PRESS CONFERENCE | Lee Wallace | 31 July 2017

[JFK-1 1,693]

I felt he gave a good fluid interview and regarding language issues I would guess it must be difficult to grow up in this world of mass media communication without picking up some English just in passing. I met a German guy many years ago who had excellent English and when I enquired how he got so good he commented that the airwaves are smothered with British/American music for one thing.

 

Non English speaking young people get to like a lot of these songs and listen to them over and over which burns the words into their brains then along the way they begin to learn what the words mean and how to apply them. Then there's the ubiquity of Hollywood films which are seen in every nation and are often subtitled for the specific nation they're being shown in.

 

Thus they hear English while seeing it translated into their own language at the same time. I'm sure we would all have a lot more say Italian under our belts if we grew up in a world where Italian not English ruled the entertainment field.

[JohnMc 2,801]

Spanish is a bit different though. It's not like German or Italian where few other countries outside of its main country speak it. Even in Spain English isn't widely understood. Spanish is spoken widely across the world so they don't rely on English language 'culture' in the same way. Most Spanish speaking people can't understand or speak English beyond a handful of words.

 

Although its proximity to the US might lead you to think English would be widely spoken and understood in Mexico that isn't the case. Most Mexicans don't speak English, only around 15% of Mexicans can speak and understand English. They are usually either highly educated elites or live in towns on the American border. Mexican education actually focussed on teaching its people to learn Spanish as for many it wasn't their first language. Indigenous languages were widely spoken, and immigrant 'Spanish' often came from Catalonia, Galicia or the Basque country and didn't speak Castilian Spanish either.

 

It's unlikely Carlos Pena, who doesn't come from a border town, even understood much English before arriving.

 

The language is one thing but the culture is entirely another. If only one of our summer signings struggles to settle and adapt I'll be pleasantly surprised. It's still early for Pena, with a bit of support form the club, which I'm sure they're giving him, and the right attitude from him he could still become an important player for us.

[JFK-1 1,693]

There is also another thing going on with Spanish speakers which was pointed out to me by a Spanish speaking friend of mine who is of Mexican descent. He was born in Mexico and moved to Oklahoma around 8 years old and he has immaculate English without a trace of an accent aside from the local Oklahoma accent.

 

He pointed out to me that Mexican Spanish is vastly different from the Spanish spoken in Spain in the same sense that you could say listen to the Queen make a speech then for example hear the exact same speech repeated by a broad Scots speaker in his own dialect and think it was an entirely different language with traces of similarity.

[Craigy1881 79]

He is intelligent and he does realise how something might be interpreted when he is speaking which is why in this particular interview he keeps on talking when he's already answered the question because he knows how it could be interpreted. In other words he's masking how uncomfortable he is with the questions by trying to talk all the way through it to some point where he is comfortable. You're correct in that he's also fairly honest and from that interview what I could see was someone recalling emotions. The only time I felt he wasn't being honest was when he was talking about his new team mates. From my perspective he was creating a scenario that he wished to be true but wasn't necessarily so. In spite of that one issue, which is kind of understandable, I feel he struggled uncomfortably through it.

 

paranoid much

[Big Jaws 570]

paranoid much

 

What?

You're post content seems rather thin? You're assessment of my post is that I'm paranoid because I commented that I felt Lee Wallace was struggling uncomfortably during the interview? It was merely an observation on my part.

[cooponthewing 1,139]

There is also another thing going on with Spanish speakers which was pointed out to me by a Spanish speaking friend of mine who is of Mexican descent. He was born in Mexico and moved to Oklahoma around 8 years old and he has immaculate English without a trace of an accent aside from the local Oklahoma accent.

 

He pointed out to me that Mexican Spanish is vastly different from the Spanish spoken in Spain in the same sense that you could say listen to the Queen make a speech then for example hear the exact same speech repeated by a broad Scots speaker in his own dialect and think it was an entirely different language with traces of similarity.

 

You are bang on re the Spanish JFK. It's more South American Latino Spanish than castillano in Mexico. Your analogy is very good too.

[les186 271]

Hopefully Pena, Morelos and Herrera can understand Pedro's Portuguese

[pete 2,499]

You are bang on re the Spanish JFK. It's more South American Latino Spanish than castillano in Mexico. Your analogy is very good too.

 

Mexico city does have a large Portuguese population so you would think that that spreads around as well.

[JFK-1 1,693]

Mexico city does have a large Portuguese population so you would think that that spreads around as well.

 

My Mexican friend also told me there are similarities between Spanish and Portugese which doesn't surprise me. Neighbouring countries both speaking a romance language whose common origin is Latin. There are 5 main romance languages which are Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French and the 5th he surprisingly couldn't name when we spoke of it while I could.

 

The 5th is Romanian which when you consider Romania is geographically separated from the other 4 countries of origin which are close together is a shade surprising.

[pete 2,499]

My Mexican friend also told me there are similarities between Spanish and Portugese which doesn't surprise me. Neighbouring countries both speaking a romance language whose common origin is Latin. There are 5 main romance languages which are Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French and the 5th he surprisingly couldn't name when we spoke of it while I could.

 

The 5th is Romanian which when you consider Romania is geographically separated from the other 4 countries of origin which are close together is a shade surprising.

 

Yiv no heard me chat'n up the burds then. Romance language I'll tell yeh pal.