Nathan Chen

[yyyskate]

If Nathan goes to UC Irvine or UCLA they have special Mandarin classes for heritage learners like himself. That would be much better than learning it in a haphazard way from his parents. Although I understand the best way to learn a language is to get a native speaking significant other.

Haha, I have doubts in that:scratch3:. But as far as I know, quite a few Chinese fan girls already proposed to teach Nathan Chinese as his girlfriend.

 

[besti loop]

a collage of Nathan speaks in Chinese :luv17::
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/968474526370619392
Dear Nathan if you are not so good in Chinese, you don't need to speak it so fast like speak your English, still a cool BOI though, once a cool BOI, always a cool BOI

I need more of this
But... what does he say in the 3rd video? And why isn't it fully recorded? Like, he definitely said smthng else besides that phrase?

 

[yyyskate]

I need more of this
But... what does he say in the 3rd video? And why isn't it fully recorded? Like, he definitely said smthng else besides that phrase?

he said "对不起， 我不懂说很多。。不会说很多中文话" he said something afterwards in English “i cannot say too much in Chinese, but Happy new years every one”
He said all these super fast in Nathan way.

I guess the third video is taken on the bus from USFS training rink to/from competition rink. Lots of media stuff were done there.
I also guess due to the high percentage of Chinese American representing USFS this year, some Chinese media finally got the idea to interview them or ask them to say something in Chinese. And figure skating is happening around the Lunar New Year.

The first video is the first time Nathan said anything in Chinese that is been recorded and shared by a fan.
The second video is done by PC 2018 Olympic official weibo account (i think it is done at the summit)
The third one is done by ChinaNews.

I guess that is all there is about Nathan saying anything in Chinese.

We definitely need more of these. Nathan is just super cute and sexy while speaking Chinese

 

[yyyskate]

something super cute about this is that,

Nathan 's Chinese accent is different from Vincent's

As a Chinese, listen them speaking Chinese, OMG, my heart just melted. they are so precious aren't they!

EDIT: Karen's Chinese accent is taiwanese accent. very cute
Vincent's mandarin accent is quite good sounded has some Beijing influence.
Nathan sounded like American born Chinese accent.

fascinating!

 

[Metis]

Societal pressure. They want to fit in more. Every time a child do this, my heart breaks.

Or the parents are trying to improve their English. It’s not always social pressure. A friend of mine actually told her parents she didn’t want to lose her first language and wouldn’t be their English tutor.

This thread sounds a little obsessive sometimes. I’m not sure Nathan’s Mandarin skills are any of our business or something he’d want discussed. He seems like a very calm, chill, private guy who also happens to be a tremendous athlete. I feel like he’d be really creeped out if he saw people talking about language classes at various universities and how his parents should “make” him speak Mandarin. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the attention — and the hype machine of the US media is absolutely to blame for this — makes him want to leave the sport, along with threads like these. It’s like watching someone being dissected in real time and it just feels... not quite right.

 

[eaglehelang]

something super cute about this is that,

Nathan 's Chinese accent is different from Vincent's

As a Chinese, listen them speaking Chinese, OMG, my heart just melted. they are so precious aren't they!

EDIT: Karen's Chinese accent is taiwanese accent. very cute
Vincent's mandarin accent is quite good sounded has some Beijing influence.
Nathan sounded like American born Chinese accent.

fascinating!

To me, Nathan's mandarin is China accent. Not necessarily Beijing but China in general.
I'm Asian chinese btw.

 

[yyyskate]

^^ I think this fan thread is perfect as it is.
Majority of posts here are contributed by true Nathan fans.
Fans discuss every aspects of their idols, the level and scope of discussion on this thread is perfectly fine.
First of all, I don't even know whether Nathan will read this at all.
Second, just so you know, Nathan is a very intelligent person. if he does indeed read this fan thread or stuff like this, he can and will navigate through all these with ease，take whatever he likes and ignore others like a real super star. And he is destined to be a super star in the future.
The last thing we need on this fan thread, is someone try to police around.

