Alena Kostornaia | Page 52 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

Fluture said:
Yes, I noticed this, too. I was uncomfortable while watching this video. But it probably happens to her and Russian skaters in general a lot. And I know how it‘s like if you‘re name always gets pronounced wrongly (even though it‘s not that hard to pronounce ? I mean, between Alina and Alena there‘s a clear difference. I don‘t know how to exactly pronounce Alena‘s name either but it‘s at least obvious that there‘s an E in it, not an I... ) and after some time you tend to ignore it and don‘t even try to get it right anymore. But I can‘t be angry with Ted after all the nice things he always said about Alena and how supportive he is of all junior skaters. :biggrin:
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It would be easier if standard transliteration had 'yo' rather than 'e'. I know how to say it correctly because I've learned the alphabet a bit, but it's totally not phonetic in English. Then people would get closer to saying her name right. Same with lots of Russian names that start with 'E' like Egor and Evgenia. Sometimes people write them with a Y first and if that was the standard English speakers would definitely get closer. It's not as if we don't have the sound. I only just realized that Igor and Egor are different names - I just thought they were different transliterations. Of course, once I realized, it made so much sense, but I hadn't really thought about it.

But I'm not surprised that Ted says it like Alina. Alena isn't a common name in English, and it looks quite similar to Selena, which is pronounced Sel-ee-na. Of course, Elena would be pronounced E-lay-na often, but anyways, I see how he got the ee sound.
 
SnowWhite said:
It would be easier if standard transliteration had 'yo' rather than 'e'. I know how to say it correctly because I've learned the alphabet a bit, but it's totally not phonetic in English. Then people would get closer to saying her name right. Same with lots of Russian names that start with 'E' like Egor and Evgenia. Sometimes people write them with a Y first and if that was the standard English speakers would definitely get closer. It's not as if we don't have the sound. I only just realized that Igor and Egor are different names - I just thought they were different transliterations. Of course, once I realized, it made so much sense, but I hadn't really thought about it.

But I'm not surprised that Ted says it like Alina. Alena isn't a common name in English, and it looks quite similar to Selena, which is pronounced Sel-ee-na. Of course, Elena would be pronounced E-lay-na often, but anyways, I see how he got the ee sound.
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Well, yes, I get it, too and I don‘t blame him but I think it‘s just a bit different for me. I speak German and we normally don‘t have this “ee“ sound in names. Lena is just Lena, not Leena. If the pronouncation is Leena, then we simply write Lina. Same with Selena. There’s Selena or Selina (spoken like Seleena) So for me the difference between Alena and Alina is obvious. One is with an E sound like Lena but just with an A in front of it, the other‘s with an ee. I know you really say it more like Alyona anyway but I think it‘s okay for non-Russian speakers to call her simply Alena in an interview. But Alina confuses me, to be honest. It‘s just the way I speak, I guess. But this whole transliteration thing is confusing me anyway. So I can‘t blame Ted for being confused by it either. Especially if there like always two Russian ladies with the same first name. Two Annas, then two Alenas... what‘s next? :laugh:

Bit off-topic but I was really proud of our announcer. I was watching pairs free and one female skater was named Anastasia and she didn’t use the American version to pronounce it. :biggrin:

Edit: And about the Evgenia or Yevgenia thing - I generally listen to how google translate pronounces a name in Russian and I really feel like it helps.
 
For me it is not such a big deal, czech language has pretty strict but intuitive rules how to transcript russian letters (or any other language) into latin, the principle is the most fonetic similarity. If you know cyrillic it is easy because you know how to pronounce it right and than you know how to transcript words. Also I was learning cyrillic when I was a boy. But as there are less people who know it now, more and more often many people use english transcription of russian names instead of the right one. It is as if somebody would hit you by the stone when you see it. Not here, of course, but in czech text it looks ridiculous.:palmf:
 
Fluture said:
I speak German and we normally don‘t have this “ee“ sound in names. Lena is just Lena, not Leena. If the pronouncation is Leena, then we simply write Lina. Same with Selena. There’s Selena or Selina (spoken like Seleena)
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Enjoy the Great Vowel Shift! I think English is the only language in the world with all these 'Linas' and 'Selinas'.

Fluture said:
Bit off-topic but I was really proud of our announcer. I was watching pairs free and one female skater was named Anastasia and she didn’t use the American version to pronounce it. :biggrin:
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She also said "the Ukraine" with the article every single time. Looks like you-know-whose visit to you-know-which celebration did not remain without consequences. :biggrin:
 
Wow just saw her FS. I was blown away again. It became one of my favorite ladies program ever. Great costume, it was a unique shade of blue and brought out the Juliet character in her. I was at first concerned over the voice overs, but it wasn't too bad. Danil had subtle choreography throughout the program that brought Juliet into her.

And I love her new spin variations!
The consistency was great overall.

I wonder who her rival will be in Czech JGP up next.
 
