English and Japanese Speaking Players
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Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: BigManZam | Posted: Oct 18, 2006 7:06 AM
| CLM Fan
]
Tuffy Rhodes spoke pretty fluent Japanese. I'm sure Ramirez can communicate pretty well by now, too. You'd be surprised by how much immersion can improve your language skills. Also keep in mind that Japanese students do study English for a decent number of years. Unfortunately, most of their learning is through reading/writing, so conversational English can be poor.
Also remember that baseball terms are very easy to understand. I can't talk to Japanese people about philosophy, theology, medicine, etc., but I can definitely talk baseball.
Also remember that baseball terms are very easy to understand. I can't talk to Japanese people about philosophy, theology, medicine, etc., but I can definitely talk baseball.
Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: Deanna | Posted: Oct 18, 2006 5:56 PM
| NIP Fan
]
- I can't talk to Japanese people about philosophy, theology, medicine, etc., but I can definitely talk baseball.
Same here.
Was Tuffy really fluent? I remember being at a Giants game in 2004 and he still used an interpreter for the hero interview and they had to coax him into saying something in Japanese for the fans. But I guess that makes sense, I mean, Ichiro still uses an interpreter for things sometimes.
Anyway, the player that came to mind immediately for me was Micheal Nakamura. He speaks fluent English and Japanese, and supposedly Hungarian as well, though I doubt the latter is useful all that often these days.
Same here.
Was Tuffy really fluent? I remember being at a Giants game in 2004 and he still used an interpreter for the hero interview and they had to coax him into saying something in Japanese for the fans. But I guess that makes sense, I mean, Ichiro still uses an interpreter for things sometimes.
Anyway, the player that came to mind immediately for me was Micheal Nakamura. He speaks fluent English and Japanese, and supposedly Hungarian as well, though I doubt the latter is useful all that often these days.
Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: Guest: nao | Posted: Nov 10, 2006 3:08 AM
]
Tuffy was famous for his frank speeches and behaviors before he played for the Giants, so the Giants decided to use interpreters in case the press report them sensationally.
He used Osaka-ben when he was playing for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes.
He used Osaka-ben when he was playing for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: Oct 18, 2006 11:56 AM
| HT Fan
]
That's a good question. You often see Japanese and suketto chatting and sometimes laughing when a batter reaches first base. How on Earth are they communicating? And are they telling jokes?
Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: mijow | Posted: Oct 18, 2006 10:59 PM
| HT Fan
]
- How on Earth are they communicating?
Like ordinary people I suppose. When I first arrived in Japan I knew enough basic Japanese to engage in a bit of small talk. I imagine there'd be quite a few Japanese players who could do the same thing in English. They're probably meeting somewhere in the middle.
And as BigManZam and Deanna have said - baseball is not philosophy. And much of the terminology is English anyway.
Like ordinary people I suppose. When I first arrived in Japan I knew enough basic Japanese to engage in a bit of small talk. I imagine there'd be quite a few Japanese players who could do the same thing in English. They're probably meeting somewhere in the middle.
And as BigManZam and Deanna have said - baseball is not philosophy. And much of the terminology is English anyway.
Re: English and Japanese Speaking Players
[ Author: Vir4030 | Posted: Nov 4, 2006 2:15 AM
| HT Fan
]
Whenever I see a game, I always manage to make a few more friends. You can get your point across easily enough if you use a combination of English, Japanese, and hand gestures.
And yes, you can even tell jokes, or more to the point, just say something that's funny or surprising. I don't see why the baseball players couldn't do the same thing.
And yes, you can even tell jokes, or more to the point, just say something that's funny or surprising. I don't see why the baseball players couldn't do the same thing.
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I thought of this a week ago when I saw a game at Jingu and Aoki and Ramirez were having a meeting in the outfield and I had no idea how they were communicating. And the same thing with the infield. They called a meeting and everyone except Iwamura was in there, and Riggs was just standing in there with everyone else. So if anyone knows anything about that I would appreciate it.
Thanks.