No Chinese, No Interview

[wilfredlgf]

PT, who are you talking about? I am lost...

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United.
I support Liverpool, so I don't like him either.

[Mag]

Please stick to the subject, guys.


Mag,
Moderator

[tama-aki]

Hmmm, I'm starting to hate the whole chinese team cuz of that... Too arrogant!!!

Chinese players are very friendly. Look at Xia Xuanze who's become the favourite of journalists. Chinese players in the old days are known to reject contacts with supporters. Until today the players are not allowed to talk to reporters before getting approval from Li Yongbo.

Gao Ling is another favourite. She is considered thick face and will laugh crazily while interacting and answering questions from reporters.

They're naturally friendly, as a celebrity will be. But the restrictions of not talking from the coach is one thing that may have caused the stir.

[tama-aki]

Hi everybody,
WHy does he need to use another language to comunicate with others who do not speak Chinese?

Errr...because the international world agree to use English to communicate.

If a chinese reporter asks an English speaking Coach questions in Chinese. Can the Coach answer the questions? or the coach will just say he does not understand Chinese in English not even in Chinese?

No, but as a reporter, he should have learnt English. The coach will tell him that he speaks only English and will need a help from someone who can translate, not rudely says,"No English, no interview" and left the reporter with wide open mouth.

Well that's the answer we'd like to hear from Li Yongbo ("I don't speak English, would be great if there's someone who can translate"). He didn't tell the reporters that he doesn't speak good English (which is rather strange, since his very international since the old days as great player). Instead he will refuse and said no Chinese, no interview.

Sometimes when some reporters ask their chinese reporters fellow to translate, Li Yongbo still a bit hesitant. Only until Lindsay firmly arranges a press conference full with chinese translator then Li was cornered and can't do anything but answer the question.

Li seems hesitant to dispatch information regarding the chinese badminton. He also prevents the players to answer questions from reporters prior to his approval.

[yanpok]

That's UNREASONABLE. Imagine what would happen in Olympics if you were to interview athletes from 20 or more different countries competing in one event. It's not the matter of respect. English is the lingua franca. We should and have accepted it as the preferred languange in international community. I don't care and don't know if LYB is an arrogant person - he should be more professional and be prepared for an international venue such as Thomas Cup.

Do you speak Another language? which one do you Prefer?
Have you been in France? Try to talk to them in English, you will see what happen. or Will you speak with them in Franch?
Why is English a preferred language?WHY?WHY?
From what you have said above, so everybody in the World must learn English.Nobody needs to respect his/her own country anymore.
DO you know that Olympics provides translators to the reporters and the sport players?
Remember, If you do not learn English well enough, You cannot express yourself well enough by using it. I believe that everybody should use his/her mother language to express.

[Syaoran_Style]

Do you speak Another language? which one do you Prefer?
Have you been in France? Try to talk to them in English, you will see what happen. or Will you speak with them in Franch?
Why is English a preferred language?WHY?WHY?
From what you have said above, so everybody in the World must learn English.Nobody needs to respect his/her own country anymore.
DO you know that Olympics provides translators to the reporters and the sport players?
Remember, If you do not learn English well enough, You cannot express yourself well enough by using it. I believe that everybody should use his/her mother language to express.

i don't know why you've taken france for example, but every french speak english. In school here everybody must learn english.

[protomedea]

Do you speak Another language? which one do you Prefer?
Have you been in France? Try to talk to them in English, you will see what happen. or Will you speak with them in Franch?
Why is English a preferred language?WHY?WHY?
From what you have said above, so everybody in the World must learn English.Nobody needs to respect his/her own country anymore.
DO you know that Olympics provides translators to the reporters and the sport players?
Remember, If you do not learn English well enough, You cannot express yourself well enough by using it. I believe that everybody should use his/her mother language to express.

Doh...I think you're missing the point. I did not say that everybody in the world must learn english, but all over the world this languange is used in an international event to remove the communication barrier. It's a standard to overcome a lot of communication problems. If you can't accept this than I don't know what else to say. On a side note, yes I have been to France and I know how proud they are of their mother tongue. And yes I do speak other languanges - I speak three fluently and am in the process of learning the fourth.

[viver]

...
Li seems hesitant to dispatch information regarding the chinese badminton. He also prevents the players to answer questions from reporters prior to his approval.

I am not an Li admirer (never been even though he was an excellent player), but somehow agree with him not giving interviews in a language he is not fluent at. Sometimes even giving interviews in your own language cannot make your point across. I would say, if he is not comfortable giving interviews send somebody else to answer the reporters. That's why there are team spokespersons for.

On the other hand, is not only Chinese officials that do not dispatch information. To my knowledge, Indonesian players are also briefed on what can become public before the tournaments.