 

[yyyskate]

To me, Nathan's mandarin is China accent. Not necessarily Beijing but China in general.
I'm Asian chinese btw.

what is Asian Chinese, I am curious, do you mean Chinese American.

I just though Nathan accent is very cute and sexy, and does sounded like most American born Chinese.

 

[eaglehelang]

what is Asian Chinese, I am curious, do you mean Chinese American.

I just though Nathan accent is very cute and sexy, and does sounded like most American born Chinese.

Chinese from Asia countries other than China, Taiwan , Hong Kong. Not North America or Europe influence cos then their accent will be different.

 

[1111bm]

Or the parents are trying to improve their English. It’s not always social pressure. A friend of mine actually told her parents she didn’t want to lose her first language and wouldn’t be their English tutor.

Also, societal pressure wouldn't apply at home, right? I remember going through phases where I would be embarrassed by my parents talking to me in their native language in front of other people when we were outside (as children do...), but that never changed the way we spoke at home.

This thread sounds a little obsessive sometimes. I’m not sure Nathan’s Mandarin skills are any of our business or something he’d want discussed.

I think it's just a nice piece of information, that Nathan speaks chinese with his mother. Simply something chinese natives or anyone who grew up bilingual would find interesting. I've struck up conversations about this topic with complete strangers I met, say on the train for instance, and no one has ever been creeped out by my interest in their life.
(Obviously in that kind of situation there's a kind of consent given which isn't the case here, but still)

I don't really follow other fan fest threats that much, so I can't really judge, but aren't all of them similar in their "obsessiveness"?

 

[sheetz]

Nothing wrong with discussing Nathan's linguistic abilities as it's an important part of how he can relate to his fans. Many skaters learn English for that reason, and some also learn Japanese. Nathan just happens to have a built-in advantage with regards to learning Mandarin, so it makes sense for him to cultivate it with the increasing interest in figure skating in China.

 

[buttercup2015]

Hey y'all, Nathan is alive, by the way! photo link (Romain Ponsart's instastory)

Thanks~

 

[Metis]

Also, societal pressure wouldn't apply at home, right? I remember going through phases where I would be embarrassed by my parents talking to me in their native language in front of other people when we were outside (as children do...), but that never changed the way we spoke at home.

It can vary wildly. I know some kids in my area who are embarrassed their parents aren’t native English speakers, but it’s an overwhelmingly Anglo area and I wasn’t exactly welcome either. I do what I can to try to help. :|

I don't really follow other fan fest threats that much, so I can't really judge, but aren't all of them similar in their "obsessiveness"?

Hanyu’s is a lot calmer than I expected (mostly just busy due to media updates), and Boyang’s is very chill.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with discussing Nathan’s language skills as they relate to his career... but discussing potential courses he could take feels like a bridge too far. It’s not just that — the comments about his “husky” voice and his attractiveness, the speed of the thread, and the general intensity, combined with comments like “well then his parents should MAKE HIM speak Mandarin” ... I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade here, but it makes me feel uncomfortable and creeped out for Nathan. It’s not about his skating at this point; it feels more like a thread dedicated to his teenage heartthrob appeal with some too-close-for-comfort analysis of his life.

I guess what I’m saying is: we’re all invested, on some level, in the skaters that we’re fans of, and that’s the beauty of fandom. But Nathan is eighteen. I, personally, am incapable of finding him “sexy,” as he’s way too young for me, although I recognize that he’s attractive and obviously younger fans will. But eighteen is also ... really young. He hasn’t even started college and there are posts about the best way for him to improve his Mandarin in school. That’s ... not about language as it relates to his skating, nor does it feel like fair game in terms of his life.

