Lisa of BLACKPINK Reveals Why She Learned to Speak 4 Non-Native Languages: ‘I Had to Survive’

BLACKPINK’s Lisa learned to speak different languages out of necessity.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the “Rockstar” performer, 27, opened up about growing up in Thailand and later learning to speak Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese in addition to her native language.

“I mean, I don’t know that I have gotten so good!” exclaimed Lisa regarding her linguistic skills. “I don’t think I have the talent for languages, but in Korea, I had to live, so I had to learn.”

The star moved to South Korea as a young teenager to pursue music, and she’s since released music in Korean, English and Japanese as both a member of BLACKPINK (alongside Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo) and a solo artist.

“I had to survive, I guess,” Lisa told the outlet of why she became multilingual. “It was just common sense, like to get what I want, I had to learn and try to speak with local people, and I was spending more and more time on that.”

Learning Korean was also useful because she watches “a lot of K-dramas.”

“Right now, I’m watching one on Netflix called Love Next Door. I just love the combination of the guy character and the girl character—they start as friends! Like, they are friends for 30 years,” said Lisa of the TV series.

“Those things feel so real,” she added. “[K-dramas are] nothing too serious, so when I need to try to calm myself down, I watch them, and it really helps.”

Lisa recently returned to Thailand to film season 3 of The White Lotus, in which she stars as Thidapon Sornsin. While in the country, she was surprised the rest of the cast didn’t need much guidance.

“I didn’t give them any advice, because they actually introduced me to some places! They’re like, ‘Oh, I went there yesterday, and it’s really good, you should go.’ It was kind of odd, but it was funny,” she said.

“I’m just happy that they enjoyed Thailand, you know, enjoyed Thai food, enjoyed the culture, and enjoyed the weather because it’s very hot there,” she reflected. “The crew and the rest of the team started to speak Thai a bit, and it just impressed me so much.”

During production, Lisa also had a frequent visitor. “My mom came to stay a few times, and I could have Thai food as much as I wanted,” she recalled.

“It was so nice, and I have never spent that much time in Thailand after I left. I felt like I was home, and I got a lot of energy from that trip as well,” she added.