I still don't understand why is such a big problem with his refusal to grant interviews in English. Don't know if that is arrogance but won't try to assume anything. The only thing I regret is my ignorance in Chinese language. Should have taken the time to learn it when I could so I would read all the information available on the Chinese badminton sites.

[viver]

i don't know why you've taken france for example, but every french speak english. In school here everybody must learn english.

Sorry to digress from the topic.

French was a compulsory language during my secondary school years which was long loooong time ago. One of the teachers I had (he was a French national) mentioned that if you addressed in English to French people they would just simply ignore you - even if they know you were a tourist. Well, I don't really know about France as I only stayed at the airport for a few hours once. In some other European countries, the people used to turn thier backs when you address to them in a foreign language.

[kwun]

i agree with Viver on this one. if LiYB is not comfortable with English, he has the right to refuse interviews in English. HOWEVER, perhaps the misunderstanding comes in how he communicated that. perhaps a more polite and diplomatic manner will go down better for the reporters, it sounded like LiYB rudely refused the interviews. at least it came across that way from teh reports...

[tama-aki]

Do you speak Another language? which one do you Prefer?
Have you been in France? Try to talk to them in English, you will see what happen. or Will you speak with them in Franch?
Why is English a preferred language?WHY?WHY?
From what you have said above, so everybody in the World must learn English.Nobody needs to respect his/her own country anymore.
DO you know that Olympics provides translators to the reporters and the sport players?
Remember, If you do not learn English well enough, You cannot express yourself well enough by using it. I believe that everybody should use his/her mother language to express.

Hmmm it's getting a bit out of topic, but I guess it's somehow related to arrogance. [moderator pls warn us if it's going away from topic]

Hi Yanpok, I speak 4 languages, with one almost dying because hardly using it again these days. Why English a preffered language? Not really preferred, it just happened the British have more colonized areas in the world compared to other countries with different language.

I found English rather hard to pronounce or learn compared to Indonesian. It seems to be systematic, but there are a lot of irregularities and inconsistencies. When I learnt Japanese, it's more complex but pronunciation is constant. But hey, there HAS TO BE one language so we can communicate. Chinese may have replaced English if they have conquered more places in the world.

And wait, isn't the Chinese around the world are also encouraged to learn the standard Chinese? Have you encountered communication breakdown among chinese speaking different dialects (e.g. Taiwanese vs Hong Kongers)? Do you think these people should stick to their dialects and use translator everywhere they go in China?

Can you imagine if people in Indonesia with 350 different local dialects can't communicate to each other? That's why we have Indonesian (malay). How about billions of people around the world?

Everyone in the world needs to learn English? It's their choice, but if he intends only to communicate to people speaking their language, secluding himself from the rest of the world, not interested in other's culture or what's going on around the world etc etc, then don't. If you feel your language has higher rank than English and you have an extreme nationalism, don't learn English.

I still do respect my country. I speak my mother tongue language with my family, friends, for my work but what happened if I don't speak English? I couldn't find a friend here to play badminton. How do I speak to friends from China, Vietnam, Africa or Belgium? I don't care if it's French, English, Chinese, Japanese or Arabic should be the international language, whatever it is I will learn it.

There's always translators around you can use, of course. But how far or how willing are you going to use them? What about for private issues? you definitely won't use a translator when you are making out with someone, will you? And how about where there's no translator mastering a particular language, it may be difficult to find a translator who master Chinese and Zulu language.

I believe people should be allowed to use their mother tongue and be proud of it and use it appropriately, but not secluding themselves completely from the world.

[kwun]

Sorry to digress from the topic.

French was a compulsory language during my secondary school years which was long loooong time ago. One of the teachers I had (he was a French national) mentioned that if you addressed in English to French people they would just simply ignore you - even if they know you were a tourist. Well, I don't really know about France as I only stayed at the airport for a few hours once. In some other European countries, the people used to turn thier backs when you address to them in a foreign language.

that is the general stereotypes that everybody thinks is so. but just like everybody thinks badminton is for the backyard, i found that stereotype isn't true. i have travelled in france for more than 2 weeks of my life and never had any trouble speaking english to anybody. maybe in a few cases but those i can attribute to either lack of English proficiency or just simply shyness. in comparison, if you go around HK or Japan and start speaking English, although all school children are supposed to know English, you will find that you have a lot of problem communicating.

anyway, we all disgressed. let's get back to the topic!

[Syaoran_Style]

Sorry to digress from the topic.

