igors learning, people are way off base about this. he understands and can communicate in english hes just not comfortable doing it in front of cameras. think thats pretty understandable and insane this is being called out, esp people acting like he just cant be bothered when they cant be bothered to take 5 mins to see him communicating with teammates and refs cause it aint in russian - unless its panarin or kreider - before taking shots at the kid. and the laf thing is also false and was clarified by the guy who started it.
Igor: so he still needs an interpreter after 3 years here?
- Thread starter Bostonzamboni
- Start date
igors learning, people are way off base about this. he understands and can communicate in english hes just not comfortable doing it in front of cameras. think thats pretty understandable and insane this is being called out, esp people acting like he just cant be bothered when they cant be bothered to take 5 mins to see him communicating with teammates and refs cause it aint in russian - unless its panarin or kreider - before taking shots at the kid. and the laf thing is also false and was clarified by the guy who started it.
“I struggled to grasp a foreign language, but what’s THAT guy’s deal?!”
Jesus comma Brodin
Effing Norris-Byng Brodin
I lived in the Middle East for 3.5 years and needed an interp for the entire time. The biggest issue is the that Russia uses a Cyrillic alphabet (like the Arabic symbology.) He’s not only learning how to speak, he’s learning an entire new alphabet that works completely differently, which makes reading/studying that much more difficult.
in last nights postgame interviews i dont think he needed english questions translated into russian before he answered. he does answer in russian though. i remember a couple months ago reading that some journalist wanted to interview him/ask him some questions and he replied that he doesnt speak english while smiling.
TomppaKoo
Registered User
- Jan 27, 2021
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Would you be comfortable with giving an interview in Russian without an interpreter? Finland is probably amongst the countries with most people speaking decent English within the population and listen the Bison King to give an interviewe after several years in Edmonton. Some guys concentrate on hockey instead of language courses and that's how it should be on that level.
Video Nasty
Registered User
- Mar 12, 2017
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Not surprised it appears to be a Boston/MA/New England resident who created this thread.
Took me moving out of that area to notice that it is a portion of the country that has a very xenophobic and/or racist mindset bubbling just under the surface. You don’t want to think of your hometown like that, but it’s pretty obvious once you’re not around it every day.
What’s amusing is a fair number of the people with these “concerns” haven’t even traveled outside the country themselves, let alone the state/region.
Took me moving out of that area to notice that it is a portion of the country that has a very xenophobic and/or racist mindset bubbling just under the surface. You don’t want to think of your hometown like that, but it’s pretty obvious once you’re not around it every day.
What’s amusing is a fair number of the people with these “concerns” haven’t even traveled outside the country themselves, let alone the state/region.
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Gospel of Prospal
America's Team
Negan4Coach
Fantastic and Stochastic
Tell him to talk to Andrei goddamned Svechnikov and find out how that kid was speaking English most rickey-tick
sr edler
gold is not reality
- Mar 20, 2010
- 11,930
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All he really needs to learn is "we're sticking with it", "pucks in deep", "at the end of the day" and "one game at a time."
Hockey lingo isn't exactly Shakespearean.
Hockey lingo isn't exactly Shakespearean.
DisgruntledHawkFan
Blackhawk Down
With the way things can get taken out of context coming from fluent language speakers I wouldn't say much on the record in a language I wasn't fluent in if I was a star athlete in a major market if my ability afforded me that opportunity.
SeanConn
Registered User
Gotta be the furthest thing from what I’ve experienced in my travels… the Russians I’ve met are language sponges!
🗣
SnowblindNYR
Registered User
I remember once reading an interview Buchnevich gave in Russian and it was so good. You almost never read or hear that type of interview from North Americans.
Im still baffled my Vladimir Guerrero Jr needing one when he was born in North America and playing ball here for 6 years, some guys just dont give a f*** and just want to cash the checks
- Oct 30, 2006
- 2,723
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Remember when Forsberg stepped forward and admitted that the Sundin-lead Swedish team cheated in the 2006 Olympics and then later backpedaled claiming it was all a mistake caused by poor English skills and faulty comprehension?
Sometimes it's useful to profess to something less than true mastery.
Sometimes it's useful to profess to something less than true mastery.
Finnish sounds scary, and some of the last names are downright obscene sounding in Russian and other languages (Pupukakko, Huyatila, etc.).
- Sep 16, 2011
- 14,403
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What are those?
Meh, I don't think it's that big. It probably used to during the Soviet days, but the modern entertainment industry and media is dominated by English. Russians are exposed and forced to learn latin alphabeth even if they don't learn English, but not like the western people need to learn cyrillic. At least that's how I see it.
