When will Nadal win another tourney ?

[Moxie]

I've often wondered the same thing about Rafa's inability to speak good English, and I'm not just referring to his accent. Others started on the tour at a similar age, yet speak many languages fluently (Roger speaks German, French and English among others, while Nole speaks Serbian, English, Italian, French, and I believe some Mandarin). Not sure whether Rafa simply doesn't care about bringing his English to fluency, or perhaps doesn't have the capacity to learn it better (which isn't meant as an insult---he just may not have an aptitude for learning languages).

Rafael speaks very good English, and I would say the thing that you do note is the accent. He is capable of humor in English, which denotes a certain fluency. As a language person, I would say, however, that he doesn't have any natural aptitude. Djokovic absolutely does. Federer is lucky in his parentage: he comes by German, English and Swiss-German naturally, and he trained his early tennis years in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so he learned French as a teenager. But he does speak it with a German accent. As Rafa speaks English with a Spanish one. But it is worth noting that Nadal speaks 3 languages: Spanish, Catalan and English. Andy Murray, who trained in Spain growing up, admits to being sorry that he didn't learn more Spanish when he had the chance. You can't even give him 1.5 languages. I think the last anglo-phone player of note who achieved fluency in another language in the men's game was Jim Courier, (French), and of course Serena speaks French. That makes 2. So I wouldn't really look down my nose at Nadal for his (lack of) language skills.

 

[Carol]

I've often wondered the same thing about Rafa's inability to speak good English, and I'm not just referring to his accent. Others started on the tour at a similar age, yet speak many languages fluently (Roger speaks German, French and English among others, while Nole speaks Serbian, English, Italian, French, and I believe some Mandarin). Not sure whether Rafa simply doesn't care about bringing his English to fluency, or perhaps doesn't have the capacity to learn it better (which isn't meant as an insult---he just may not have an aptitude for learning languages).

Federer has been many times in Spain and he can't say not even three words in a row in Spanish
This is the first language of Nadal (mallorquin) do you understand something? me neither
http://youtu.be/IozEJ6lm85w

 

[herios]

I've often wondered the same thing about Rafa's inability to speak good English, and I'm not just referring to his accent. Others started on the tour at a similar age, yet speak many languages fluently (Roger speaks German, French and English among others, while Nole speaks Serbian, English, Italian, French, and I believe some Mandarin). Not sure whether Rafa simply doesn't care about bringing his English to fluency, or perhaps doesn't have the capacity to learn it better (which isn't meant as an insult---he just may not have an aptitude for learning languages).

Rafael speaks very good English, and I would say the thing that you do note is the accent. He is capable of humor in English, which denotes a certain fluency. As a language person, I would say, however, that he doesn't have any natural aptitude. Djokovic absolutely does. Federer is lucky in his parentage: he comes by German, English and Swiss-German naturally, and he trained his early tennis years in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so he learned French as a teenager. But he does speak it with a German accent. As Rafa speaks English with a Spanish one. But it is worth noting that Nadal speaks 3 languages: Spanish, Catalan and English. Andy Murray, who trained in Spain growing up, admits to being sorry that he didn't learn more Spanish when he had the chance. You can't even give him 1.5 languages. I think the last anglo-phone player of note who achieved fluency in another language in the men's game was Jim Courier, (French), and of course Serena speaks French. That makes 2. So I wouldn't really look down my nose at Nadal for his (lack of) language skills.

I second moxie here. I personally speak 4 languages and I am currently a language interpreter using 3 of them. Also, living in Canada I am exposed daily to various levels of English "as a second language" and I must say, some have natural talent in picking up languages like no ones business, others don't. That does not make the second category intellectually incapable.
When it comes to rafa, it is not his fault he was not exposed to high school education.

 

[Moxie]

I've often wondered the same thing about Rafa's inability to speak good English, and I'm not just referring to his accent. Others started on the tour at a similar age, yet speak many languages fluently (Roger speaks German, French and English among others, while Nole speaks Serbian, English, Italian, French, and I believe some Mandarin). Not sure whether Rafa simply doesn't care about bringing his English to fluency, or perhaps doesn't have the capacity to learn it better (which isn't meant as an insult---he just may not have an aptitude for learning languages).

Rafael speaks very good English, and I would say the thing that you do note is the accent. He is capable of humor in English, which denotes a certain fluency. As a language person, I would say, however, that he doesn't have any natural aptitude. Djokovic absolutely does. Federer is lucky in his parentage: he comes by German, English and Swiss-German naturally, and he trained his early tennis years in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so he learned French as a teenager. But he does speak it with a German accent. As Rafa speaks English with a Spanish one. But it is worth noting that Nadal speaks 3 languages: Spanish, Catalan and English. Andy Murray, who trained in Spain growing up, admits to being sorry that he didn't learn more Spanish when he had the chance. You can't even give him 1.5 languages. I think the last anglo-phone player of note who achieved fluency in another language in the men's game was Jim Courier, (French), and of course Serena speaks French. That makes 2. So I wouldn't really look down my nose at Nadal for his (lack of) language skills.

