General Yuzuru Chat

[Yoa]

32 minutes ago, Danibellerika said:

 

True.  Though Gogolev really admires Yuzu but says he doesn't really get to speak with him much because of the language barrier. 

They asked him in an interview if Yuzuru gives him advice. Maybe he asked Yuzuru for advice and Yuzuru was like "just do shuu and pa"  Or he has never even asked anything. Remember that interview with Dmitri Aliev (who also is a fan) where he said that skaters are afraid to practice on the same ice as Yuzu. Or Kenji Miyamoto who said it's difficult to approach Yuzuru when he is in his practice mode. Stephen is a very shy boy. I doubt he would approach Yuzuru on his own. 

 

I have just remembered Yuzuru's "adobaisu purizu" to Plushenko when he was a kid xD

[Danibellerika]

11 minutes ago, Yoa said:

I have just remembered Yuzuru's "adobaisu purizu" to Plushenko when he was a kid xD

 

Oh yeah. And didn't Stephane say little Yuzu challenged him to a spinoff once?  We know how that eventually went.  

[ruruzest]

I watch this at least once a day and still feel amazed every single time! Isn’t this the first time Yuzu broke character during performance? I can’t imagine what went through his mind at that time after he was finished with those jumps in his current taped ankle situation!

Just as another fans have remarked,” Thank you Right Ankle for not moving after NHK so that Yuzu couldn’t risk more injury by skating thus have more time to recover for the big stage! Also thank you Ankle by holding it together in Pyeongchang! 

Best wishes for the new season Yuzu!

[micaelis]

2 hours ago, Neenah said:

Unless we get someone to secretly record him talking to Brian or anyone in English (which would be very creepy and please no one really do it), then we can't assess his actual language skills. Public speaking is the worst example to use in this case especially for someone who is already not confidant with his English. Unless he rehearsed his answers (which is not always possible since he can't anticipate all questions), he will be put on the spot and the brain tends to short circuit in that situation, at least that what happens with me all the time . I can converse easily in English in many topics but if I am under pressure to answer something and know there are consequences based on my answers,  I find myself struggling a lot and my language proficiency regresses badly.

My sense is that Yuzu's ability to communicate in English in casual, social situations is more than adequate.  I will point to two events in videos I've seen (and which presumably  many others here have also seen) in order to illustrate my point.  The first takes place in Sochi where he is off the ice awaiting for the final standings to be announced.  He's looking, I think, at a monitor or something like that and then he asks, "I'm first?"  There is no answer, so he asks again, at which point he is answered by someone saying that 'yes, you're first', meaning he's won.  He had fallen twice in his free skate so he had figured he was out of the running for the gold.  The news that he had won the gold is such that without hesitation he says "Omigod", a very idiomatic English exclamation.  To me it's significant that he reacts to this very important and surprising news by using a colloquial English expression without hesitation.  There is no evidence of him trying to reach for the proper words.  His 'Omigod' is right there.  That says a great deal.  The other is some years later, 2017 Worlds in Helsinki, where he's in the kiss and cry and waiting for his score after his free skate.  He talks to Brian and Tracy, making a remark about his skating.  He's not looking for words to express what he means and even more significant, he's removing his gloves while speaking.  In short, he's capable of speaking in English while doing something else.  Both of those examples are sufficient for me to say that his ability to handle English in situations where his use of the proper language is not critical is competent, probably near fluent if you are just looking at speaking situations.  As far as his command of written English, both in the reading and the writing, I'm not in a position to say and there has been quite a bit of comment here that Yuzu is very uncomfortable with using English in public situations where much is riding on the words he chooses to use.  But I have perfect confidence that Yuzu has the English skills to handle most social situations.  How he acquired them is hard to determine definitively but I would say it's partly a result of the immersion into the daily routine at TCC and also probably the many English-language songs he hears when searching for suitable music for his programs.

