Recently, attention has once again focused on NewJeans' Minji.
As their fame continues to rise, the group, including Minji, has been under the microscope, particularly following her comments about never having eaten Kalguksu. This led to discussions among netizens about her intentions and whether she was attempting to craft a certain image.
In addition, there has been curiosity about Minji's comfort with the English language.
A conversation started among netizens, with one sharing, "I've noticed she often has grammar mistakes in English. After seeing a comment about it, it made me curious. Does she continue to use English despite the errors on her own accord, or is it encouraged by her agency? Or perhaps she envies Korean Americans?"
The netizen then shared some comments left on Minji's interview, where she uses Korean and English back and forth.
These comments pointed out, "Um, when you listen to Minji's English, she has good pronunciation and sounds correct but it's all wrong. Even when you watch this video 'There was starting (???) to looking (???) like... (X) -> (I saw people on the bus), and they looked at me and started whispering like... I was even wearing headphone (X) -> headphone (o). It doesn't sound like she's using English because she's comfortable with English. Rather, she knows perfect Korean grammar and she uses English that doesn't make sense. I thought the two members from Australia might find hearing her English to be annoying. I wonder what's the reason she mixes in 'broken English' when she talks," "Also, the English Minji uses makes no sense and you can't understand what she's saying. She can use full Korean," and "Even Korean Americans don't talk like that. They try to speak in Korean as much as they can but then for words that they get mixed up (especially words like 'Seriously' or 'certainly' which are vague to translate into Korean), they use English words in between phrases. They don't begin using Korean and they speak the next sentence in English randomly like that. This is the first time that I've seen anyone do that. If you don't get what I'm saying, go watch Kang Joo Eun on Radio Star, Ken Rhee, or Jessi."
Other netizens commented, "Do you guys think I don't know English???" "Honestly, I skip over the parts where Minji speaks English because it's cringe," "It's true. When Minji tries to speak English, it feels forced and awkward. It doesn't come across as natural. It's like she's trying too hard to pretend to be Korean American or to seem hip. It feels like she's forcing English to come out. But I think I understand how she feels. I remember admiring English expressions a lot when I was a teenager, so when I see Minji struggling, I can't help but feel a bit sympathetic. It's not like I dislike her or anything, it's just a little cringe-worthy," "This is like pretending not to know something even when you do." and "But rather than staying silent or only speaking Korean, I think continuously trying to speak English, even if it's wrong, would help improve one's skills. Even if the grammar or sentences are incorrect, foreign members might provide feedback or the company might offer additional English education. Even with incorrect grammar, one can generally understand the meaning, just like how we can roughly understand when foreigners speak Korean poorly."