I second moxie here. I personally speak 4 languages and I am currently a language interpreter using 3 of them. Also, living in Canada I am exposed daily to various levels of English "as a second language" and I must say, some have natural talent in picking up languages like no ones business, others don't. That does not make the second category intellectually incapable.
When it comes to rafa, it is not his fault he was not exposed to high school education.

Language fluency, as you say, depends on the person. But "fluidity" is achievable, and should be appreciated for what it is, i.e., very admirable, as it takes time and application from a non-speaker. I'm sure that many posters here would wish they were as fluid in any language as Nadal is in English. Of course it's not his fault that he didn't finish HS, nor did Roger or Novak. Roger couldn't even identify Freud when asked. They are athletes, not intellectuals. But it is wrong to measure their intelligence based on how they speak English, since none are native (of the 3) and language facility is a specific talent, not a measure of IQ.

 

[Carol]

I've often wondered the same thing about Rafa's inability to speak good English, and I'm not just referring to his accent. Others started on the tour at a similar age, yet speak many languages fluently (Roger speaks German, French and English among others, while Nole speaks Serbian, English, Italian, French, and I believe some Mandarin). Not sure whether Rafa simply doesn't care about bringing his English to fluency, or perhaps doesn't have the capacity to learn it better (which isn't meant as an insult---he just may not have an aptitude for learning languages).

Rafael speaks very good English, and I would say the thing that you do note is the accent. He is capable of humor in English, which denotes a certain fluency. As a language person, I would say, however, that he doesn't have any natural aptitude. Djokovic absolutely does. Federer is lucky in his parentage: he comes by German, English and Swiss-German naturally, and he trained his early tennis years in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, so he learned French as a teenager. But he does speak it with a German accent. As Rafa speaks English with a Spanish one. But it is worth noting that Nadal speaks 3




languages: Spanish, Catalan and English. Andy Murray, who trained in Spain growing up, admits to being sorry that he didn't learn more Spanish when he had the chance. You can't even give him 1.5 languages. I think the last anglo-phone player of note who achieved fluency in another language in the men's game was Jim Courier, (French), and of course Serena speaks French. That makes 2. So I wouldn't really look down my nose at Nadal for his (lack of) language skills.

I second moxie here. I personally speak 4 languages and I am currently a language interpreter using 3
of them. Also, living in Canada I am exposed daily to various levels of English "as a second language"
and I must say, some have natural talent in picking up languages like no ones business, others don't. That does not make the second category intellectually incapable.
When it comes to rafa, it is not his fault he was not exposed to high school education.

Most of the players have had the same problem, they wasn't exposed to High School education. Roger
Federer quitted the school at 16 years old because the books were boring for him so he never finished High School
Meanwhile I was told that Novak never finished the High School either for diferent reasons but both had more opportunities to learn one or two more languages, Federer's mother is from South Africa and he grow up in a country where they are talking three diferent languages, Novak was for awhile practicing tennis in a German Academy and lives in MC for several years. It's not all about the talent but the circunstances

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Reminds of the popular joke.

"What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American." :lolz:

 

[the AntiPusher]

Rafa has said (smiling) during the press conference in Hamburg: "I'm playing here because I lost more matches in the last 6 months than in the last 10 years. My body asked for more matches"
Yep! :cover :s

Sometimes I wish Rafa wouldn't "talk" and just play tennis

More reasons than you're stating! It pretty much shows how deficient he is intellectually! He was about 15, thrown on the circuit and couldn't have gotten much of an education! Most players speak many languages and he doesn't seem to put forth any effort with the universal ENGLISH all pros use! Talk about brainwashed and protected! They could have afforded a tutor I'm sure! :cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy:

No , I am not talking about Rafa 's intelligence, he is an extremely bright guy. (Somehow I glanced at the other posts which have taking this on a different tangent, however I am recovering from a very painful hip flexor injury from playing too much hard court tennis and I rather watch Scandal reruns). However getting back on subject Fiero, I am referring to Rafa's being so brutally honest which is why I wish to see him concentrating on winning 90% of his tennis matches instead of expressing his thoughts ). If he start to win again , then we can clearly hear what Rafa is saying. I hope that clarifies things and I can go back watching scandal and the discovery channel "shark week.

 

[herios]

Reminds of the popular joke.

"What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American." :lolz:

:laydownlaughing

 

[Fiero425]

Reminds of the popular joke.

