Rafa's Sao Paolo speech: He can speak Portuguese ?

[vernonbc]

Originally Posted by Dimcorner

FYI I learned Cantonese first, then Spanish, then English was my third language. On top of that my wife is Czech so when we have a kid it's going to get interesting.

Your kid is going to be very lucky. Make sure you speak all those languages to him/her from the getgo and they'll have a huge advantage once they get older and they're multilingual. Speaking other languages opens up so many opportunities.

Thank you augustobt, ViscaB, and Avles for your information and clarifications. Did you hear Rafa's acceptance speech? Did he do pretty well in Portuguese?

[Govnor]

Originally Posted by slowfox

Does he speak it with heavy topspin?

[veroniquem]

Rafa speaks Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, English and he understands French pretty well. He's a real polyglot!

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by WhiskeyEE

Porteguese and Spaniards can speak to each other in their own languages. With one speaking Porteguese and the other speaking Spanish. That's how similar they are.

I've seen people do that - like when the Brazil football team come to play a match, Rafa also did it talking to journalists after the final - but I at least can understand at most half of what's being said, and don't manage to make much sense of it. The pronunciation is definitely a problem. I can more or less understand Portuguese when reading it, but listening to it is a different matter.

I've never studied a word of Portuguese btw, I'm sure Rafa must have studied some. or maybe it's common for people from Spain to speak it to some degree?.

I got the impression from his interviews after matches that he speaks it as much as he does French, doubting at moments and using the word in Spanish instead .

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

Rafa speaks Mallorquin, a dialect of Catalan as Swiss German is to German, Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, and now Portuguese. Pretty impressive and it certainly puts us unilingual North Americans to shame.

Well, Catalan and Mallorquin are really the same. I wouldn't say Swiss German is a different language than German either. I'm not sure how much French, Italian and Portuguese he speaks. To some intermediate level probably.

[WhiskeyEE]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

I've seen people do that - like when the Brazil football team come to play a match, Rafa also did it talking to journalists after the final - but I at least can understand at most half of what's being said, and don't manage to make much sense of it. The pronunciation is definitely a problem. I can more or less understand Portuguese when reading it, but listening to it is a different matter.

I've never studied a word of Portuguese btw, I'm sure Rafa must have studied some. or maybe it's common for people from Spain to speak it to some degree?.

I got the impression from his interviews after matches that he speaks it as much as he does French, doubting at moments and using the word in Spanish instead .

Not sure. I used to work with people from Venezuela and Brazil and they'd speak to each other in their own languages no problem.

[vernonbc]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Well, Catalan and Mallorquin are really the same. I wouldn't say Swiss German is a different language than German either. I'm not sure how much French, Italian and Portuguese he speaks. To some intermediate level probably.

Well, it's a far sight more than I can speak in any other language! As to Catalan and Mallorquin, I've read in a few places that people from Barcelona, for instance, who travel to Mallorca can't understand the Mallorquin dialect. It's probably like you described how you can read Portuguese but struggle to understand it when it's spoken.

I've seen some interviews Rafa has done on French tv shows and it has always impressed me how well he understands what they're saying even when there are a number of them often talking over each other on these talk shows. He follows the conversation quite easily but he responds in Spanish and they translate it, but I did read that this past year he made a concerted effort to learn how to speak it more fluently. Still, his acceptance speech at Roland Garros was riotously funny - it was like Esperanto - he was switching mid sentence between French and Catalan and Spanish and English.

BTW, how did you learn to speak (and write) such good English?

[Crisstti]

Originally Posted by vernonbc

Well, it's a far sight more than I can speak in any other language! As to Catalan and Mallorquin, I've read in a few places that people from Barcelona, for instance, who travel to Mallorca can't understand the Mallorquin dialect. It's probably like you described how you can read Portuguese but struggle to understand it when it's spoken.

Mmm, I don't know. I know Rafa himself said - I think during that interview he did on TV during the USO in 2011 - that Catalan and Mallorquin were the same, that people in Mallorca just spoke faster. In fact, I'm pretty sure Mallorquin, Catalan and Valenciano are just different denominations for the same language. You can see how Rafa talks in this language with Marc Lopez (who I believe is from Barcelona) and Ferrer (from Valencia) and they understand each other just fine.

I can speak to someone from a different part of Chile (far to the North or South for example) and it can sometimes be just a little hard to understand everything because of the different accent and cadence, but it's still the same language.

Portuguese and Spanish, while very similar, are two different languages.

I've seen some interviews Rafa has done on French tv shows and it has always impressed me how well he understands what they're saying even when there are a number of them often talking over each other on these talk shows. He follows the conversation quite easily but he responds in Spanish and they translate it, but I did read that this past year he made a concerted effort to learn how to speak it more fluently. Still, his acceptance speech at Roland Garros was riotously funny - it was like Esperanto - he was switching mid sentence between French and Catalan and Spanish and English.

BTW, how did you learn to speak (and write) such good English?