[rockstaryuzu]

2 hours ago, Pammi said:

go on Yuzu, get yourself out to the pub with Jason and Zhenya , they seem like a lot of fun!!

except that if some paparazzo happens to see him out with her, no matter who else they might also be out with, it'll be game over for all of their privacy, you know...bad enough that tabloid made a thing out of one - ONE - blurry photo that supposedly shows they're not living in the same apartment building together...

[kaeryth]

Continues~with Wings~ Treasured Edition Book: Takahito Mura Special Message

translated by nanoka12

 

Quote

At this ice show although I demonstrated the tricks that Yuzuru often performs, as the feeling of the takeoff is completely different from how I always jump I cannot understand them. Such as the 3A from a back counter, although I’ve practiced it I don’t feel that I can do it at all. While demonstrating, I think about how much this can convey that Yuzuru is amazing. (laughs)

 

[OonsieHui]

49 minutes ago, micaelis said:

My sense is that Yuzu's ability to communicate in English in casual, social situations is more than adequate.  I will point to two events in videos I've seen (and which presumably  many others here have also seen) in order to illustrate my point.  The first takes place in Sochi where he is off the ice awaiting for the final standings to be announced.  He's looking, I think, at a monitor or something like that and then he asks, "I'm first?"  There is no answer, so he asks again, at which point he is answered by someone saying that 'yes, you're first', meaning he's won.  He had fallen twice in his free skate so he had figured he was out of the running for the gold.  The news that he had won the gold is such that without hesitation he says "Omigod", a very idiomatic English exclamation.  To me it's significant that he reacts to this very important and surprising news by using a colloquial English expression without hesitation.  There is no evidence of him trying to reach for the proper words.  His 'Omigod' is right there.  That says a great deal.  The other is some years later, 2017 Worlds in Helsinki, where he's in the kiss and cry and waiting for his score after his free skate.  He talks to Brian and Tracy, making a remark about his skating.  He's not looking for words to express what he means and even more significant, he's removing his gloves while speaking.  In short, he's capable of speaking in English while doing something else.  Both of those examples are sufficient for me to say that his ability to handle English in situations where his use of the proper language is not critical is competent, probably near fluent if you are just looking at speaking situations.  As far as his command of written English, both in the reading and the writing, I'm not in a position to say and there has been quite a bit of comment here that Yuzu is very uncomfortable with using English in public situations where much is riding on the words he chooses to use.  But I have perfect confidence that Yuzu has the English skills to handle most social situations.  How he acquired them is hard to determine definitively but I would say it's partly a result of the immersion into the daily routine at TCC and also probably the many English-language songs he hears when searching for suitable music for his programs.

Spoiler

 

1) I think (japanese native speakers keep me right me on this!) "omg" is quite a commonly used English idiom/ phrase in Japan. it's one of those words that I wouldn't take to be any sort of indication of his conversational ability. You might have noticed that he didn't say anything else other than "omg", an exclamation type word.

2) as to your second example. I don't know whether you noticed, but Yuzu was  clearly struggling to find the words and settled with "not enough energy". As to speaking while removing his gloves, let's be honest, for a figure skater its muscle memory for glove removal, it's not anything that requires any level of concentration or thought. 

 

 

I'm not saying I think Yuzu's spoken English is horrendous, I just think saying he's "near fluent" conversationally based off those two examples might be stretching things slightly. 

 

But he and TCC can clearly communicate, and find ways of doing so! Lots of gestures etc. But if it works, it works! 

 

From the PC practice footage, he's speaking more, although it's still slightly just broken sentences, and it's great! His pronunciation has defo improved!

 

[quadaxelwin]

On 9/7/2018 at 10:40 PM, Forcefield said:

 

Me too! Arashi (although they also have some great costumes) desensitized me to Yuzu's costumes! As well as the weird and flamboyant clothing from anime and live actions. So I didn't bat an eye at Yuzu at first.

 

But honestly I think some Japanese people may also find JE outfits over the top. But that's what JE aims for imo. A performance needs a peformance costume, and it probably has roots in theater, and after a while I prefer costumes than none at all.