"What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. Two languages? Bilingual. One language? American." :lolz:

:laydownlaughing

It would be funny if it weren't so SAD and true! Our ignorance is only getting worse BTW! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy:

 

[Carol]

Sometimes I wish Rafa wouldn't "talk" and just play tennis

More reasons than you're stating! It pretty much shows how deficient he is intellectually! He was about 15, thrown on the circuit and couldn't have gotten much of an education! Most players speak many languages and he doesn't seem to put forth any effort with the universal ENGLISH all pros use! Talk about brainwashed and protected! They could have afforded a tutor I'm sure! :cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy:

No , I am not talking about Rafa 's intelligence, he is an extremely bright guy. (Somehow I glanced at the other posts which have taking this on a different tangent, however I am recovering from a very painful hip flexor injury from playing too much hard court tennis and I rather watch Scandal reruns). However getting back on subject Fiero, I am referring to Rafa's being so brutally honest which is why I
wish to see him concentrating on winning 90% of his tennis matches instead of expressing his thoughts ). If he start to win again , then we can clearly hear what Rafa is saying. I hope that clarifies things and I can go back watching scandal and the discovery channel "shark week.

I agree with you, Rafa is too honest and sometimes that's not the "correct" way to go around the world, it seems to be much better to be hypocrite and "acting" depending the circunstances
Hope you feel much better AP

 

[Fiero425]

OMG; Please! :cover uzzled :nono :eyepop :-/ :blush:

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

after not playing since july 2nd, if rafa/wafa can get past his tricky opener I'd say he should be winning another tourney next by sunday.

lift the trophy, bit the trophy, lovely little cheque, lovely bundle o' 500 rank points. lovely lovely lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely, LOVVLEYY..LUUVLEYYYYY..(not an impression of barry foster in 1972 Hitchcock film..'frenzy').

 

[the AntiPusher]

More reasons than you're stating! It pretty much shows how deficient he is intellectually! He was about 15, thrown on the circuit and couldn't have gotten much of an education! Most players speak many languages and he doesn't seem to put forth any effort with the universal ENGLISH all pros use! Talk about brainwashed and protected! They could have afforded a tutor I'm sure! :cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy:

No , I am not talking about Rafa 's intelligence, he is an extremely bright guy. (Somehow I glanced at the other posts which have taking this on a different tangent, however I am recovering from a very painful hip flexor injury from playing too much hard court tennis and I rather watch Scandal reruns). However getting back on subject Fiero, I am referring to Rafa's being so brutally honest which is why I
wish to see him concentrating on winning 90% of his tennis matches instead of expressing his thoughts ). If he start to win again , then we can clearly hear what Rafa is saying. I hope that clarifies things and I can go back watching scandal and the discovery channel "shark week.

I agree with you, Rafa is too honest and sometimes that's not the "correct" way to go around the world, it seems to be much better to be hypocrite and "acting" depending the circunstances
Hope you feel much better AP

Thanks Miss Carole

 

[Fiero425]

^^

 

[the AntiPusher]

So what is Moya role with the Nadal camp?

 

[Carol]

So what is Moya role with the Nadal camp?

I think Rafa was practicing with Moya in Monacor and also taking some advices of him?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Rafa has said (smiling) during the press conference in Hamburg: "I'm playing here because I lost more matches in the last 6 months than in the last 10 years. My body asked for more matches"
Yep! :cover :s

Sometimes I wish Rafa wouldn't "talk" and just play tennis

He made a joke. It was funny too. Be more light hearted, as Rafa surely was when he made that comment.

 

[Kieran]

Exactly, and his "body" wasn't exactly wrong in asking for more matches, either...

 

[the AntiPusher]

Sometimes I wish Rafa wouldn't "talk" and just play tennis

More reasons than you're stating! It pretty much shows how deficient he is intellectually! He was about 15, thrown on the circuit and couldn't have gotten much of an education! Most players speak many languages and he doesn't seem to put forth any effort with the universal ENGLISH all pros use! Talk about brainwashed and protected! They could have afforded a tutor I'm sure! :cover uzzled :nono :angel: :dodgy:

No , I am not talking about Rafa 's intelligence, he is an extremely bright guy. (Somehow I glanced at the other posts which have taking this on a different tangent, however I am recovering from a very painful hip flexor injury from playing too much hard court tennis and I rather watch Scandal reruns). However getting back on subject Fiero, I am referring to Rafa's being so brutally honest which is why I wish to see him concentrating on winning 90% of his tennis matches instead of expressing his thoughts ). If he start to win again , then we can clearly hear what Rafa is saying. I hope that clarifies things and I can go back watching scandal and the discovery channel "shark week.

here's it is BS &Kieran

 

[Moxie]

Rafa has a decent shot at winning Hamburg. If he does, he sneaks above Raonic in the rankings to #9. Then, having no points to defend in either Canada or Cincy, he has a very good shot at being at #8 by the time the USO draw is made. That's a reasonable goal for now.