Nadal L'Equipe Interview: "I want to become like before"

[albatros_forehand]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

He does speak English quite fluently. It's just heavily accented but for someone who just learned it in his teens, he speaks it quite well.

As for the rest of the big three, English IS Fed's mother tongue. His mother is from South Africa and it is the first language he learned to speak. It is also the language he and Mirka use with their girls. I don't know what Djokovic's background is in relation to the English language but credit to him because he does speak it very well. I'm guessing that he learned it quite young.

And Murray?

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

I read an article this past summer where he said himself that the first language that he learned was English because that's what his mother spoke to him, but that he naturally learned Swiss-German almost at the same time. He also said that he and Mirka speak to their girls in English at home because they realize it will be beneficial for them to grow up knowing the language. Can't be bothered to look for the link because it really doesn't matter to me what Federer does or doesn't do.

And I'll stick to my knowledge of Nadal if you'll stick to yours about Federer and quit posting a gazillion accusatory and false posts about Nadal.

It's pretty obvious english is not Federer's first language and is something Federer has picked up mostly by himself. Have you ever heard Federer's sister speak in english? She has a HUGE accent. Obviously, she interacts with her parents in Swiss german.


Federer's english is pretty impressive. Many of the swiss players that grew up with Federer can barely speak english. They had to get someone to translate Marco Chiudinelli's interview to english for a documentary. I think Federer's time spent with Peter Carter probably helped a lot in getting english down.

I totally agree about Novak, very impressive language skills.

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by always_crosscourt

Well if he's so bright, why hasn't he learned to speak English fluently like the rest of the Big Three for whom English is also not their mother tongue?In fact, forget it, I still maintain that the only way you know how bright someone is is when you give him a speed math/IQ test and see how well he does.

English isn't Andy's mother tongue? That's news to me.

[merwy]

Originally Posted by albatros_forehand

And Murray?

Originally Posted by Clarky21

English isn't Andy's mother tongue? That's news to me.

..he is obviously talking about Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. "The big three". Or were you joking or something?

[tusharlovesrafa]

Q: Did you watch the Australian Open?
Rafa: No, I didn’t have access to Eurosport.

Q: Excuse me?
Rafa: Our satellite tv channels have changed in January so that’s why. Well, I did see images of it. What can I say about it?

this is comedy gold.He doesn't have assess to Eurosports!! lol

[Clarky21]

Originally Posted by merwy

..he is obviously talking about Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. "The big three". Or were you joking or something?

Andy is the #3 player in the world. Nadal is not in top 3, and hasn't been for quite some time.

[tusharlovesrafa]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

Andy is the #3 player in the world. Nadal is not in top 3, and hasn't been for quite some time.

Nadal is an implied No 3 behind Roger and Novak.Going by your logic he won't be even No 4,because ferrer is No 4.

[Emet74]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

It's pretty obvious english is not Federer's first language and is something Federer has picked up mostly by himself. Have you ever heard Federer's sister speak in english? She has a HUGE accent. Obviously, she interacts with her parents in Swiss german.


Federer's english is pretty impressive. Many of the swiss players that grew up with Federer can barely speak english. They had to get someone to translate Marco Chiudinelli's interview to english for a documentary. I think Federer's time spent with Peter Carter probably helped a lot in getting english down.

I totally agree about Novak, very impressive language skills.

It's true that Fed's mother spoke English to him as a baby and his first words were in English. However by the time he was six or so he stopped speaking English w/ his mom at home and forgot alot of it. Obviously it picked up again when he had to learn it in school and then more so when he was travelling internationally on a regular basis.

As for the twins, he and Mirka speak w/ them mostly in Swiss-German.

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by Emet74

It's true that Fed's mother spoke English to him as a baby and his first words were in English. However by the time he was six or so he stopped speaking English w/ his mom at home and forgot alot of it. Obviously it picked up again when he had to learn it in school and then more so when he was travelling internationally on a regular basis.

As for the twins, he and Mirka speak w/ them mostly in Swiss-German.

This has to be due to his natural gravitation towards learning other languages, right?. I mean, he must have showed a lot more interest in learning english at a young age since there is such a massive difference between his and his sisters english skills.

[Amelie Mauresmo]

Originally Posted by always_crosscourt

Well if he's so bright, why hasn't he learned to speak English fluently like the rest of the Big Three for whom English is also not their mother tongue?

In fact, forget it, I still maintain that the only way you know how bright someone is is when you give him a speed math/IQ test and see how well he does.

I can't believe I am defending Nadal but why should Nadal have to learn English anyway? Why don't more people learn to speak his native languages Spanish and Catalan? There is a lot of arrogance in the English language world that everybody has to learn to speak English. Some people don't want to learn English or choose not to.

Nadal's English isn't the best but I can understand him when he speaks English it has improved a lot.

