Is there any credence to the theory of blood memory?

Question

Okay, so I'm half black and half native american. I have japanese bloodlines.

I listen to a lot of music...mainly gospel, R&B, native american, and Asian pop music.

I listen to K-Pop (Korean pop music), and I often have to listen to songs over and over again to pronounce the words correctly.

However, when I listen to J-Pop (Japanese pop music), I can look @ the lyrics and sing along with the person almost perfectly.

For statistics, I can generally pronounce 30% of Korean words correctly the first time, and for Japanese words, generally >75% correct the first time.

Is blood memory a whacked theory? Can these occurrences be attributed to more meritable explanations? I really don't think it's a coincidence.

All feedback of substance requested.

Answer 1

I don't have a scientific response, but I will share some of my personal experience. I was not raised bilingual (English/ Spanish), but I picked up Spanish extremely quickly once I began taking it as an elective in high school. I would only have to hear a phrase, word, or expression once, find out the meaning, and then be able to implement it's use into my Spanish vocabulary, and in turn, in conversations with those known to me. I have had friends, family, church members and co-workers all marvel and comment about how fluent I am and how diverse and ample my range of Spanish vocabulary is. The ability to so quickly pick up the language all came very naturally to me and it is somewhat unusual, considering that my Mother and both my Grandmothers only taught me a few simple words (like the names for animals) when I was little. Rarely was Spanish spoken in my home, because my Father only spoke English.

I do think that "blood memory" could have something to do with the fact that I was able to not only pick up the language, but nuances, cultural idiosyncrasies, etc. all without any "help" that most non-Latins/ non-Hispanics would need. In fact, when I began learning Spanish, it was as if someone had turned on an internal switch that I did not even know I had. I felt happy, yet sort of cheated that I was raised without the benefit of being able to communicate and interact with others in Spanish sooner. I do well with picking up the pronunciation of other languages also.

My cultural/ racial background is mixed and I believe that it all plays a part in me being who I am today, with all the traits, strong points, interests, weaknesses, tendencies, etc.

I encourage you to pursue studying Korean and Japanese. Since you have an "ear" for pronunciation, the rest will come more easily to you, than it would for others.

Answer 2

Japanese is easier to pronounce (for English speakers) than Korean. I don't know much of blood theory but it probably doesn't actually have to do with blood but rather inherited genes found on certain ethnicities .