Hyelim of disbanded girl group Wonder Girls showed off her 22-month-old son, who is able to understand and speak both Korean and English.
On January 9 episode of KBS' television show 'The Return of Superman', Hyelim, her husband taekwondo player Shin Min-chul and their baby boy Si-woo visited entertainer Jasson's home, where Jasson and his 16-month-old son Jun-beom were waiting for them.
While the five of them spent time together, Jasson noticed that Si-woo was bilingual.
When Jasson asked Si-woo things in Korean, he gave answers in Korean, and when Hyelim spoke to him in English, he responded in English.
Upon discovering that Si-woo was a bilingual baby who could easily switch between the two languages, Jasson gasped in shock.
Jasson said to Hyelim, "Your son is a genius! How is he perfectly bilingual already?"
Shyly smiling, Hyelim responded, "Well, I tried to speak to him in English whenever I can."
At first though, Hyelim explained that she constantly questioned herself whether that was okay for her son.
She stated, "Back in the day, I wasn't so sure about speaking to him in a language other than Korean. I used to worry a lot when I spoke to him in English. I kept asking myself, 'What if he doesn't speak any language fluently?'"
She continued, "So, I went to ask an expert about it, and I was told there that now was the perfect time to speak to them in different languages, because they can pick them up very easily. After hearing that, I was like, 'Okay then. In that case, I'm going to go for it. I'm just going to continue doing what I've been doing!'"
Hyelim joined Wonder Girls in 2010 and was active until 2017, when the group disbanded.
In 2020, Hyelim and taekwondo player Shin Min-chul tied the knot after their 7-year relationship; their son was born in February 2022.
Currently, she works as a translator and interpreter; she can speak Korean, English, Mandarin and Cantonese fluently.
(Credit= KBS The Return of Superman)