monica kim Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 These days within popular girl groups there is a common factor. It's that within the team there are members who grew up in foreign countries or studied overseas. 9 member girl group SNSD who is receiving lots of popularity with their new mini album title song 'Gee', members Tiffany (20) and Jessica (20) are from overseas. Tiffany and Jessica grew up in the States and to fulfill their dreams of becoming singers during middle school and high school, they came to Korea. 5 member girl group Kara's member Nicole (18) is from overseas. Kara's entertainment company DSP Media informed on the 16th '' Born in America, Nicole came to Korea around the age of 15 after living there to become a singer." New and superior girl group After School's youngest Baekha (20) also came from overseas from Hawaii in America and before 1 year and 6 months ago, lived there since. In popular girl groups, after being born in Korea, there are members who traveled overseas to study in America, Japan and China. Wonder Girls' Yoobin (21) went overseas for a year and 2 months after her family's business moved to the States and came back to Korea. Jewelry's HaJuyeon (23) also studied overseas. Jewelry's entertainment company Star Empire informed "Ha Juyeon graduated in U.S.A, L.A's Granada High School and while going to a college there, came back to Korea to become a singer." Kara's Han Seungyeon (21) attended one of America's top high schools, Tenafly High School in New Jersey for about a year and 6 months. Han Seungyeon told Star News saying "I didn't graduate from Tenafly High School, in the middle I wanted to become a singer and came back to Korea." After returning from America, Han Seungyeon graduated from a high school in Korea through a G.E.D and after studying hard in 2008 was accepted at Kyunghee University for Theater and Drama. SNSD's Sooyoung (19) and Hyoyeon (20) studied overseas during their middle school days separately in Japan and China. SNSD's entertainment company SM Entertainment revealed "Sooyoung studied in Japan and Hyoyeon studied in China for over 1 year" and "The two went overseas to study during middle school and after living there has become very familiar to the language." Then why are the popular girl groups these days have members from overseas as if it's a given? About the topic, entertainment officials say "It is because the members provide multiple benefits to the team and selling overseas." There is also the positive factor that the foreign members could naturally digest the English raps to songs when looking at the team internally. One entertainment official said '' Within girl groups, the members from oversea are fluent in English" and "These days, girl groups' songs having English raps are common, its comfortable for the foreign members who are used to English and could express it better, making it a positive point." Wonder Girls' rapper Yoobin and Jewerly's Ha Juyeon is an exception. In general, during oversea activities, the members give a lot of help to the team. Of course in Asia and America, when promoting, the members who are comfortable with English, Japanese and Chinese are responsible for the role of introducing themselves to fans and local media members. SM Entertainment informed "When SNSD met with fans from China and Japan, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung who are used to the culture are the one who mainly interact with the fans" and explained that "In English interviews, Tiffany and Jessica are a big help." Translations by juhyun ♥@ soshified.com/forums or monica kim@ karaholic.com/forums Article by Reporter GilHyesung @ Starnews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jihaebutt Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 yeah haha i noticed this, too. it's cool. but i think it's just a coincidence lmao. the fact that SY or nicole studied in the states doesn't make me love them any more than Gyul or Hara or Jing. Except it's really cool to see your favorite idol speak that language that you're most fluent in, lmao. (: thanks monica! (: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chupachups Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 haha yea, it's a trend i guess? not just girl groups, boy groups have foreigners too. but i think these groups are mostly from SM & JYP? lol. they have a lot of Korean American as their trainees/artists. lol thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SushiRiceChopstix Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 i'm happy they mentioned both nicole and seungyeon! i wonder why seungyeon didn't speak english in that one interview... but anyways, thanks for translating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mae Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 hmm might not be a coincidence.. maybe auditions from people that speak English would especially be looked at.. but i think foreigners do help like they say... some people relate more to those members thus then gaining in interest into the group it's kinda funny how bigger of a deal they make Seungyeon's out to be.. but Nicole..eh she went to school in the U.S. done lol... probably b/c you can already tell with Nicole and SeungYeon it's much more of a surprise thanks for translating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyang Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 i guess it's common nowdays since many entertainment holds global auditions. this reminds me of the thread at soompi about the rappers from each group. they all lived/grew up or study in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikoqi Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 I suppose it's all for appealing to a wider audience? Because I think it really works in that sense. Thanks for the translations~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eseul Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 probably they want people who can rap in english well. Why go through the trouble to teach someone english when you can go find one that knows how to speak both naturally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinggg Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 pretty awesome...thank you monica!