Alena seems a little bit stressed this season, though I can understand why. It must be frustrating to not have all of the elements you'd like to show ready yet when your teammates are doing all sorts of crazy things. I hope she just keeps working hard on what she wants to improve and continues to give it her best. We're cheering for her no matter what!
 
vesperalvioletta said:
Alena seems a little bit stressed this season, though I can understand why. It must be frustrating to not have all of the elements you'd like to show ready yet when your teammates are doing all sorts of crazy things. I hope she just keeps working hard on what she wants to improve and continues to give it her best. We're cheering for her no matter what!
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She could very well win Nationals this year. :)
 
flanker said:
For me it is not such a big deal, czech language has pretty strict but intuitive rules how to transcript russian letters (or any other language) into latin, the principle is the most fonetic similarity. If you know cyrillic it is easy because you know how to pronounce it right and than you know how to transcript words. Also I was learning cyrillic when I was a boy. But as there are less people who know it now, more and more often many people use english transcription of russian names instead of the right one. It is as if somebody would hit you by the stone when you see it. Not here, of course, but in czech text it looks ridiculous.:palmf:
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Off topic but to add to this, I’ve always pronounced Plushenko as it is spelt and the way I heard it by the American announcer during the Olympics and such. And just recently I saw it spelt in Russian, and realized how I and everyone else pronounces it wrong. It is spelt Плющенко I believe, which should translate into Plyushchyenko or some version of that, and it bothers me how we somehow lost 4 important letter along the way, it’s not like it would’ve been hard to include them! Not that this is a name that ends up changing all that much, but once you understand Cyrillic, you realize that you’ve been pronouncing basically everything Russian related wrong!
 
vesperalvioletta said:
Alena seems a little bit stressed this season, though I can understand why. It must be frustrating to not have all of the elements you'd like to show ready yet when your teammates are doing all sorts of crazy things. I hope she just keeps working hard on what she wants to improve and continues to give it her best. We're cheering for her no matter what!
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May be she little bit stressed because this is her first competition on this season? And now, when she is a star, all have high expectations, and she has less and less rights to make a mistake? For the future - try using Occam's razor, a very useful thing.
 
Orlov said:
May be she little bit stressed because this is her first competition on this season? And now, when she is a star, all have high expectations, and she has less and less rights to make a mistake? For the future - try using Occam's razor, a very useful thing.
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I think it‘s not just that. It must be frustrating to see someone who‘s younger than you jump quad after quad everyday and you simply can‘t seem to do it. Alena tried 4T but it didn‘t work out, did it? That‘s why she moved on to try 3A. I certainly have no problem with her not jumping a quad, to be honest, I prefer it. Quads scare me and if one isn‘t ready then it‘s better not to push it. But Alena might not be feeling that way. And of course it‘s also what you said. Compared to last season when she came out of nowhere and was virtually unknown, she‘s a star now. I doubt it’s that easy to deal with. She seemed really nervous during warm up yesterday but when the competition was over you could see that she was visibly more relaxed, chatting with teammates and checking her phone and smiling at her medal. I think we tend to underestimate the pressure since they make it look so easy. But I still don‘t want people to compare her to Sima Sakhanovich and say she‘s going to fall apart next season completely because she had ONE shaky landing in her FS. (Yes, someone really did) Nyet. :disapp:
 
Hey guys, is there a reason why alena's not in seniors this year despite being 15 or is she still not old enough?
 
She was tense, but some nervousness is to be expected. When you're competing for a country where getting silver at a JGP means you're likely not to get a second spot, training in a group this intense with two of your main competitors who both have (potential) quads AND being one of the big stars of the junior field, it's really no surprise. That's lots of pressure to take. She did it like a champ, though, and hopefully can continue do to so.

Honestly, this is my first year following the Junior circuit closely and not just looking up the results from time to time, solely because of Eteri's power trio, and I realise how nervous it makes me even as just a fan. All three girls are insane, I want all three to have successful senior careers and yet I know how unlikely it is for all three to get to have that. And I think the slightly panicy overreactions, nitpicking every tiny mistake and every bit of music and chreography for these three that you see on the internet, are due to that. It's a very tough field for the Russian junior girls and they are all deserving.

By the way, on the topic of names, I'm surprised that appearantly the go-to latinisation of this name, at least in Russia, is Alena. Even in the best case scenario when people don't read it basically as "Alina", no one who doesn't know Russian would know how to read it correctly. They should follow Savchenko's lead and latinise it as Alyona/Aliona/Aljona or whatever... but really not as Alena.
 
Fluture said:
I think it‘s not just that. It must be frustrating to see someone who‘s younger than you jump quad after quad everyday and you simply can‘t seem to do it.
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I mentioned the Occam razor not just to show off. I absolutely don't accept such "thinking" (god damme you google-translate... for russians - here was ...такое "додумывание") It's easy to see (especially for beginners) that the mental atmosphere in the figure skating fans' camp is too "overheated" - everyone "gushes" with his theories and thoughts. Wise mankind has long come up with a recipe for healthy mental behavior: "Entities are not to be multiplied without necessity"

Just listen to what Alena focuses on during his interview with Ted: "Last season was the first for me at the junior level, now - the second. I try to improve my skating, jumping, because people expect me to get results." If you watched closely the interview it was a little off topic - Ted asked her where would be her second stage, but Alena answered about the things that worried her most. Don't multiplied without necessity :)
 
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