JJH really has a different appeal compared to other actresses. She's not that drop-dead gorgeous, but she's got this aura that makes me like her. And she's a pretty good actress too. I hope she makes it far in hollywood. I hope so.

did she grow up in korea?
i was actually impressed when i saw a clip of her being interviewed in english. she's nowhere as fluent as a native speaker but her pronounciation is really good.
if i have to compare, she is soo much better than rain, and boa, etc.

actually, this had been on my mind already. i like snsd/ girls' generation so i watch some of their videos. i've actually watched some of the non-native english speakers speak english and there's also a huge difference. for example, seo hyun speaks english more like jessica (and jun ji hyun). she has good pronounciation and the korean accent is almost non-existent. on the other hand yu ri and soo young have poor pronounciation and their korean accent is very obvious. all of them grew up in korea and was in the same educational system so i wonder why the big difference. at the moment, the only way i can explain it is because seo hyun shares a room with tiffany so her exposure to the english language helped her. but somehow that explanation falls short.

can anyone explain this? jun ji hyun, boa and rain all studied english. but how come jun ji hyun has managed to learn it well while boa and rain are still struggling with it? jun ji hyun managed to do away with her korean accent when speaking english (more or less) but boa and rain still has that accent? the same way that seo hyun, yu ri, and soo young are all exposed to english (because tiffany and jessica are their housemates) but seo hyun managed to do away with her accent but the other two didnt?

um, excuse me? "not drop dead gorgeous" ?!?!!
did you NOT see those pictures above?
she is a GODDESSSS

i'm not discounting the others' effort in learning and mastering the english language. i'm just really curious and i really hope a language specialist can offer some answers.

for someone who is really interested in learning languages, insights on how to learn languages would be very much appreciated.

hmmm...her hair in the cover (where she's wearing white top) is really weird..it kinda seems like she got bad split end problem! haha! the tips are brown and kinda experiencing breakage...is it just lighting? or highlights that lasted til the tips of her hair?! haha!

but overall her hair doesn't look as shiny as before..she's still pretty and looks very young..

hope she'll land more hollywood movies after blood!

#3, wow, sorry. Did you read my whole comment? I was saying, for me, as a personal opinion, she's not that pretty (when you look at her face the first time), BUT, she has this different aura and appeal that makes her (as you say), a goddess.

#2 christine,
I grew up in the Philippines my whole life, but we have english as a second language (more like our mother tongue and english as both our first languages). We study english since preschool, and everyone speaks english.

I think you're talking about a non-english speaker's pronunciation, am I right? I think it depends on a person if their tongues are (how do I say this) soft enough to make english sound as normal as possible. Sure, for a person who would grow up in an english-speaking country but with a different heritage, they would sound and speak english perfectly without their origin's accent. But, for a person who speaks both languages (like a Filipino), sometimes, they still have that 'Filipino accent' when you speak english. And I'm talking about a person who has studied english since preschool. Unless, a person lives in Canada (for example) for years, then they would be able to adapt the country's accent.

It's not really a person's fault if they speak english with his own accent (meaning his ethnicity), it just takes time to develop it (like Rain, maybe). While some are just lucky enough to be able to speak english without their accent.

Schools are a big influence, too, especially if they teach them english in their early years. Like, if a school implements a 'Speak English' campaign, or the English departments would have programs like class speeches, declamations and others, students would be able to hone their english and improve their skills.

I hope this helped a bit, because this is just what I think growing up in a Southeast asian country and having english as a second language.

To Christine:

I think a lot of it might also have to do with different abilities to learn a language. Just think about your peers learning secondary languages in middle/high school. Even though everyone goes through the same curriculum, not everybody has the same ability to get the pronunciation, grammar, or comprehension of the language down pat.

i saw these pictures and read about this on another site long time ago..this is old news. Why r u so behind on this??

Gosh, it feels like ages since i saw her in anything, even a CF. I'd nearly forgotten about her. She is playing a 16 yr old? How old is she currently?

JB, I apologize for my post (#s 1 and 6)if I have offended you (and made you crankier). Is there any other way that you can delete them? (and this too, if you find it worthless)

But I gotta say for #9 though, that was harsh. This is her blog, not yours. She can post anything no matter how old it is.

@Christing: I guess everyone is different ^^ I have a friend learning French whose really doing well, but when I see it I have such a hard time pronouncing. Yet Korean is much easier for me, and she tells me that Korean is just so hard and confusing XD

She was born in 81, so I guess she's 28 (29 Korean age I suppose) and acting nearly half her age. She looks very natural look that's pretty ^^

@9: I never saw these and I'm happy Javabeans posted them ^o^

@Christine,

Like rora and Grace mentioned above, I think it really has a lot to do with each individual's inborn ability. Some people are just more gifted linguistically than others, and it isn't necessarily the amount of time they have spent on the language, although that helps tremendously.