Nadal is a smart guy it just makes sense that he of course is more articulate in languages where he is more proficient such as Spanish or Catalan.

Not everybody is like an Arantxa Sanchez Vicario she can speak five languages fluently or a Roger Federer who can speak three languages fluently.

Remember, Spanish is one of the most spoken languages on the planet. Millions of people speak Spanish.

Also, Nadal speaks Catalan, which is another language that is independent from Spanish. In Spain right now, there is a region called Catalonia which wants to separate from the rest of Spain.

[The_Order]

If there's an Alien invasion, we'll be sure to send Fed out there to communicate. The man's so great he can probably speak alien.

[Paul Murphy]

Thanks for posting.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by tusharlovesrafa

this is comedy gold.He doesn't have assess to Eurosports!! lol

i think it's perfectly normal for Nadal not to be interested in watching his rivals matches. The same goes for Federer, and all the top guys. I remember they asked Federer the same question one when he lost early and he didn't say he would watch that GS final.

[smoledman]

Nadal is delusional about his future prospects. Of course Federer is also delusional, but what can you do.

[Emet74]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

This has to be due to his natural gravitation towards learning other languages, right?. I mean, he must have showed a lot more interest in learning english at a young age since there is such a massive difference between his and his sisters english skills.

What makes you think his sister's english is so bad? I've only ever seen one interview and she seemed fluent though yes her accent was stronger. She must speak decent English as she attended nursing school in Miami.

Fed's English is far from perfect but his accent is fairly soft, probably from some combination of spending so much time in an English-speaking environment nowdays and also having a good natural ear. No question Fed has a good ear for languages.

I also spoke different languages to my mom and dad at an early age and have a good ear for foreign language as well - I always assumed these were related, but maybe it's partially a natural gift too, lol

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by Emet74

What makes you think his sister's english is so bad? I've only ever seen one interview and she seemed fluent though yes her accent was stronger. She must speak decent English as she attended nursing school in Miami.

Fed's English is far from perfect but his accent is fairly soft, probably from some combination of spending so much time in an English-speaking environment nowdays and also having a good natural ear. No question Fed has a good ear for languages.

I also spoke different languages to my mom and dad at an early age and have a good ear for foreign language as well - I always assumed these were related, but maybe it's partially a natural gift too, lol

Her english is not bad, but the accent was a lot stronger and, basically, you could tell in a second she was not a native speaker (she also made quite a few mistakes, but you could understand what she was saying pretty well.). Federer's english is not perfect , but he speaks very fluently with no accent( imo at least). Every now and then he uses funny words like in Madrid last year "The courts are too slippy" or something.

[Emet74]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Her english is not bad, but the accent was a lot stronger and, basically, you could tell in a second she was not a native speaker (she also made quite a few mistakes, but you could understand what she was saying pretty well.). Federer's english is not perfect , but he speaks very fluently with no accent( imo at least). Every now and then he uses funny words like in Madrid last year "The courts are too slippy" or something.

Well I wouldn't say "no accent"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00QND7e8Dg

As for Nadal, he gets so much flack for his not-great English but I don't remember David Ferrer's English being any too hot, is it? I think in general because so much of the world population speaks Spanish, native Spanish speakers tend not to learn English as early / well, just like the Chinese players tend to have poor English skills. Meanwhile, folks like Fed and Novak whose native languages are Swiss-German and Serbo-Croation which are used by such small populations will on average have be more adept at "the international language."

I know I'm oversimplifying but still.

[tusharlovesrafa]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Her english is not bad, but the accent was a lot stronger and, basically, you could tell in a second she was not a native speaker (she also made quite a few mistakes, but you could understand what she was saying pretty well.). Federer's english is not perfect , but he speaks very fluently with no accent( imo at least). Every now and then he uses funny words like in Madrid last year "The courts are too slippy" or something.

I honestly find federer's English very attractive to hear.It's far easy for me to understand him than you can say an American.Being in Indian I have no accent and i like people who don't speak with any accent.

PS:I shared my experience in this this video few days ago,this video was shot by an amateur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1fzzcvyHtI

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by tusharlovesrafa

I honestly find federer's English very attractive to hear.It's far easy for me to understand him than you can say an American.Being in Indian I have no accent and i like people who don't speak with any accent.

Wouldn't you say that Federer's accent in english is closer to American than British or Australian?

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by Emet74

Well I wouldn't say "no accent"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00QND7e8Dg

As for Nadal, he gets so much flack for his not-great English but I don't remember David Ferrer's English being any too hot, is it? I think in general because so much of the world population speaks Spanish, native Spanish speakers tend not to learn English as early / well, just like the Chinese players tend to have poor English skills. Meanwhile, folks like Fed and Novak whose native languages are Swiss-German and Serbo-Croation which are used by such small populations will on average have be more adept at "the international language."

I know I'm oversimplifying but still.

hahah

Federer also says the word rhythm a little funny