You are absolutely correct. But in this one case I agree with her and not with you. I think people who have reasonably mastered English tend to be very arrogant about English. Some of us have struggled with a second language we have learned way later in life and understand how difficult that can be.
Learning a second language is very difficult if you learn it later in life. No doubt. But that’s one of the reasons parents all over the world try to make sure their kids learn English at a young age. For those with the financial means that includes sending them to schools that are fully bilingual (ie, not just that they teach English as a second language but that you learn many topics - such as history or math- in English as well) or send them to travel abroad. A common approach for many people in this situation is to go to work as young adults in an English speaking country.
True. Members of Rafa team speak as their first language: Mallorqui (Rafa & Moya), Catalan (Marc Lopez, Carlos Costa) and Spanish (Benito Perez-Barbadillo, Gustavo Marcaccio). Rafa speaks Malloqui, Catalan, Spanish, he doesn't need English to communicate with the members of his team.
He needed English to interact with the audience, that's why he put effort to learn it. His catalan or mallorqui sounds good on paper but in reality it is English that is needed to market himself worldwide.....even Alcaraz is working on his English speaking skills for a reason
Rafa needs only a few sentences in English "to interact with the audience." He markets himself worldwide by playing good tennis, not by talking.
Speaking English certainly doesn't mean that the speaker is intelligent. Rafa bashers who have constantly trash talking him have proved it.
I watched part of that today. I watched until there were 2 days left. Didn't feel like getting all teary eyed. I'll watch it later. It says it was a personal film, not for the public. Wonder why he decided to go public with it? Overall, it was interesting, but a little over indulgent for me.
I noticed that about Alcaraz at one of his after match on court interviews. He has definitely improved.
When a person takes pot shots at another person's character based on unsubstantiated rumors, it reflects more poorly on the former than the latter.
LOL
Foreign languages as a separate subject in schools yes, with all other subjects being taught in the native language. However, schools where ALL subjects are taught in English (international schools) is a relatively new thing, at least here in Germany. Also there are Kindergarten where they speak English with the kids, that definitely did NOT exist when I was a kid.
I think the point is more that if someone travels the world from a young age on and is exposed to English daily you would expect him to learn it better than Rafa is able to speak.
yes, only one of them came from a country without a tennis infrastructure. where neither the state nor anyone else stood behind him and his parents had to do everything themselves. they begged everywhere for a sponsor and in the end took money from money sharks so that they could send him to the pilics academy. in addition, he was forced to train in empty swimming pools while NATO destroyed his country without the decision of the Security Council. afterwards, many things happened to him that did not happen to these two. he was most often exposed to great hostility from the audience at almost all tournaments, which are mainly in western countries. often exposed to media coverage with usually twisted, exaggerated or completely invented reasons. he was controversially disqualified at one slam, the second slam was canceled and at the third he was even arrested and sent to detention, and then at the fourth banned along with the ban on many masters. and he was a huge favorit at everyone of those slams! his weeks at the top were frozen, the points for winning the fifth slam were taken away. and in addition to all that, in the end, he once again sovereignly holds all most important tennis records with a fairly large margin over opponents against whom he was marginalized for most of his career by both the media and the audience. quite a big difference compared to opponents from rich Switzerland and Spain with a well-developed tennis infrastructure. who from the beginning were the favorites of journalists, the audience and the establishment. in addition, he was ready to sacrifice his career because of his belief that everyone should decide for themselves what to put in their body. now that astrazeneka has withdrawn its vaccines with court rulings and the recognition that they can lead to serious complications and even death, it has proven to be the only right thing to do. especially since at the same time it was shown that in 2022 the virus was not so dangerous for healthy young people who had easily got over it twice already and that the risk of severe side effects in that group would be much higher compared to the risk of the virus itself.
He did, he did but it's the overall career and the reputation they had regarding their style of play. Even when he won in 2017, he came back after a long injury layoff and just started winning all over, and even then his style of play didnt really make it seem like he grinded it out that much even though thats exactly what he did. Federer just made everything look so easy effortless man, even in his late resurgence when his game wasnt as fluid as his apex prime days
I agree with what youre saying, and all 3 were absolute warriors and never gave up. Except for in his last couple of years, federer NEVER lost easily. You had to play your best and you would barely eke out a win against him in the 3rd set simply because Fed always fought to the very end. I am a huge fan of his now. I was simply stating the reputations they had. Nadal Djokovic always had the more fighting attitude and style of play
I still think Marat should have achieved more, even while having a work life balance. Maybe not slams but he definitely should have won more master 1000s for me. But yeah I resonate a lot more with Safin's work ethic than with Fedalovic's maniacal pursuit of tennis history
Fed also plays regularly on chess.com! Love it.
If someone travels the world with his/her own team & family, he/she is not "exposed to English daily". As for Rafa, he doesn't need English in many countries because: Central America and almost the whole of South America speaks Spanish; he is capable of giving interviews in Italian; he understands a little French.
A great dancer
They are cheating the readers!
He will always be involved in something that requires time and find a new challenge. The major lifestyle change is not training and traveling as much. You think he'll be like Agassi or Sampras and just disappear into a quiet family life?
People find their favourite player the most inspiring. SurprisedPikachu.png.
Agreed. I only caught maybe 20 seconds of the audio clip which could have come before or after something very emotional. I'll probably feel sad watching it b/c he was the most exciting & perfect player to watch for a number of years.
Rolleyes. Only if you’re obsessive and have nothing else to hang self-worth on but padding your career stats.
Sure. I just have a thing for the Berdych match.
Federer was never obsessed with this GOAT crap. Nothing more than fan-driven obsession that is purposefully talked about on a daily basis. Federer leads a balanced life where he doesn’t concern himself with petty things or petty people. He never engaged in petty stat padding because he doesn’t draw self worth from tennis career achievements.