 

Edit: I think Yuzu puts extra work into his costumes because he has a similar view in that it is part of the peformance. If I was a skater, a good costume would be a good way for me to flip the switch to on mode too.

 

Also I think Japanese boys, the celebrities at least, are somewhat "prettier". I used to play Final Fantasy and the male characters were the "pretty, androgynous boys". I think Japanese culture values men who are beautiful, both in masculine and somewhat androgynous ways.

They even have a term for it "Bishonen", which is what Yuzu is often called as. 

[rockstaryuzu]

4 hours ago, yuzuonice said:

Awww Brian please drop that photo of you and the GOAT

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It's a very cute GOAT indeed 

You ever get the feeling that Brian immensely enjoys gently teasing Yuzu with stuff like this? 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

24 minutes ago, kaeryth said:

Continues~with Wings~ Treasured Edition Book: Takahito Mura Special Message

translated by nanoka12

 

 

Mura was such a good sport about all that. 

[quadaxelwin]

I've always wondered if Team Cricket has end of the season dinner parties or something, because Yuzu once said during February of this year that he would probably celebrate his 2nd OGM with his family and with his members at the club. I can't imagine Yuzu going out with TCC members privately, but maybe like for an end of season dinner thing, he might go haha. 

 

Hope all senior TCC members do well this year. I want to see a group photo with TCC medalists and Brian at the Banquet or something!

[Rainbow]

2 hours ago, OonsieHui said:

  Hide contents

 

1) I think (japanese native speakers keep me right me on this!) "omg" is quite a commonly used English idiom/ phrase in Japan. it's one of those words that I wouldn't take to be any sort of indication of his conversational ability. You might have noticed that he didn't say anything else other than "omg", an exclamation type word.

 

I never heard any Japanese people use the phrase omg, and personally I've never used it.  For ordinary older generations of Japanese, omg (オーマイガー）is not a familiar phrase.  Younger generation may see it as a sort of English slang and it's possible they use it jokingly among themselves.  On the other hand, the Japanese who are familiar with spoken English can certainly understand and may use it.

 

For Japanese learners of conversational English , pronunciation is a formidable obstacle and together with the difficulty in listening comprehension, some people give up after trying for a while.  Yuzu can somehow communicate verbally with TCC team, so it's a great achievement by Japanese standard.

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, quadaxelwin said:

I've always wondered if Team Cricket has end of the season dinner parties or something, because Yuzu once said during February of this year that he would probably celebrate his 2nd OGM with his family and with his members at the club. I can't imagine Yuzu going out with TCC members privately, but maybe like for an end of season dinner thing, he might go haha. 

 

Hope all senior TCC members do well this year. I want to see a group photo with TCC medalists and Brian at the Banquet or something!

Wouldn't surprise me, it's pretty common for Canadian sports teams to do something along those.lines. My competitive swim club always had a year-end banquet.

[quadaxelwin]

3 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Wouldn't surprise me, it's pretty common for Canadian sports teams to do something along those.lines. My competitive swim club always had a year-end banquet.

Yes and because TCC has a warm family environment I imagine them doing something for their coaches and skaters. Yuzu also loves the coaching staff, so I'm sure he would go to one of those events. The thing is there has never been a photo leak from any of their social events. So maybe there isn't one at all. 

[rockstaryuzu]

2 minutes ago, quadaxelwin said:

Yes and because TCC has a warm family environment I imagine them doing something for their coaches and skaters. Yuzu also loves the coaching staff, so I'm sure he would go to one of those events. The thing is there has never been a photo leak from any of their social events. So maybe there isn't one at all. 

Just in general, the people at TCC seem to be very good about being discreet and not leaking pics. Considering how many people must be using the place who know nothing or almost nothing about FS, but would probably realize that Hanyu's famous, that's some kind of a miracle. I don't know how the TCC does it, but kudos to them