There are also a lot of other reasons for someone to speak a foreign language well, such as early exposure. I once read in a report that the best age to learn a foreign language is from 10-14. I think having good teachers and being interested in a certain language are also important.

Another thing, which I'm sure many of you have noticed, is how a person's mother tongue affects their pronunciation and/or ability to learn another language, because of the pronunciation patterns (yeah... can't remember the professional term for that).

@hmmm... seriously, even if you read it somewhere else, there's no need for you to be posting a comment like that. JB posts anything she wants whenever she wants on HER blog.

ANYWAY, i hope that JJH gets more exposure internationally :) she's a pretty good actress and she's gorgeous <3

her english is pretty good, but i hope she gets more practice and exposure so she loses her korean accent a little more hehe and i REFUSE to call her gianna jun. that's just....weird. lol

@ 14 Biscuit, thanks for the age info. I just checked out some of the movie pics. Yeah, she looks fine even playing half her age. (Can't say that for many actresses pushing 30)

I wish she didn't have to change her name though. I know it's difficult for Asian actors to break into Hollywood but I doubt a name change greatly facilitates that process. Is it really necessary? Zhang Ziyi kept hers.

WOW! She's so pretty and to be able to still play a highschool student at her age. That's pretty awesome huh! I haven't seen any of her movies so i'm looking forward to seeing this one though...question......is this movie part of a series? would i ruin it by watching this one first? hmmmm...take my chances shall i?! hehehe...

Anyways,

@2, Christine, i don't know anything at all about languages or learning them but (to put in my 2 cents....) i have always felt that when it comes to languages people start out with different abilities and some just.....how shall i say it.....have a naturally ability for learning new languages (and then ofcourse comes the amount of time, effort and exposure that goes into the learning). For instance, Rain i don't think has a naturally ability for learning languages where as Se7en i think does. Ok, so that comment probably doesn't help but...interesting topic to consider......am currently thinking of taking up a language myself. My company has recently had a lot to do with a new Japanese shareholder....am thinking Japanese might be one to consider.......though i hear its quite hard to learn. oh well......'fightin!'

If she does continue her career in Hollywood I really hope she'll choose wisely and refuse to do any stereotypical roles.

A good explanation to why some have better english pronunciation then others is how they were raised and how they learned it.

The problem with many foreign countries is they get people to teach english when they have very little english experience. If your teacher has a bad accent and won't correct you on yours, you learn it with the accent. I take spanish and every year my pronunciation changes because of my teachers. One of my teachers never corrected me and I had to relearn have of my pronunciation the next year.

I find that being a very large reason why many japanese cannot speak very good english. I heard about their english systems and they are not very good. The teachers hardly know how to speak english. (my friend was a foreign exchange student for a year and the teachers were always asking her for pronunciation help)

Also practice makes perfect :)

Jeon Ji Hyun looks lovely in these pics. I'm waiting for Blood and hope it'll be good!

I kinda get what rora is saying, tho I'm going to amend what she stated.

JJH doesn't have near-perfect features like a Song Hye Kyo, Kim Tae Hee or Shin Min Hee and can look a little weird at certain angles, but she, nonetheless, is a gorgeous girl (having near perfect facial symmetry, as well as eyes/brows and lips that few women can match).

What makes JJH even more appealing is her charisma/"it" factor that only a few other Korean actresses have.

As for her having better English skills than Rain, etc. - JJH may very well be more talented at languages, but she also spent a few months in the States prior to filming "Blood" in order to improve her English (in the 2007 commercials for Samsung Anycall, JJH spoke English w/ a Korean accent which isn't as pronounced now; in the same commercial, Go Ara impressively spoke English w/ hardly a hint of the Korean accent).

it is written . .. I will be watching her movie.. there is no other choice

Regarding the accents, I heard that those who are musically-inclined are better off when speaking another language coz they say that speaking is similar to singing (tones & stuff). But strangely, this does not hold true for Rain...or Boa...

In any case, thanks for this update, dramabeans!
I am looking forward to JJH's movie ^^;

I really like Jeon Ji Hyun - I see her as extremely hard-working. She draws you in in sort of a dark, solid way. As for her American name for her debut, I've come around to it. Gianna is an Italian name, isn't it? I suddenly have this image of JJH interacting with the ancient, royal, Italian vampires. Blame it on the vampire theme going around plus Twilight craze).

About her accent - the accent I heard in the previews is perfect. It's not the cringe-type of Asian accent, but the somewhat softened accent that gives the character it's Asian voice. Does anyone know what I mean by this? Like when you watch a French movie, but the dialogue is in English. You hear that French accent that sets the whole feel of the movie.... The little bit of accent JJH retains is perfect for her role as Saya.