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenpea Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 oh dang... i did notice there are alot of foreigners in certain group^0^ I find that okay lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godric29 Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Its nice having a member who is capable of speaking another language besides Korean...XD And they sure are well accepted ^^ Its nice to see them mentioned there...lol Thank you for sharing and the translations Monica ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimmie Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 that`s funny how the writer tries to add seungyeon in and then spend that many lines just to explain it is not really as it turned out XD LOL yub it`s the trend as many entertainments tend to aim at overseas market. Yahhh reading this i cannot calm myself but so exicted to imagine one day KARA visits USA & Nicole could be the group`s speaker XDDD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solin Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) It's so true that there is a lot of members who come from oversea or has spent some time abroad. But I'm pretty sure It's more a coincidence than a trend. SM or JYP for exemple with their global auditions favorise the number of trainees who are from oversea. But I think It's really cool because as the article said It's always better to have a member who can speak and represent the group in front of the media abroad. Edited February 17, 2009 by Solin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aki Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Creating a world-wide appeal to, well, appeal to a wider general audience. It's just marketing. Seungyeon should speak English too ^__^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damyoungji Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 I have to agree with the article about how knowing more languages is an advantage and that by living in another country for a certain amount of time, a member of a group can relate better to the fans since they know more about their culture and lifestyle. Another reason why popular or not as popular bands have fans from all across the world is because there are many others out there who likes the differences. The entertainment from every country is different and when we happen to "click" with the music genre, television humor and such, it attracts people to start liking other form of medias from other countries. This is exactly one of the biggest reasons why the internet is so important to everyone since it makes people more naive and aware of the world, rather than stick to what they know about their culture and country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xia sheng han Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 well, having someone in a group that knows English is a really big factor... since there are a lot of overseas fans out there... like us!^^ and I think they know that considering they're in Hallyu (did I spelled it correctly?)... and knowing other language would be a big help if they want to expand...^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KARAokeing Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 it's not just limited in the music industry. every time you apply to a job, bilingualism is a huge, huge asset. (that, and people won't be able to talk behind your back if you understand their language!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QiannKoreanFreak Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 LOL. This is so true! xP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kara_Hyori Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 when there are foreigners in a group, they have an advantage esp. when the members are fluent in English.... it is the universal language and I think when they go outside Korea, it will not be too hard for them to communicate... it would be awesome too if you know more than 2 languages... anyways, thanks for sharing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SML Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Well I think the majority of Korean groups in general have foreigners. Most of who come from America. There are many Koreans and non-Koreans who want to make a debut in Korea kekeke. Nicole was lucky to be chosen by DSP Thanks for sharing~! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sadiex3 Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 Personally i don't think being a foreigner has significance in a group. Sure, they are able to speak english, chinese or any other language and that can attract certain fans or whatever. But in the end it all comes down to their singing and talent. It's just the fact that all these companies are spreading their search for great potential in the music industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbigbang Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 Oh, yay!!! Wait, I'm not sure if I already asked this, but did Jewelry's rapper ever live in America? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GearsOfDeath Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 I so agree with that... Maybe culture exchange... Other member can learn new language xD Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanoo Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 Of course it's supposed to appeal a wider audience. Especially the international fans. I think recruted foreigners is good for the foreigner's, the band's and then the company's image. Because when the band makes its debut, people are often impressed by how fast he/she learnt the language. So : more fans ! The sad thing is : why only America or other parts of Asia? I've never heard about a European debuting in Korea =_= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akira jung solon Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 I noticed also. Every group even have foreigner to promote it. It's a big help. :3 It also give a cute image.^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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