French was a compulsory language during my secondary school years which was long loooong time ago. One of the teachers I had (he was a French national) mentioned that if you addressed in English to French people they would just simply ignore you - even if they know you were a tourist. Well, I don't really know about France as I only stayed at the airport for a few hours once. In some other European countries, the people used to turn thier backs when you address to them in a foreign language.

HeiiiiN??? it Was A reaL FrencH?? I Live Near Disneyland, this is The TOURISTCITY!! hahahaha i never seen a french ignore an english tourist, Nowadays in france, everybody speak english. Me and Seven are the example hahhahaha (euh..not totaly right seven has some english origins...LooL). If you come in france don't worry, everybody speak english lol. =p

SyAoRaN StiiiLe

[Pecheur]

That's UNREASONABLE. Imagine what would happen in Olympics if you were to interview athletes from 20 or more different countries competing in one event. It's not the matter of respect. English is the lingua franca.

What a load of absolute crud By that logic all the UN and EU assemblies and members should be in English. That'd save a lot of money for the EU if that was the case, I think their annual translating bill is in the millions of Euros (and it's just gotten a hell of a lot worse with the expansion). People don't even expect that diplomats all speak English (or any single language [1]), let alone badminton coaches. He's employed to be the best badminton coach in the world, from China's point of view as long as he can communicate with the players and make them perform, they couldn't give a rat's arse whether he can speak English.

[1] Why don't we all go out and learn Esperanto for laughs? [2]
[2] No I didn't make that language up, if you really want to know what it is and why I used it as an example, google it.

[Bbn]

" No Chinese no interview".

Sounds rude and brusque in common English but OK in Chinese or Japanese.

Th e trouble is that many Asians tend to do "direct translations" when using

English as a second language.So if this can create discord better to avoid.

Difficult I'm sure if you only speak English.(Arrogant?)

Perhaps better to leave translation to pros.

The whole Atomic bomb incident in ww2 Japan was caused by mistranslation of a key word from Japanese,surrender or sth.

I think it is quite plain where many people have already offered many explanations.More worrying is the trend of some suspicious characters who are out to create discord in other people's camps.I think that is the last thing desired as it assumes we were born yesterday, besides that is why so
mush friction is caused in World badminton site and references to unruly conduct of some people.I think it is better to criticise owm shortcomings first,

one will notice that most people in this forum are trying to mend fences not create discord in other people's camps.

[protomedea]

What a load of absolute crud By that logic all the UN and EU assemblies and members should be in English. That'd save a lot of money for the EU if that was the case, I think their annual translating bill is in the millions of Euros (and it's just gotten a hell of a lot worse with the expansion). People don't even expect that diplomats all speak English (or any single language [1]), let alone badminton coaches. He's employed to be the best badminton coach in the world, from China's point of view as long as he can communicate with the players and make them perform, they couldn't give a rat's arse whether he can speak English.

[1] Why don't we all go out and learn Esperanto for laughs? [2]
[2] No I didn't make that language up, if you really want to know what it is and why I used it as an example, google it.

I guess I was wrong about English being the lingua franca. And I'm surprised that you would not expect a diplomat to be proficient in it.

Let me take a step back - my reply to Yanpok was to show my disagreement to what he thought was 'disrespectful' to China. Exercising such gesture will only bring complaints which will in turn create a worse image of himself and the team. He was asked nicely anyway, right? I also don't think that the reporter feels his language is far more superior than Chinese.

One last thing, and this might as well be a question to everybody - does any other country have such problem when confronted by reporter who speaks only English?

/edit/
I almost forget - I do agree that everybody should have the right to speak in whatever language he/she feels comfortable in. Doh...I hope I made myself clear this time

[Cheung]

One of my experiences whilst travelling around Europe was meeting some girls from Israel as fellow back packers.

One of them said "People in other countries don't speak English, but English is the international language".

It left a very profound impression me, even now so with Protomedea's view.

People have different talents, strengths and weaknesses and this is reflected in all skills. Language ability is no exception.

The fact that language ability come easily to Protomedea does not mean Li Yong Bo has those abilities either! That is even with english being an 'international language'.

Therefore, I think it is entirely reasonable for Li Yong Bo to refuse an interview in a language he probably doesn't understand much of. I would do the same!

Most of all, I think Bbn has got it completley right. Direct translations from chinese to english can sound very rude especially if the speaker (I assume Li Yong Bo replied in english) does not know how to use the right tones (for english).

One of my experiences in HK was asking the local cantonese speakers translations to english for certain words (me being the learner).

They would reply (in english) "don't ask me!". In the tone they used, I initially interpreted as being quite rude. After a while, I realised this was a direct translation from the chinese equivalent. However, the chinese equivalent of "don't ask me" in normal conversation doesn't sound rude at all.

BTW, I do try to speak french in France - but give me a phrasebook first please!