Robert and Jonathan had good questions for him but it seemed like he was either purposefully dodging some of the questions or not understanding what was being asked. He was verbiose without really saying anything. I got the feeling that running is way too easy for him and maybe doesn't understand how much talent he has. His manager says it's all hard work and patiently biding your time but its really hard for me to be a fan of this guy because of the way he shrugs off 60 second quarters.
this is almost certainly a language barrier issue.
not a fan cause he's too talented and hard working?
parkerjohn wrote:
Robert and Jonathan had good questions for him but it seemed like he was either purposefully dodging some of the questions or not understanding what was being asked. He was verbiose without really saying anything. I got the feeling that running is way too easy for him and maybe doesn't understand how much talent he has. His manager says it's all hard work and patiently biding your time but its really hard for me to be a fan of this guy because of the way he shrugs off 60 second quarters.
It's almost like English isn't his first language.
60 second quarters are his 5k pace. Do some 400s at your 5k pace and you’ll realize they aren’t that hard until you hit 12-16 or so
His answers were superficial, language barrier or no language barrier. The whole thing just seems fake to me. In this day and age it's hard to believe that these mega-talented athletes are telling us the real story.
I think if someone is serious about a lifelong career as a distance running journalist, they should learn to speak Swahili and maybe Amharic.
parkerjohn wrote:
His answers were superficial, language barrier or no language barrier. The whole thing just seems fake to me. In this day and age it's hard to believe that these mega-talented athletes are telling us the real story.
he most likely does not have the vocabulary to give in depth answers. Often times, when learning a new language, you only know the most basic words to get by. Similar to how one would teach a kindergartner to read. start by sounding out basic words (cat, bug, pig), while also learning a short list of oft used sight words ( I, see, to, the, you, etc.).
and sometimes, if you are lucky, they will have a really good translator to fill in the gaps. Even then, the stress of the situation will take away from a lot of the depth you may have gotten.
parkerjohn wrote:
His answers were superficial, language barrier or no language barrier. The whole thing just seems fake to me. In this day and age it's hard to believe that these mega-talented athletes are telling us the real story.
I'm guessing you have never seriously attempted to learn a second language. 難しいですよ。
Actually I speak three languages. Maybe you guys should listen to the interview if you haven’t already. It’s the tone I find off putting. For example when I hear Kipchoge speak you can at least hear the authenticity in his voice.
It's your tone that many more find off-putting.
Most of you dumb@sses don't know what it's like to be interviewed once, nevermind by people from some website on the other side of the globe. It's not a natural, conversational situation to be in until you have learned that skill set. You get something similar to test anxiety, in these situations. Kipchoge has had years of media attention and, very likely, plenty of coaching on how to interact with the media. He's a cash cow. JC is a child of farmers, who has spent his time concentrating on being the best...not merely looking and sounding the best to losers on a forum.
Bad Wigins wrote:
I think if someone is serious about a lifelong career as a distance running journalist, they should learn to speak Swahili and maybe Amharic.
An interview in his native language would be interesting, and then translated into English.
At least one of the European broadcasters has a multilingual who does track interviews and interprets them himself on the spot. British guy, speaks French and I think German too.
I know about this much Swahili: Hujambo, Bwana? Hujambo.
Bad Wigins wrote:
At least one of the European broadcasters has a multilingual who does track interviews and interprets them himself on the spot. British guy, speaks French and I think German too.
I know about this much Swahili: Hujambo, Bwana? Hujambo.
Actually, most of the European broadcasters have plenty of multilinguals in all sports. On the spot translations are pretty common here in Germany from Spanish, French, Italian, and English. Multilingualism isn't all that impressive - it's a necassary skill in most parts of the world.
+1
parkerjohn wrote:
His answers were superficial, language barrier or no language barrier. The whole thing just seems fake to me. In this day and age it's hard to believe that these mega-talented athletes are telling us the real story.
So what is the real story? And when does anyone (athlete, politician, whomever) not come be at least a tad fake in an interview?
Interviewing the vast majority of athletes is useless. Most of them will give half truths or canned answers that their "team" have given them training on.
parkerjohn wrote:
Robert and Jonathan had good questions for him but it seemed like he was either purposefully dodging some of the questions or not understanding what was being asked. He was verbiose without really saying anything. I got the feeling that running is way too easy for him and maybe doesn't understand how much talent he has. His manager says it's all hard work and patiently biding your time but its really hard for me to be a fan of this guy because of the way he shrugs off 60 second quarters.
Weird.
I didn't find it frustrating at all.
I've heard Joshua a few time but honestly didn't know how good his English would be for a longer podcast but thought it was great and didn't feel he dodged anything. What questions in particular are you talking about?
He even brought up things I had never thought about like the political situation in Uganda being one reason they were behind Kenya in developing runners.
