Before you read on, you might want to watch this first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekJ-ldOD0TQ . It's some American YouTuber's including Ryan Higa reaction to K-Pop.
At first I didn't get what they were trying to say but after some consideration, I do agree with what they say. K-Pop is slowly expanding globally and I think they are trying a bit too hard to please fan's all over the world. I didn't notice this before because I'm so used to it and because i don't mind.
The problem? They like to add random English words into their mostly korean songs. Now most of their songs has english titles to be convenient to people who doesn't speak korean but in their songs, they'll add in some english and to some people, it's unnecessary. One of the youtubers was confused because he understand some of the english words but mostly, they don't get what they're singing. I think that they should stay true to their culture and if they want to sing a song in korean then don't add any english words into it. If they want to do it, then sing the entire song in english. I came up with this conclusion after i heard one mandarin songs with a mix of korean in it. And i was seriously thinking like, "Whut? Is this Korean song or Mandarin Song".
In the video, the youtubers were scrutinizing their songs because they don't get what they are talking about. For example, Girls Generation's "I got a boy". One of them heard, "let me introduce myself" then the rest is continued in korean and he was saying what are they saying. Then there's "I got a boy---" continued by korean again. They heard "I got a boy in my chin" because they korean words sounded like that. So in a way, i understand their frustration. It IS irritating.
For me, i've learn a little korean through drama's and reality show. When i listen to K-pop songs, I have to switch my attention at times. I had to focus on what they are saying in Korean at first and when they throw in English, I have to change my attention to understanding them in English and it's a tedious task after some time. I give up mostly. Since I've been studying Cognitive Science recently, I understand that this situation can be linked to Stroop effect. You can google it if you want to know what it is.
Because K-pop is SO popular these days especially among Asia and South East Asia, their demands grow. It seems to me that every year, at least few idol girl/boy groups are debuting. I lost track of them. They are mushrooming at an alarming rate , they are starting to lose their uniqueness. All of them looks exactly the same, with the same hair style, same fashion, same face and they even sound the same. And the songs they produce now are mostly mixed with some english words- i don't wanna exaggerate but i think ALL of the songs has at least one English word in it. It might be due to demand or it might be because they want to show of they know at least some english.
As for K-pop fashion, I have no comment. They want to be unique and eccentric, that's fine with me as long as they don't overdo it. They might have to reconsider their songs though. If they are proud of their culture, then show it in their songs. I think K-pop can attract global attention even without trying to put in english words in their songs. Though I do agree that by doing that, they will improve their english but it's just this little bit. They should learn proper english sentences if they want to communicate with the world. I find it appalling and amusing at the same time when the celebrities try to construct sentences in english while talking to foreigners. They really should put in some effort in that.
What they are doing isn't wrong. I am a K-pop fan and I love their language, even sometimes i would blurt out a korean word when talking. I'm not trying to be judgmental cuz i learnt 3 languages since young and I am still learning korean language. I feel emphatic towards those who doesn't get what they are singing about.
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