Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018 | Page 234 | Golden Skate

Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018

Farnaz said:
Sorry but as a person that English is her 4th language I find this level after 6 years in Canada completely unacceptable. I have to tell him "What is wrong with you man?" :biggrin: But the fantastic part is that he is never afraid of making mistakes in front of others let it be skating or speaking English. He himself values the fact that he is trying, so self-centred but innocent at the same time :agree: I just can't stop adoring him :luv17:
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I guess if Yuzu got out more his English would be better but he seems like a bit of a recluse. If going to the rink for skating is your only English exposure then that's all you'll know. His mom's at home so he's speaking Japanese in the home. It seems like he mostly keeps up with Japanese media and pop culture. It's similar to how I know some Americans who've lived in Japan for years and yet I speak better Japanese than they do all the way over here in the states.

treblemakerem said:
Languages are hard lol. In my head I know quite a bit of Japanese and can understand a good amount. But faced with actually talking to someone my mind goes blank. I am scared to say things wrong. I can't imagine doing an interview. I think he probably has better English talking to his coaches and friends than what happens in interviews. Plus he seems really smart I think if he put a lot of effort into studying English he would succeed. But of course he wants to focus that time on skating instead!
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I know what you mean. On the fly I can understand more Japanese than I can necessarily say. There are so many different sentence patterns and I don't always necessarily know which one to use for myself. And for the Olympics, any Japanese I spoke to the media I made sure to rehearse the type of things I would be saying beforehand. For those who saw me on tv, I'm glad I was understandable :laugh:. Even then it felt like more pressure than when I am speaking in class or speaking with friends. I'm fairly conversational, but in conversation I am also open to making mistakes and being corrected. Though if I lived in Japan I would be a lot better after 6 years, but I am sure if Yuzu put even half of his efforts into speaking English as he does into skating, he'd be better at English than I'd ever be at Japanese. I've studied on and off since 2006 so I would be fluent if I studied with the level of diligence that he has in skating.
 
Yuzuru is trying his best to communicate in english.
It might sound awkward but I give him credits for trying.
Maybe he doesn't really go out that much in Canada.
But its understandable since we all know his purpose of going there.
 
I think Yuzuru seems to understand and process English a lot better than he used to, but his speaking it on the fly could still use some work.

I think if he was a student studying in Toronto in English I would expect his speaking ability to be at a higher level, but I think his level will get him by in every day situations (and ordering fizzy coke at McDonald's). When we overhear him communicating with his coaches in English his fluency seems better than when he's talking during the press conferences.
 
Farnaz said:
Well, I confess that I can not speak English properly when I'm skating :scratch2: I listen to myself and I get really embarrassed, I haven't done any research on it to find out the cause though. Funny thing is that mostly I can not find the "right" and "left" words for example when I want to say "Right foot outside 3 turn" and I just keep pointing to my right foot :laugh2: Oh my God it's so embarrassing, for the sake of God I have two PhDs :palmf:
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I’m more impressed by the two PhDs! [emoji23] You have nothing to feel ashamed of, truly! I taught English as a foreign language as I’m a native speaker myself, and only native speakers can butcher English to the point that I want to cry. (Pronoun declension!) And English is probably the most illogically structured language on the face of the Earth; the fact of its adaptability and ability to take in new words is its main strength, but I’ve learned (for a certain degree of “learned”) a dozen languages or so, and English is just ... the worst.

And for technical/niche vocabulary, it’s even worse! “Right foot outside three turn” is exactly where English is a disaster in terms of translation because of adjective order + specific terminology + English having inconsistent “rules” at best. [emoji23] (Or just don’t listen to me, since I think Arabic is easy and makes complete sense, and I don’t understand why it’s ranked as one of the hardest languages to learn for English native speakers.)

