Seventeen's Seungkwan expresses frustration after American barista mistook his coffee order, asks for pronunciation help
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Posted by Susan-Han 3 hours ago 7,442
During a Weverse Live on October 15 PST, Seventeen's Seungkwan opened up to fans about a frustrating experience in the United States.
Describing his process of ordering coffee at an American cafe, Seungkwan said, "I know that what I need to remember is 'Can I get a...' and then the drink name. So I know that I need to say, 'Can I get a one iced americano?', because I've been to the United States many times now."
He continued, "So usually, if I say, 'Can I get a one iced americano?', then they will understand me. But this time, when I came to the U.S, I went to the cafe twice, and both times, they didn't understand me! They just went, 'hmm?', and it really put me on the spot."
The idol then asked fans, "If I say, 'Can I get a one iced americano?', is my pronunciation that bad? Check my pronunciation for me."
He then repeated his usual order, saying, "Can I get a one decaf iced americano?".
Seungkwan further elaborated how after a few more tries, the barista took his order, but when he received his drink, he found that is americano had almond milk in it.
Seungkwan's story in fact angered many of his American fans, who called out the barista for being "racist". Some commented that "Even if you sounded perfect, accent on grammar on point, they will still act dumb and pretend not to understand you because you are Asian," while others noted, "His pronunciation sounded perfect," sympathizing with Seungkwan's experience.
Meanwhile, Seungkwan proceeded to ask fans for help and advice during his live broadcast, heeding some suggestions to remove the "a" from his earlier sentence to form, "Can I get one decaf iced americano?". He also got advice from fans on how to be polite when asking for more ice.
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