It's far from normal.
Certainly, there are the immigrants that treat their new countries and citizens as "Canadoite" and "Americoze" to imply they are beneath them.
Most intelligent ones realize they are welcome, and assimilate the best they can.
And English is the world/galaxy language if anyone has watched any Sci-Fi programs.
glovesave_35
Name
Have you ever lived abroad? I'm genuinely curious. In my experience, people who speak so strongly about learning the language are some of the least traveled folks around.
This whole thing is a non-issue to me. I imagine 90% or more of all North American athletes who play abroad use an interpreter in interviews, or speak English with the European journalists, who, living in their own country, speak multiple languages.
- Dec 17, 2018
- 12,596
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I asked the same- still waiting on an answer. This thread is full of jingoistic posturing, you put it in real terms and they disappear pretty quick.
haseoke39
Registered User
- Mar 29, 2011
- 13,938
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As a guy trying to pick up his second language as an adult, it takes time -- sometimes what seem like simple things can be the hardest. E.g., reading a college textbook might be easy for an analytical mind, but training the ear to hear how different spoken phonemes actually correspond to the words you see on a page can be difficult.
ifewdunnowuttemtokkinabow, thisiswuddunewlangwijsownslaik.
You might read that phrase easily if it were spelled out on the page with all the spaces between words, and sounds that people drop included, but hearing it live can feel like that ^^. The brain is trained from infancy to hear the relevant sounds of your native language. Training the brain to do that in adulthood can be hard for some people, and learning by making mistakes doesn't work on television. Igor might be able to have a wide-ranging discussion in English over a couple hours -- particularly with other Russians, whose accent is more interpretable for him -- but in a television interview, all that has to happen is a reporter says, "how did you feel about your play?" -- and in their accent, they drop at least three consonants he's trying to listen for, so he hears, "hajafeelabayerplay?" -- or worse, because he's listening in a full arena, he misses another syllable, and his brain can't fill in the gap unconsciously, so he hears "hajafe---bayerplay?" and he freezes, not wanting to miss something important, and even though it's a simple sentence and he can talk to you about quantum physics or whatever in the right environment, it comes off as a guy who's too dumb to function "for even ten seconds." Because what's easy -- even unconscious -- for you or I to do over ten seconds might be harder for him than writing an original sonnet.
Languages are tricky, is the point. I say this as a guy who, after a couple years in Montreal, can read and write very well in French, but when the neighbor leans off the front porch and shouts some local colorful equivalent of "what's the news with you?" I sometimes hear just noise. Don't put me on television, please.
ifewdunnowuttemtokkinabow, thisiswuddunewlangwijsownslaik.
You might read that phrase easily if it were spelled out on the page with all the spaces between words, and sounds that people drop included, but hearing it live can feel like that ^^. The brain is trained from infancy to hear the relevant sounds of your native language. Training the brain to do that in adulthood can be hard for some people, and learning by making mistakes doesn't work on television. Igor might be able to have a wide-ranging discussion in English over a couple hours -- particularly with other Russians, whose accent is more interpretable for him -- but in a television interview, all that has to happen is a reporter says, "how did you feel about your play?" -- and in their accent, they drop at least three consonants he's trying to listen for, so he hears, "hajafeelabayerplay?" -- or worse, because he's listening in a full arena, he misses another syllable, and his brain can't fill in the gap unconsciously, so he hears "hajafe---bayerplay?" and he freezes, not wanting to miss something important, and even though it's a simple sentence and he can talk to you about quantum physics or whatever in the right environment, it comes off as a guy who's too dumb to function "for even ten seconds." Because what's easy -- even unconscious -- for you or I to do over ten seconds might be harder for him than writing an original sonnet.
Languages are tricky, is the point. I say this as a guy who, after a couple years in Montreal, can read and write very well in French, but when the neighbor leans off the front porch and shouts some local colorful equivalent of "what's the news with you?" I sometimes hear just noise. Don't put me on television, please.
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I recall long-time Russian WJ coach Bragin doing the same. Understands questions in English but answers in Russian before interpreter translates it.
Captain Lindy
Formerly known as Kreider Beast
He understands English but isn't confident enough in his ability to speak it, which is why when speaking to the media he uses a translator. I don't blame him.
HockeyGuy1964
Registered User
- Oct 7, 2013
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PensandCaps
Beddy Tlueger
- May 22, 2015
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Why does he have to speak any English at all? lol. His job is to stop pucks, not learn a new language.
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