Lol, yeah, it's so cute lol. I'm pretty sure he was doing something similar during his post match on court interviews in Brasil

I just learnt English basically during one of my Beatles obsessed periods, lol. Translating songs, interviews, anything.

[timnz]

Originally Posted by Crisstti

Mmm, I don't know. I know Rafa himself said - I think during that interview he did on TV during the USO in 2011 - that Catalan and Mallorquin were the same, that people in Mallorca just spoke faster. In fact, I'm pretty sure Mallorquin, Catalan and Valenciano are just different denominations for the same language. You can see how Rafa talks in this language with Marc Lopez (who I believe is from Barcelona) and Ferrer (from Valencia) and they understand each other just fine.

I can speak to someone from a different part of Chile (far to the North or South for example) and it can sometimes be just a little hard to understand everything because of the different accent and cadence, but it's still the same language.

Portuguese and Spanish, while very similar, are two different languages.



Lol, yeah, it's so cute lol. I'm pretty sure he was doing something similar during his post match on court interviews in Brasil

I just learnt English basically during one of my Beatles obsessed periods, lol. Translating songs, interviews, anything.

This is exactly right (the bolded part). My sister-in-law is from Barcelona and is Catalan. She says that the language spoken in Mallorca is pretty much identical to Catalan. I got the impression from her that these were as close together as Canadian English is to American English. They (along with the language of Valencia) couldn't really be considered seperate languages.

The same sister-in-law who visited Brazil - said that after a few days she was at least able to make herself understood there.

What is amusing to me is that people talk as if Spanish is Nadal's mother tongue when in reality it is his second language.

[MasturB]

Originally Posted by 6-1 6-3 6-0

It was because Carlos Bernardes UNFAIRLY gave Nadal a warning for a time violation, even though Nadal didn't break any rules. Carlos Bernardes has bullied Nadal in this manner before (I believe it's a matter of personal dislike), and it's absolutely disgusting. Carlos Bernardes is the worst umpire I have ever seen in the history of tennis. He should have received some sort of ban from the ATP (he may have already received numerous fines if ATP officials are starting to pick up on this). I'm glad Nadal gave him a good talking to after the match, just like at the World Tour Finals against Berdych in 2010 (in the Round Robin matches).

You are aware that the guy in the picture Nadal is talking to isn't Carlos Bernardes right?

[The-Champ]

Originally Posted by veroniquem

Rafa speaks Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Portuguese, English and he understands French pretty well. He's a real polyglot!

He also has some knowledge of informal Gibberish which makes him a hyperpolyglot

[Tennis_Hands]

Originally Posted by timnz

This is exactly right (the bolded part). My sister-in-law is from Barcelona and is Catalan. She says that the language spoken in Mallorca is pretty much identical to Catalan. I got the impression from her that these were as close together as Canadian English is to American English. They (along with the language of Valencia) couldn't really be considered seperate languages.

The same sister-in-law who visited Brazil - said that after a few days she was at least able to make herself understood there.

What is amusing to me is that people talk as if Spanish is Nadal's mother tongue when in reality it is his second language.

It is fixed then.

Nadal speaks Malorquin, Spanish and to a far lesser extent English, and can mumble a couple of words in French, Italian and Portugese.



EDIT: Thanks for the correction.

[ViscaB]

Originally Posted by Tennis_Hands

It is fixed then.

Nadal speaks Malorquin, Spanish and to a far lesser extend English, and can mumble a couple of words in French, Italian and Portugese.

Extend......

[ManFed]

Portuguese and Spanish are much the same language with different pronunciation. My mother tongue is spanish and I understand written portuguese like 90%. I can have a conversation with a brazilian speaking our languages and we understand each other in a 75% degree.

With Italian is different we can speak with Italians too and understand more than 50% but written Italian is quite different.

Catalán and Mallorquín are dialects of the same language but they are as different as american english and scots.

Swiss German is a completely different language that Standard German used in Germans TV. They are as different as Polish and Czech for example or Italian and Rumanian. They are related but with different backgrounds. Similar vocabulary but shocking differences in pronunciation.

[vive le beau jeu !]

what happened to this thread ? some posts are missing !
i'd swear i saw the great gorecki around here...

Originally Posted by Tennis_Hands

It is fixed then.

Nadal speaks Malorquin, Spanish and to a far lesser extent English, and can mumble a couple of words in French, Italian and Portugese.

this post is an insolent offense to the golden babel bull !

[ViscaB]

Originally Posted by ManFed

Catalán and Mallorquín are dialects of the same language but they are as different as american english and scots.

They are one and the same language. According to linguistics experts Valencian is the same language as well. It's all Catalan.

[ManFed]

Originally Posted by ViscaB

They are one and the same language. According to linguistics experts Valencian is the same language as well. It's all Catalan.

Scots and american english are the same language too. A dialect is a local or regional expresion of a language. The catalan spoke in Valencia, Mallorca and Barcelona is different but it is equal enough to be considere the same language. They are as different as the spanish of Madrid and Sevilla.

Regards

[boris becker 1]

Morons in Valencia will claim they don't speak Catalan, ban satellite transmissions of TV 3 etc.