TIFU by teaching my son a slur through K-pop

Submitted by Silver_Profession_44 t3_zvwpk3 in tifu

Eveyday while cooking I listen to a playlist I made a long time ago. I like the feeling of nostalgia while cooking.

My son (5) likes to help with certain dishes and thus listens to the music aswell.

One of the songs is "2NE1 - I am the best". I liked this song when it came out and still listen to it. I never thought that listen to korean music would get me in an uncomfortable situation.

At the beginning of the song they repeat "I am the best" four times, but in korean (naega jeil jal naga). Never thought anything of it until my son wanted to sing along. I stopped the music and he still sang that part. I asked him to repeat that. The way he sings the first word it sounds like the N-slur in german! He told me he liked that song and I hear him sing that part often.

I try to correct him, but it still sounds like the slur.

Safe to say I wont listen to that song when hes around anymore

TL;DR Listened to the song "2NE1 - I am the best" daily. My son tried to sing along and sings the first word like the N-Slur in german.

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Comments

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Auroraburst t1_j1rpk24 wrote

If he already sings it you may as well keep listening. If he doesn't hear it occasionally he'll keep mispronouncing it.

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DplusQ t1_j1s1yqz wrote

There's a Kpop song called "I belong to you" with mblaq.

It says "negan I belong to you" meaning "to me I belong to you".

People thought it was racist.

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KrystalAthena t1_j1sil12 wrote

Well, the context is important. In Korean, it's a word.

I don't think you really taught him the actual slur so long as he knows how to use the lyrics in the correct context

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InfiniteCalendar1 t1_j1tkh6n wrote

Exactly the word means “you” or is a way of referring to oneself in Korean, it’s not a slur at all. It’s important to separate Korean from other languages when listening to kpop. Yes some of the songs are a mix of Korean and English, but it’s important to make this distinction.

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Viskozki t1_j1zooiu wrote

And it's important to realize the world doesn't stop with them and their son an offended child or school nun isn't necessarily going to make this distinction. They're right to try and get ahead of it before something harmless becomes an issue through misunderstanding.

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strawberrimihlk t1_j1shnc1 wrote

Ofc it’ll sound like the slur, “I” in Korean sounds like the n-word and is spelled similar

Idk what you can do about that now tho he loves the song

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thrwaway9932 t1_j1u0mr5 wrote

With all the other words he's singing together, surely people would realize it's not German.

I wouldn't worry about it, and I'd keep listening. Words are not bad by themselves but become malicious when used with malicious intent.

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Silver_Profession_44 OP t1_j1u53tg wrote

My son likes to "invent" new words and use them on a daily basis. My biggest concern is that he sings that in his catholic kindergarden and the teachers scold him without talking to me. I guess I will be upfront about that when kindergarden starts again

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InfiniteCalendar1 t1_j1tkci2 wrote

Just teach your son to separate Korean from other languages. The word meaning “you” or “oneself” in Korean sounds like the n-word but it’s not and the two shouldn’t be correlated.

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throwawayplshelp09 t1_j1utg34 wrote

There's nothing wrong with it, it's Korean not English. If people get offended tell them its Korean.

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Affectionate-Lime-54 t1_j1vm4ty wrote

lmfaooo in chinese “that” is “na ge” pronounced very similarly to the n-word. every time i’d hear it in school i’d whip around to whoop some ass and just see a couple chinese kids having a conversation instead.

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chedduhbahb t1_j1v9k4z wrote

That’s what you get for listening to k pop

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KatKaneki t1_j1voojz wrote

That’s on you for listening to k pop

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AvailableBegun t1_j1tn3h2 wrote

This why I don't read kpop lyrics

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