Daisuke Takahashi

[Maria Victoria]

I actually researched on how to pronounce Daisuke's name after hearing various versions from skating commentators and found this, although I wouldn't mind a private lesson from him like the one Joannie got .

Thanks ionap for your updates, mikaboo for the translation about the new "skating discipline" as related by Daisuke, and Pamina for sharing with us those "random snippets." Much appreciated.

 

[Meoima]

Dai's name is really easy to pronoun. How can the commentators botch up his name?

 

[Maria Victoria]

^Not surprisingly, the same British ESP commentators who also make a hash of Yuzuru's name are among the "offenders."

 

[ioanna]

Simon Reed and Chris Howarth have called him Daisooki for possibly 10 years and never corrected themselves.

 

[Maria Victoria]

Simon Reed and Chris Howarth have called him Daisooki for possibly 10 years and never corrected themselves.

Ah I guess they can be forgiven as they absolutely adore Daisuke. I remember how indignant they were when Daisuke didn't win Worlds in 2012. LoL at Chris describing Daisuke's moves in "Blues for Klook" as "sexy, sultry" while qualifying that he's speaking "as a chap."

 

[ioanna]

LoL at Chris describing Daisuke's moves in "Blues for Klook" as "sexy, sultry" while qualifying that he's speaking "as a chap."

Haha, I remember that
Their commentaries over the years should definitely be put together in one video, like Yuzuru fans did. I'm thinking of at least collecting some of the best Dai commentaries and put the links here for the sake of it

 

[Hanmgse]

Haha, I remember that
Their commentaries over the years should definitely be put together in one video, like Yuzuru fans did. I'm thinking of at least collecting some of the best Dai commentaries and put the links here for the sake of it

That would be awesome

 

[cdngirl]

Ah I guess they can be forgiven as they absolutely adore Daisuke. I remember how indignant they were when Daisuke didn't win Worlds in 2012. LoL at Chris describing Daisuke's moves in "Blues for Klook" as "sexy, sultry" while qualifying that he's speaking "as a chap."

I have always noticed their mispronunciation of his name but have always let it slide because of their enthusiasm and appreciation of Daisuke's talent. Particularly, as you mentioned, when he didn't win the Worlds and they were absolutely outraged. Their commentary is always my favourite.

 

[cdngirl]

Haha, I remember that
Their commentaries over the years should definitely be put together in one video, like Yuzuru fans did. I'm thinking of at least collecting some of the best Dai commentaries and put the links here for the sake of it

You are such an angel.

 

[Meoima]

And here I am thinking of collecting all the times that Simon and Chris have botched skaters' names. that would be a fest! I wonder how many skaters have been their "victims"

 

[Sandpiper]

"Daisuke" is easy to pronounce, but if you have no idea how to pronounce Japanese, how would you know the "u" is silent? The weird part is the Eurosport commentators never corrected themselves for ten years. :scratch: Perhaps there are very few Japanese people in Britain, so nobody in their office corrected them? (Can't believe they never figured it out from all the announcers and stuff though... I think the Sochi announcer said Daisuke's name right, at least on the second try).

But LOL, they've definitely made mistakes on people who are not Daisuke! Witness:

"Tatsoooooki Machida"
"Yuzunori Hanyu" (I have no explanation for this...)
Even, "Evgeni Pluchenko" when he was 14, though in their defense, I think the monitor spelled it that way.

But my favourite: "Patrick Chan, for China."

(...okay, that last one could be considered a little offensive, but I had to giggle a bit.)

 

[cdngirl]

"Daisuke" is easy to pronounce, but if you have no idea how to pronounce Japanese, how would you know the "u" is silent? The weird part is the Eurosport commentators never corrected themselves for ten years. :scratch: Perhaps there are very few Japanese people in Britain, so nobody in their office corrected them? (Can't believe they never figured it out from all the announcers and stuff though... I think the Sochi announcer said Daisuke's name right, at least on the second try).

But LOL, they've definitely made mistakes on people who are not Daisuke! Witness:

"Tatsoooooki Machida"
"Yuzunori Hanyu" (I have no explanation for this...)
Even, "Evgeni Pluchenko" when he was 14, though in their defense, I think the monitor spelled it that way.

But my favourite: "Patrick Chan, for China."

(...okay, that last one could be considered a little offensive, but I had to giggle a bit.)

I agree about the mispronunciations but their knowledge and enthusiasm makes up for the names. As for "Patrick Chan of China"... that was a huge mistake. I was quite taken aback when I first heard it but then had to laugh like you. I'm Canadian but I forgave them for that simply because I do love their commentary.

 

[Meoima]

I mean, they only have to pronounce their names as written, it's pretty easy so I don't understand at all.
Dai su ke <--- was it difficult to pronounce?
Tat su ki <---- his name was a little tricky with the tsu character but I think it's better than Tatsooooki!
And poor Yuzuru, his name has been modified so many times: Yazunori, Yazura, Yuzuri... And his last name Hanya!
I still like them btw.

