SAKURA Thanks IZ*ONE Members for Helping Her with Korean When She Could Not Speak It at All

Disbanded K-pop project girl group IZ*ONE's member SAKURA expressed gratitude to the members of IZ*ONE for helping her with Korean when she could not speak at all. 

On April 26, one YouTube channel revealed a video of SAKURA talking to some children online. 

In this video, SAKURA shared the struggles that she had as a non-Korean living and working in Korea. 

SAKURA especially talked about the time when she first came to Korea, "It's been about four years since I came to Korea. When I first came here, I couldn't speak Korean at all. I could only say 'hi' and 'thank you'. Life wasn't easy."
She resumed, "As I had to make debut right away, I had no chance to learn Korean in a classroom environment; I had to learn it by being around Korean people. I had no idea what the lyrics meant, how to read them, what my instructors told me to do and more." 

She continued, "When I was invited to be on a television show, I would have to read the hosts and other guests' facial expressions. When they laughed, I just laughed too, without knowing why they laughed."

"I was suddenly away from my parents, and all the girls who were training with me were better than me in every way. Everything was so tough for me.", the Japanese K-pop star stated.  
Then, SAKURA revealed that she was able to go through the difficult time all thanks to her fellow IZ*ONE members. 

SAKURA commented, "Some of my fellow group members were able to speak some Japanese, so they helped me a lot. They translated Korean to Japanese and Japanese to Korean for me. I still feel grateful for what they did for me then." 

She went on, "If it wasn't for them, I would probably be in Japan right now. The help they gave me may seem little to them, but it felt enormous to me. I still feel so thankful for their help, and I would never be able to forget that. It'll remain in my heart forever." 

She smiled and told the children, "So, if you ever get to meet a friend who is struggling with the language, help them, okay?" 
 
Before SAKURA joined Mnet's survival audition show 'Produce 48' in 2018, she had already been active in the Japanese music industry for years. 

As SAKURA gained a great number of votes in 'Produce 48', she made debut as a member of project girl group IZ*ONE that debuted in October 2018 and disbanded in April 2021. 

Following the disbandment, SAKURA joined management agency SOURCE MUSIC. 

She is set to make debut as a member of upcoming 6-member girl group LE SSERAFIM on May 2. 

(Credit= 'odg' YouTube, Mnet Produce 48, 'official.izone' Facebook)

(SBS Star)