I’m concerned about the injury Raf mentioned, although I don’t take Raf’s word as gospel, and wondering what Nathan plans to do next in terms of skating. But those don’t feel like appropriate topics for this thread. That’s where my sense of unease stems from — shouldn’t this thread be the perfect venue for discussing those issues? But it’s more of a play by play of Nathan, The Person, in excruciating detail, and I can’t help but feel like he never signed up for this....

 

[SkatingMusic]

Interesting discussion. I'm new to this board. Are there general guidelines on topics and do we have a moderator? Or is this a "free land"?

 

[chopinskate]

Interesting discussion. I'm new to this board. Are there general guidelines on topics and do we have a moderator? Or is this a "free land"?

I'm not sure if there are, but GS isn't a gossip website, and in any case there are always unwritten rules that we as fans must follow. I don't think I'd ever show Nathan, if I were to meet him, some of the stuff said here, whereas for Yuzuru's or Boyang's threads, I could still pick out a several posts that I think they'd appreciate seeing (though I wouldn't show them any fan threads in general).

Most of the stuff in Yuzu's thread is about his media appearances, and his social media based fun.

Same for Boyang, coupled with how he can improve his PCS and with whom he could work with next season, and sometimes his clothes.

The social media ones are the wildest it gets there.

The social media things are the tamest ones here.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Quick tip. Now is the perfect time to ask your local grocery store what they are doing with their Nathan cardboards

https://i.imgur.com/uNoGneA.jpg

Better shot of Nathan, worse of the cats

I went at a low volume time asked if anyone had claimed it, a few calls later they told me to take it.

 

[sheetz]

I personally have not seen anything discussed here that I would consider crossing a line. IMO, every point about Nathan's ability to speak in Chinese has been about improving his ability to communicate with fans and not about micromanaging his life. And to be honest there's been a lot less talk about Nathan's attractiveness here than what might be expected. He's really become a teen hearthrob and has made several "best looking Olympian" lists, including this one from the Japanese magazine, Spur.

 

[lappo]

I want to ask your opinion about the whole Nathan/Rafael situation instead...am I the only one who found the interview a bit OTT on Rafael's part? This is not the first time I see Rafael having issues with him and running to give an interview to the same Russian journalist (it happened with the whole Zoueva case last season, too) and I don't know how having their problems discussed in the media instead than closed door can be helpful in the long run. I sincerely don't know why Rafael run to the press like that instead of discussing the whole issue with Nathan, his team and his family (also, mentioning the injury and the flu was unnecessary and I hope he had permission to do this). I know that many appreciate Rafael for his "candor" but if I were a student of him, especially one as private as Nathan seems to be, I would find it uncomfortable. Also the interview made Nathan appear not in the best light (unwilling to listen to the coach, with a rather involved family...I'm not saying that he is like that, I'm just saying that Rafael didn't sell his student in the best possible way) and these are things that could damage Nathan's reputation whether he would want to change coach.
Also, on a positive note we could give suggestion for future programs, in case Nathan pops on this fan fest...at least it would be useful and funny!

 

[hhh]

Not sure if it’s been posted, here’s the second piece to his seconds-long Chinese with the China media
https://instagram.com/p/Bfs5Wo7nAdE/

I wonder what foreign language did he chose for his HS requirement.
With Cali bias, I do hope he does select a west coast university and as for language, maybe he’ll feel more at ease speaking (whatever he knows) as probably more Chinese-media outlets reach out to him, won’t be surprise if Nike has a game plan for him.

 

[hhh]

Quick tip. Now is the perfect time to ask your local grocery store what they are doing with their Nathan cardboards

https://i.imgur.com/uNoGneA.jpg

Better shot of Nathan, worse of the cats

I went at a low volume time asked if anyone had claimed it, a few calls later they told me to take it.

Thanks for th reminder! Also saw some older (35+60 age) guys (some with their kids) shared some pics of them posing with the cardboards, I thought that was quite cool to see his audience/fan base being quite diverse.