 

[HanDomi]

Add to list: YuRuzu Commentator of NBC after his team event SP performance called him like that

I don't understand how is possible to make mistake on Yuzuru's name

"Patrick Chan for China" Hame someone link to video with this ?

 

[ice coverage]

"Daisuke" is easy to pronounce, but if you have no idea how to pronounce Japanese, how would you know the "u" is silent? The weird part is the Eurosport commentators never corrected themselves for ten years. :scratch: Perhaps there are very few Japanese people in Britain, so nobody in their office corrected them? (Can't believe they never figured it out from all the announcers and stuff though... I think the Sochi announcer said Daisuke's name right, at least on the second try).

I mean, they only have to pronounce their names as written, it's pretty easy so I don't understand at all.
Dai su ke <--- was it difficult to pronounce? ...

Gotta disagree with these posts.
My mother, a fluent speaker of Japanese, has told me many times over the years that in Japanese, every vowel should be pronounced as a separate syllable.

- Thus Daisuke's name technically has four syllables: Da - i - su - ke
- And the "u" in Daisuke is not silent. It is a short syllable of its own.

One of my pet peeves is the misconception that the authentic pronunciation of Daisuke has only two syllables.

 

[Meoima]

Gotta disagree with these posts.
My mother, a fluent speaker of Japanese, has told me many times over the years that every Japanese vowel should be pronounced as a separate syllable.
- Thus Daisuke's name technically has four syllables: Da - i - su - ke
- And the "u" in Daisuke is not silent. It is a short syllable of its own.
One of my pet peeves is the misconception that the authentic pronunciation of Daisuke has only two syllables.

Uhm, I studied Japanese for 3 years (I quit 5 years ago) so I know how to pronounce the name. And I work with several Japanese people before.

If you call him "Da-i-su-ke", it's alright but you have to pronounce it quickly because Japanese people speak very fast. Thus "Da-i-su-ke" will become "Dai-su-ke" <--- pretty easy and Japanese people will immediately know who you are talking about.

Mao Asada is the easiest, it seems.

Machida's name is a little bit tricky, because his first name has a difficult character to pronounce: Ta-tsu-ki Ma-chi-da <---- the "tsu" in his first name should be sounded like "chu" or "shu" but heavier. This is a very difficult words for Western people. Some people never master the skill to pronounce "tsu" correctly so I think the commentators should just call him Tat-su-ki, that is enough try for all their lifetime.

Yuzuru's name is the most difficult to pronounce. His name, if correctly, should be spelled like this: Yu-du-ru Ha-nyu <---- practically his first name is more easier to pronounce than his sure name.
Just call him "Yu - du - ru" and that's enough. It's his sure name that no international commentator has ever pronounced correctly. I mean, it's not "Han - Yu" but "Ha - Nyu"

I am not surprised when people couldn't pronounce Yuzuru and Tatsuki's names, but Daisuke? I mean his name (and Mao) is the easiest.

I bet Simon and Chris would have nightmare if they were forced to pronounce these names correctly.

 

[ice coverage]

Uhm, I studied Japanese for 3 years (I quit 5 years ago) so I know how to pronounce the name. ...

Uhm, my mother's parents spoke only Japanese, so she knows the language very well ... she lived in Japan quite a few years ... was a professional translator/interpreter, etc.

So agree to disagree. My mother and I have discussed the rule about Japanese vowels many times both pertaining to Daisuke and pertaining to completely unrelated Japanese words and names.

 

[Meoima]

Uhm, my mother's parents spoke only Japanese, so she knows the language very well ... she lived in Japan quite a few years ... was a professional translator/interpreter, etc.
So agree to disagree. My mother and I have discussed the rule about Japanese vowels many times both pertaining to Daisuke and pertaining to completely unrelated Japanese words and names.

Because Japanese people speak very fast, so Da-i-su-ke will turn to Dai-su-ke. It's pretty much simple.
If you talk with Japanese people and call him "Da-i-su-ke", they would think you speak too slow.

 

[cdngirl]

Add to list: YuRuzu Commentator of NBC after his team event SP performance called him like that

I don't understand how is possible to make mistake on Yuzuru's name

"Patrick Chan for China" Hame someone link to video with this ?

Here's the link and the weird thing is they even mentioned "Skate CANADA" right before they refer to Patrick as being from China. I still love them, 'though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmazFXN8DWI

 

[Sandpiper]

The problem is, when pronouncing the "u" in Daisuke or Tatsuki, the Eurosport commentators always put the stress there. So it becomes DaiSUke (or rather, DaiSUki) and TatSUki... I guess, technically, the u is very short rather than silent. But if you move the stress to the first syllable, the u naturally becomes near-silent.

Daisuke is a very common name. I expect the new generations of Japanese skaters to continue giving Simon and Chris headaches.

@HanDomi
"Patrick Chan, for China": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmazFXN8DWI

EDIT: Oops, I got beaten to the punch.