Which doesn't invalidate his point at all. Try addressing the subject and not attacking the person. He simply thinks a strong accent isn't optimal for a commentator to have. You may disagree, but its a valid point. As for his view of Americans, he's entitled to his opinion.And yet you were the one stating an English-speaking commentator should be sacked for his accent?
2024 Grand Prix de France Women's Free Skate
- Thread starter dorispulaski
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Congratulations to Amber for landing a very nice 3A in her short program that basically won her her first Grand Prix gold. Hopefully she can keep the momentum into her next event so the Americans can at least get someone into GPF. Although an all Japanese Final would be nice as well. I believe its important that she maintain her form on her 3A through next year. The US has some young girls who are superior all around skaters compared to Amber, so having that extra weapon will be crucial to make the Olympic team.
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- Apr 23, 2018
Mark does not have anything like a strong accent. What are you talking about?
I didn't say Mark does. Nor did I say he should be removed. I said he is entitled to his opinion if he thinks Mark does. And you are entitled to disagree with him without personal attack.
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- Dec 5, 2015
I also don't find Mark's accent strong and , as an American, I find Scottish accents among the easiest to understand as many Scottish speakers have rhotic accents which are not that dissimilar from the "standard" American accent. (again all accents are of equal value in my eyes, but our ease of understanding an accent will obviously be influenced by our background).
But, as we get older, it is hard to understand accents and also to hear certain voice pitches. So, again, just turn on the subtitles. I usually use subtitles when watching movies these days because directors have decided to make the dialogue quiet and the sound effects loud. Subtitles are very useful and widely available now.
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- Dec 4, 2004
Would you please provide a quote that said he should be sacked? Did I say he should take English lessons and learn how to pronounce Skaters' names? Yes. Does Mark, who I am sure is a great guy as the other Scots I have known, not like my remarks about him on IG? Yes he does. Is it tough to learn a different dialect? Yes it is. But he is not that far away from that goal. If you visit a SE US state, you might hear, "Foeah on the floeah". But you wont hear that by a broadcaster in Atlanta. If you go to NYC, you could hear, "go down to twawdy turd and turd street and hang a louy. But you wont hear that on the local news. Mark is a great guy....he just needs to be heard correctly. T and J, on the other hand, can speak perfect English , yet say nothing important. Remember, Sean Connery is a Scotsman.....And yet you were the one stating an English-speaking commentator should be sacked for his accent?
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- Apr 23, 2018
Saying that a British citizen - a citizen of the island where the language was damn well born - should 'take English lessons' is incredible Ugly Americanism at its ignorant worst.
Tara and Johnny do NOT speak 'perfect English' even if there was such an animal. Weir may speak good American, and Tara adequate (certainly better than quite a few of the interviewers that have been heard - Mariah Bell anyone?) but it is still at times very parochial, you don't notice because it's your parochialism. And they may not mess up the number of syllables in names (which Ted is way worse anyway) but they certainly do not pronouce the sound correctly, they blatantly Americanize whether because of domestic audience expectation or because they know no better. But guess what? Outside your border bubble, people quite likely think Mark is the one who not only speaks good English (with a far more charming sound than T and J) but considerably better English. Cartainly here, probably in Europe, quite possible in Asia. That it is not your preferred one (and those workers had to learn American inflections to kowtow to narrow-minded tourists, not because it was superior.)
If you and your partner, two people, do not understand plain English with a very common and mild accent, may I suggest that is a 'you' problem.
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- Apr 23, 2018
I love subtitles! (I love foreign language films and TV, so of course I love subtitles, they are much better than dubbing).
Subtitles are a good idea if you're interested in the commentary. I would prefer the announcers to limit their talking to announcing the name(pronounced reasonably correctly)and country of the skater, anything outstanding or otherwise noteworthy during the performance, their general assessment after its over, and their honest opinion on the slow motion replay. Not constant talking during the skate and not looking at the tech panel rulings while they comment on the replay. Right now when they show the replays they sound like Whitehouse spokesman repeating ISU propaganda from the judges.I miss the days of Dick Button laughing at the scores. Lol
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- Jun 21, 2003
Mariah Bell is from Oklahoma. The version of American English that she speaks is called "Okie" This is spmewhat similar to an East Texas accent (although ET is more similar to how people speak in Louisiana).
Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen spoke "Valley Girl." (San Fernando Valley, California).
Edit: Amber Glenn is from the part of Texas that borders on Oklahoma, but I haven't noticed any particular accent or speech idiosyncrasies.
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- Apr 23, 2018
Thanks. I know that when I heard Sasha Cohen speak it was one of the versions of American I was vaguely familiar with (probably from film/TV), didn't think too hard at the time though.Mariah Bell is from Oklahoma. The version of American English that she speaks is called "Okie" This is spmewhat similar to an East Texas accent (although ET is more similar to how people speak in Louisiana).
Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen spoke "Valley Girl." (San Fernando Valley, California).
I am certainly not about to suggest that any of them 'take English lessons', obviously, but let's be honest Mark is in even less need.
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- Jun 21, 2003
OT.
Did you know that the term "Ugly American" originated with the 1958 episodic novel written by two U.S. naval officers during th lead-up to the Viet Nam War? It features a fictionalized version of a real-life mechanic, Otto Hunerwadel, who was stationed in (then) Burma in 1949. He was a physically unattractive man, hence his nickname, the Ugly American.
But he, and especially his wife Helen, tried to interact with the local people and to help them in various small-scale ways (involving home economics), in contrast to the generality of American officialdom (and later tourists) who paraded around with thier highfalutin ways and contemptuous attitudes toward the locals -- these were the true"Ugly Americans" -- and their ugly behavior caused the US to lose the cold war to Russia in that part of the world.
The book was so influential that U.S. President John Kennedy jumped up and founded the Peace Corps to emulate the Hunerwadels.
The great novel, "The Quiet American" was written around that time as well, with its very accurate prediction of upcoming American interference in Vietnam.OT.
Did you know that the term "Ugly American" originated with the 1958 episodic novel written by two U.S. naval officers during th lead-up to the Viet Nam War? It features a fictionalized version of a real-life mechanic, Otto Hunerwadel, who was stationed in (then) Burma in 1949. He was a physically unattractive man, hence his nickname, the Ugly American.
But he, and especially his wife Helen, tried to interact with the local people and to help them in various small-scale ways (involving home economics), in contrast to the generality of American officialdom (and later tourists) who paraded around with thier highfalutin ways and contemptuous attitudes toward the locals -- these were the true"Ugly Americans" -- and their ugly behavior caused the US to lose the cold war to Russia in that part of the world.
The book was so influential that U.S. President John Kennedy jumped up and founded the Peace Corps to emulate the Hunerwadels.
I like Mark's commentating, but I find many of the ISU commentators like Mark, Ted, Chris cheerlead too much and never deviate from ISU narrative, too much positivity rather than neutrality and lack of bias. Simon Reed is finally back on Eurosport he's quite balanced. Was quite mystified by how Amber won lol. Great broadcaster's voice as well.
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