It really impresses me how well idols can learn foreign songs (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

I have trouble learning lyrics to songs I speak the language of, let alone ones for whom I don’t know the language. I could never even sort of learn the words, let alone do that and pronounce them right It feels like magic. And I know idols aren’t the only ones who do this by any means, I just see them do that more because I listen to kpop mostly

 

[velvet]

There's this cover of sabor a mi by a few members of exo and, all of them did great, but d.o just has a really good tongue, his accent in any foreign language seems to be so smooth and natural.

 

[ChiaraStar169]

well, aren't foreign languages required in the Korean curriculum? maybe that's why they know a lot of other languages?

 

[Ahsoka]

There's this cover of sabor a mi by a few members of exo and, all of them did great, but d.o just has a really good tongue, his accent in any foreign language seems to be so smooth and natural.

It’s interesting too because DO wasn’t one of the members who learned languages fairly young right? Since people who do tend to have an easier time pronouncing more sounds because of the exposure, but I’ve never heard of him speaking many languages from youth. Ofc I expect his singing background helped too because of the importance of learning to make varied sounds, but it’s still pretty remarkable.

 

[Ahsoka]

well, aren't foreign languages required in the Korean curriculum? maybe that's why they know a lot of other languages?

English oftentimes is, but idols (and singers in general) also sing in languages they never learned to speak at all. My sister for example sang songs in Italian (she knows Spanish but not Italian), Latin, Latvian, French, Estonian, and more. She absolutely doesn’t speak those languages and I don’t think she actually necessarily even always knew the translations, so it’s different than learning a language in the traditional sense. She wouldn’t be able to construct a single sentence in those languages other than what’s in the songs she sang.

 

[ChiaraStar169]

English oftentimes is, but idols (and singers in general) also sing in languages they never learned to speak at all. My sister for example sang songs in Italian (she knows Spanish but not Italian), Latin, Latvian, French, Estonian, and more. She absolutely doesn’t speak those languages and I don’t think she actually necessarily even always knew the translations, so it’s different than learning a language in the traditional sense. She wouldn’t be able to construct a single sentence in those languages other than what’s in the songs she sang.

oh, yeah... like I know the Spanish lyrics to Feliz Navidad, but I wouldn't be able to use, say, "prospero" in a sentence lol

 

[catonkatonk]

Especially when it's foreign language versions of Korean songs. How do they not get them mixed up and sing the wrong language by accident??

 

[Ahsoka]

Especially when it's foreign language versions of Korean songs. How do they not get them mixed up and sing the wrong language by accident??

That’s very true. I have seen it happen which is understandable, but the fact that it doesn’t happen more is impressive. I guess maybe context can help or something since it can influence the language someone defaults to (for bilingual people) but it seems harder than just bilingual people picking a language to speak

 

[Selfmate]

I think it's because it's their job and they have dedicated language experts to assist them with it

 

[velvet]

It’s interesting too because DO wasn’t one of the members who learned languages fairly young right? Since people who do tend to have an easier time pronouncing more sounds because of the exposure, but I’ve never heard of him speaking many languages from youth. Ofc I expect his singing background helped too because of the importance of learning to make varied sounds, but it’s still pretty remarkable.

I assume it's from his singing background but nevertheless he's great in any language he sings

 

[RandAlThor]

I have trouble learning lyrics to songs I speak the language of, let alone ones for whom I don’t know the language. I could never even sort of learn the words, let alone do that and pronounce them right It feels like magic. And I know idols aren’t the only ones who do this by any means, I just see them do that more because I listen to kpop mostly

The survival shows are crazy for this.

 

[Ahsoka]

I think it's because it's their job and they have dedicated language experts to assist them with it

I’m sure they do, but it’s still impressive. Though with the example I gave above to someone, my sister learned some songs in other languages for her choir also and I’m not positive that a college choir casually had Latvians language specialists lying around, though I expect they had some tutoring in the pronunciation. On a professional level like for idols I expect that they had some help at least, but I still find it impressive that they manage, given that many people who properly learn a language for years can still struggle with pronunciation.

 

[Selfmate]

I’m sure they do, but it’s still impressive. Though with the example I gave above to someone, my sister learned some songs in other languages for her choir also and I’m not positive that a college choir casually had Latvians language specialists lying around, though I expect they had some tutoring in the pronunciation. On a professional level like for idols I expect that they had some help at least, but I still find it impressive that they manage, given that many people who properly learn a language for years can still struggle with pronunciation.

I think it's also the fact that they are young and being young means languages still comes relatively easily

 

[Ahsoka]

I think it's also the fact that they are young and being young means languages still comes relatively easily

Languages pronunciation comes pretty easily to little kids, not people in their late teens and older. If you try to learn really good pronunciation after around 12 years old you’re going to really struggle to achieve a native level accent. My parents are one example. In their very early 20s they moved to the US and both very clearly have accents to this day, though they know the grammar and vocab and those areas just fine.