[SBS TV News] 11st January 2006

 

[Yonhap News] 10th January 2006
BoA Makes It Into Textbooks

She appears in a unit titled “Making an International Star” that recounts how she was spotted when she accompanied her older brother to an audition, and recalls how she honed her skills with English, Japanese and Choreography classes before eventually being named Asia's Most Influential Artist by MTV.

The textbook targets English-language learners across the globe.

Meanwhile, under the subtitle “Becoming a World-Famous Violinist,” the unit also pays tribute to Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang, who started to play the violin at the age of three and made a name for herself in the music world at a tender age.

▲ The success stories of K-pop singer BoA and violinist Sarah Chang are featured in the English language learning series “Totally True” published by Oxford University Press./Yonhap

At 13, the Korean pop singer BoA made her first CD. It was immediately popular. In 2004, four years later, she won MTV’s “Most Influential Asian Artist” award .

How did BoA become a star so fast? The people at a Korean recording studio wanted a future girl star. They looked everywhere. When BoA’s older brother went to the studio and sang for them, they asked, “Do you have a younger sister?”

The answer to their question was BoA. She was only 11, but she sang and danced beautifully. The people at the studio were excited and quickly told her parents about their plan. BoA’s parents were against it. They wanted their daughter to study, not sing. But at last they agreed.

The studio immediately gave BoA Japanese and English lessons. (An international star needs languages!) Later she got dance and music lessons.

Now BoA performs for huge crowds in Asia and is ready to conquer the world.