Blackjacks

[koganbot]

In the Philippines, the fans of 2NE1 call themselves blackjacks. It took me two hours of Web surfing to find out why ('cause I'm stupid):

21 is the high number in Blackjack.

Watch on YouTube

Dara had moved to the Philippines at age 8 or so, and was already an established figure there - finished 2nd on a TV talent show and acted and sang, though if what's said at Celebrity Info is correct, her career was sputtering - when she moved back to Korea to join 2NE1. Here's her Star Circle Quest audition:

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[descriptivist.livejournal.com]

If I may put a linguist's perspective on the English thing, earlier language acquisition definitely results in a reduction of accent as young children can differentiate between sounds that adults may no longer hear (this is why native Japanese speakers who speak English often mix up R and L - they are unable to process the distinction between the two in English, because there is no difference in Japanese) (by distinction I mean: changing one consonant from "mole" to "more" results in two different English words, but in Japanese L and R fall under the same umbrella and are understood as the same). But following 2NE1's international travels on season 2 of 2NE1 TV, I could definitely hear Bom's voice taking on a different accent when she said "Hello" in English - the vowel is correct (the E would be more like an "ae" from a native Korean speaker) as are the L's (though Korean does use L's and R's differently, unlike Japanese). I don't know if I can find a clip right now, but all of season 2 of 2NE1 TV is available with (idiomatic!) English subtitles on 2NE1's Youtube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/2NE1).

It's possible that CL's English is "more accented" than Bom's because she spent more time as a child speaking other languages - Japanese, French. Here's a brief clip of CL speaking French. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVR2UuDJmpw) Not sure how accented it is, but it sounds good to me (an English-accented French speaker) - her "merci" is dead on.

For consistency, I also notice an Asian-sounding accent in the English of Nichkhun of 2PM, who was born in Rancho Cucamonga, CA but spent his childhood in Thailand before moving back to the U.S. as a teenager. Korean fans usually refer to him as Thai, not American, which I think is significant.

I don't think 2NE1 are the most fluent English speakers among Korean idols - that would go to one of the many American-born idols like Nicole of KARA (who appears as a regular guest on a variety show hosting a Password (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_(game_show))-like segment, the joke being that her clues will be funnier because her knowledge of Korean isn't that total) or Kevin and Eli of U-Kiss (who were the co-hosts of an English-language program on Korean radio with Xander, now a former U-Kiss member, who famously speaks 7 languages) - but they seem to me to be the most comfortable with being around it. Going back to season 2 of 2NE1 TV, they spend a lot of time in the studio with will.i.am and other producers who speak only in English and give a lot of instructions, and they're clearly speaking to the girls, not an interpreter.

Minzy's English isn't very strong, but she is apparently (almost?) fluent in Japanese, which is why I was surprised that she rapped in English for the Japanese version of "I Am The Best" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuZvSi7LlYE). But raps in Korean songs always seem to get converted to English for the Japanese versions. Is it more difficult to rap in Japanese? I'm not sure. (I stand by my claim that Korean syllables sound "harder" than Japanese though, so maybe it's just more suited to rap.)

[askbask.livejournal.com]

I've always found it funny that Nicole speaks neither English nor Korean fluently, stumbling over words in both languages. Wouldn't name her as the most comfortable speaker, period, but that may have to do with her person rather than her language skills.

There are a ton of Americans in k-pop now, though, so plenty of expertise to pick from.

[koganbot]

Actually think it's Bom's English that's more accented than CL's, even though Bom is probably more fluent in English. And this would confirm what you said earlier; though Bom has more English, she learned it at an older age, so she's got more of an accent.

But just from the little I see, CL is clearly more publicly assertive in any language, probably even in languages she doesn't know. (I mean, more assertive than Bom is.)

[koganbot]

"More accented." Of course, my English and yours and everyone's is accented. But mine's closer to one of the established North American English accents than would be that of someone who learns English after age ten or so (though of course that person's accent would depend in part on the accent of the English he or she learned, but it would also depend on the native language(s) he or she already speaks).

Maybe there are some neighborhoods in the U.S. where "old country" pronunciations become part of that "native language," maybe some Yiddish pronunciations and intonations and sentence structure in parts of New York City in the early 20th century, and Mexican and Puerto Rican Spanish in parts of the U.S.; and German and Scandinavian in parts of the U.S. Don't really know much about it, but, e.g., in Brooklyn in 1900 I'd think the crucial factor wouldn't be whether a kid's parents speak Yiddish but whether the kid's friends speak Yiddish-influenced English (and the kid could be of Italian or Irish ancestry and still pick it up).

Curious if whether, in parts of India and the Philippines, there's a difference between official English and street English.

So, also curious if there's a difference between business English spoken in Korea by Koreans and street English spoken in Korea by Koreans. And I'm fascinated by the fact that the second rapper on a Huckleberry P live freestyle says "I don' know man, gotta go" in English when he gets up and leaves.

[askbask.livejournal.com]

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Wonder Girls continue to do 'activities' in the US without actually releasing anything (it's getting a silly now). Their English level varies quite a lot from member to member.