Agreed. It was due to the language barrier. Maybe instead of expecting elite Ethiopians to speak English, the letsrun crew should learn the language(s) that elite Ethiopians speak.
Agreed. It was due to the language barrier. Maybe instead of expecting elite Ethiopians to speak English, the letsrun crew should learn the language(s) that elite Ethiopians speak.
If it were Rojo, he might’ve started using sign language.
Sorry that I don't speak Tigray. Or Amharic. Would you rather I don't try to interview her at all? There were no interpreters available, so I asked Letesenbet a few questions in English. I commend her for doing her best and trying to answer.
Often when I speak with an athlete whose English isn't great, I just record audio and not video but based on her answers in the press conference, I thought Letesenbet's English might be good enough to do a video interview, so that's what I tried. Next time maybe it should just be audio.
I still think the interview was helpful. She said that the only thing that went wrong was that she got tired at 35k, and she still thinks she can break the world record.
Sorry that I don't speak Tigray. Or Amharic. Would you rather I don't try to interview her at all? There were no interpreters available, so I asked Letesenbet a few questions in English. I commend her for doing her best and trying to answer.
Often when I speak with an athlete whose English isn't great, I just record audio and not video but based on her answers in the press conference, I thought Letesenbet's English might be good enough to do a video interview, so that's what I tried. Next time maybe it should just be audio.
I still think the interview was helpful. She said that the only thing that went wrong was that she got tired at 35k, and she still thinks she can break the world record.
You did fine. She usually does her interviews in English just fine but was maybe distracted today, and maybe not used to being asked about “wrongs” or “problems” that began to throw her off.
Sorry that I don't speak Tigray. Or Amharic. Would you rather I don't try to interview her at all?
I’d rather you learn their language. You’re a professional journalist who covers long distance running. It’s reasonable to ask that you devote time to learning the language of the athletes who dominate the sport you cover.
Among the big 3 East African countries whose athletes dominate long distance running, you’re fortunate that English is one of the official languages of Kenya and Uganda, which means athletes from those countries can be expected to speak English. So that just leaves Ethiopia as the only one of the big 3 countries that doesn’t have English as an official language. Just learn the language that’s most common among those runners. All it takes is effort.
Sorry that I don't speak Tigray. Or Amharic. Would you rather I don't try to interview her at all?
I’d rather you learn their language. You’re a professional journalist who covers long distance running. It’s reasonable to ask that you devote time to learning the language of the athletes who dominate the sport you cover.
Among the big 3 East African countries whose athletes dominate long distance running, you’re fortunate that English is one of the official languages of Kenya and Uganda, which means athletes from those countries can be expected to speak English. So that just leaves Ethiopia as the only one of the big 3 countries that doesn’t have English as an official language. Just learn the language that’s most common among those runners. All it takes is effort.
And you would follow the interview in Tigrayan - or any other language that an African runner might speak? You do know this is an English language site?
I’d rather you learn their language. You’re a professional journalist who covers long distance running. It’s reasonable to ask that you devote time to learning the language of the athletes who dominate the sport you cover.
Among the big 3 East African countries whose athletes dominate long distance running, you’re fortunate that English is one of the official languages of Kenya and Uganda, which means athletes from those countries can be expected to speak English. So that just leaves Ethiopia as the only one of the big 3 countries that doesn’t have English as an official language. Just learn the language that’s most common among those runners. All it takes is effort.
And you would follow the interview in Tigrayan - or any other language that an African runner might speak? You do know this is an English language site?
Obviously such an interview would not need to be on video. Gault himself said he often only records audio with athletes who don’t speak English well. What would you prefer: the awkward video from today that didn’t reveal much, or Gault sharing in his articles more insightful things that he gleaned from interviewing Gidey in her own language?
Just learn the language that’s most common among those runners. All it takes is effort.
Gault is supposed to put in the effort to learn a new language and you wouldn't even take the effort to register a name on this message board? How ironic.
Just learn the language that’s most common among those runners. All it takes is effort.
Gault is supposed to put in the effort to learn a new language and you wouldn't even take the effort to register a name on this message board? How ironic.
He gets paid to cover the sport. I don’t get paid to post here. Big difference!
Gault is supposed to put in the effort to learn a new language and you wouldn't even take the effort to register a name on this message board? How ironic.
It actually takes more effort to come up with an endless number of thread-specific names than just one generic name.