time anyway?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/ほしの-あゆみ/100002113624094 ほしの あゆみ

    It’s most likely because they have lived in Korea so long, When I am in Korea my speech slows down and becomes much more precise because Koreans may understand English but if you speak at the same speed one is accustom too it would probably be too much for them to contemplate.  Subi girl you suck at writing articles

  • Pingback: cool caravans

  • Pingback: best guest beds

  • Pingback: Olly

  • http://twitter.com/00erica00 Erica Chan

    Get a legit interview for Jessica and Tiffany. That thing is SM’s promotional video for the RDR app, therefore they’re acting cutesy but in english. Sheesh

  • Pingback: Buy Facebook Fans

  • http://twitter.com/xLTHL Linda L

    Who knows if these girls were once good at speaking english with rich vocab. Not all people om North America speak english with a high degree as we are all lazy from technology and such. Also, you can’t blame them as they are force to speak Korean everyday therefore their English skills rust. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Grace-Shen/100000888923875 Grace Shen

    Dude, it’s called forgetting languages. I’m sure you could live in Korea and not forget any of your English at all without someone to talk to in English on a daily basis. The thing is, when you’re away from your native country (for Tiffany and Jessica, the US) for a period of time, the way of talking changes. Since when was the word “netizen” an actual word? Since just recently.

    Also, you tend to forget the way people say things in English if you don’t talk in English for long periods of time. Not really a sone, but I just have to say that because this article is so ridiculous. :|

  • Pingback: womens clothing

  • http://www.facebook.com/dustingriffin86 Dustin P. Griffin

    To me it seems as though the author has a problem with the Californian way of talking.  Yes, I do think, to some degree, that Kpop stars who are fluent in English are misused in their skills.

    I think it’s more likely that these stars use “baby” English, because they were basically babies when they were ripped from the English world and thrown into pop star training world in Korea.  Compound that with most Kpop stars coming from California, where this way of talking is common and you have a more realistic explanation.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=620637633 Derrick Chiang

    Why are you so obsessed with Korean idols speaking in English?
    Some of them might not be as fluent as you want them to be but what’s the big deal?
    English is only labeled as the International language but is it the most commonly used language? No.
    Besides, Jessica and Tiffany spoke that way because it’s the whole concept of their girl band. (being cute and innocent)
    Unless, if you want them to talk like Martha Stewart, then what’s the whole points of the interview?
    Lastly, if you can’t deal with it, I suggest that you come out of your tiny little bubble and start mixing around with other people, you socially-declined, good-for-nothing, monolingual simpleton.
    And as what Jack said, this post is an “utterly deceptive twaddle speech says I”.

← Older Comments