Stress also makes it harder to perform in/speak a language you don’t feel comfortable with. Which I suspect is part of Yuzuru’s dislike of English, as when you’re also thinking about how to perfectly phrase what you want to say for the cameras, that’s a recipe for disaster. There’s also how well you can process understanding a language in real time versus speaking, reading comprehension, writing ability... who knows what Yuzuru’s overall level is? Not really any of my business, but I wouldn’t judge his fluency just from his speaking mishaps.
 
Interspectator said:
Looong article about Florentina Tone's Figure skating Experience at PeyongChang as a reporter.
Including Yuzu. http://www.insideskating.net/2018/03/15/features/2018-olympics-heres-to-the-ones-who-dream
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"Seated in the Kiss and Cry, Yuzuru Hanyu places his index finger in the air, for every single 1 in his short program score – 111.68 points. One, and one, and one, a line of one-s. And then he smiles." Since then I'm interpreting his reaction like one for Sochi, one for PeyongChang and one for Beijing :biggrin: I know it's such a stretch, I know it looks surreal, but time and time I felt he has an unconscious precognition about his future. Even if he decides to retire in upcoming years I will not believe it till Men's SP in 2022 :agree:
 
Metis said:
I’m more impressed by the two PhDs! [emoji23] You have nothing to feel ashamed of, truly! I taught English as a foreign language as I’m a native speaker myself, and only native speakers can butcher English to the point that I want to cry. (Pronoun declension!) And English is probably the most illogically structured language on the face of the Earth; the fact of its adaptability and ability to take in new words is its main strength, but I’ve learned (for a certain degree of “learned”) a dozen languages or so, and English is just ... the worst.

And for technical/niche vocabulary, it’s even worse! “Right foot outside three turn” is exactly where English is a disaster in terms of translation because of adjective order + specific terminology + English having inconsistent “rules” at best. [emoji23] (Or just don’t listen to me, since I think Arabic is easy and makes complete sense, and I don’t understand why it’s ranked as one of the hardest languages to learn for English native speakers.)

Stress also makes it harder to perform in/speak a language you don’t feel comfortable with. Which I suspect is part of Yuzuru’s dislike of English, as when you’re also thinking about how to perfectly phrase what you want to say for the cameras, that’s a recipe for disaster. There’s also how well you can process understanding a language in real time versus speaking, reading comprehension, writing ability... who knows what Yuzuru’s overall level is? Not really any of my business, but I wouldn’t judge his fluency just from his speaking mishaps.
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For the sake of God sister, Arabic is easy? :shocked: I read, write and understand Arabic but speaking is far from my abilities. I mean you have to think about one thousand grammatical rules at the same time to say a three-word sentence. You sound like having a very special brain :eeking::)
You also have a special ability for writing very loooooong posts whatever the topic is :biggrin: :agree:
 
I think learning languages is not the same for everyone - some people just have better language skills than others.

Sometimes it depends on the language, too. My French is still bad even after studying it for several years.

Another aspect is that in interviews his answers tend to be on the more complex side. I feel he takes it very seriously - so no easy answers for him.

I don't mind him not speaking English fluently - this is just how he is.
 
aynia said:
I think learning languages is not the same for everyone - some people just have better language skills than others.

Sometimes it depends on the language, too. My French is still bad even after studying it for several years.

Another aspect is that in interviews his answers tend to be on the more complex side. I feel he takes it very seriously - so no easy answers for him.

I don't mind him not speaking English fluently - this is just how he is.
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I agree, Yuzu could easily memorize some lines in English which would fit any interview, but his answers for questions in Japanese and English are not pre-written. They are interesting because he is spontaneous.
 
Man...All this talk about language, Yuzuru's responses in Japanese are usually incredible, I can tell how well spoken he is even if I can’t understand everything. I can only imagine what he might say if he had the same fluency in another language. I do think this is why he struggles with English in press conferences, he doesn’t have the same capacity to express ideas at the same level he normally does so he tries to make do with what he knows, but it’s not quite enough to really express what he wants.

Although I find it amusing that he at least seems comfortable enough with English these days to try and joke (all those Pooh returning to the forest comments!).
 
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