I can completely echo this post. Ng Tze Yong and An Se Young sound pretty much the same when I try to pronounce them too. Words with only consonants and no vowel doesn't exist in our language so I have absolutely no idea what to do with a word like Ng. And yeah it's a bit surprising how many still can't spell Viktor Axelsen's name right, even long time posters here. It sticks out like a sore thumb every time I see it. So it can be hard with completely different languages but I agree it would be nice if commentators made an effort to get it right. At least with the more regular players. But as a swede even english speaking commentators frequently butcher our names so I'm pretty used to it.
was kinda of petty, lzj couldve just worn plain unbranded apparel or not make a fuss about it to the media/socmed. its the first time lcw spoke ill of LZJ I think.
I don't image that if Lee Zii Jia won the gold medal this time. He and his fans must be traveling though the galaxy for 1 million year. Just 1 All England title, and look, what happened
The difference is that all the spectators are not being broadcast publicly whereas a commentator is being paid and transmitted across a big audience. I wouldn’t actually mind if the commentator improved over time but this commentator hasn’t and the pronunciation is so way off, well, it’s very difficult as a listener. I am not expecting perfect pronunciation either. Other English speaking commentators actually pronounce Chinese names quite okay except for Gillian Clark’s pronunciation of Cai Yun. I was quite surprised when the YouTuber badmintonswift also used the same mispronunciation. On pointing out the mispronunciation, he said he knew it was wrong but if he spoke Cai Yun’s name properly, he was worried that his audience wouldn’t know who he was referring to because of the audience being used to Gillian Clark’s mispronunciation………
Indeed, there is a difference. I was not trying to point fingers or defend anyone. I am just noticing that there seems to be a difference in how important we think correct spelling is vs correct pronunciation. And that we may not view these the same way. I would agree that the goal for the commentator on the international feed should be to pronounce the names correctly. I haven't heard the current commentator that you are referring to so I cannot speak to his/her ability (or lack of) to do that.
I don't get it. "It's hard to pronounce this word etc". I asumme the commentators are paid to do their job, which is to commentate. Players name is a part of it. It is in their job scope. It has been a year already. Where is the effort? So everyone is just fine with commnetator not improving themselves over time?
Are you a TV or radio commentator? If not, I wouldn’t have any expectations on your pronunciation of players names. You may not know how to pronounce it intuitively but does that prevent you from asking or improving, especially if it’s part of your job?
Sindhu's retirement incoming! Worst playing by her in any World Championships. No fitness. No quality in shots. Even Commentators wondering about her attacking play.
While I am happy to see Okuhara win over Sindhu, it's sad to see Sindhu see declining. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
On the topic of names, I can understand not knowing how to pronounce a name correctly, especially tonal languages. Heck, I can barely pronounce a Thai name unless it's written in Thai. However, I believe that it's in the best interest of the commentators to attempt to learn how to pronounce a name, especially if it's a name that can be pronounced rather easily. I think it was Chris Langridge and some other commentators that have always pronounced the "be" in Watanabe as "bee" rather than "beh". By pronouncing it in that way, the name would essentially be written Watanabi instead. For the commentators to not learn and attempt to correct themselves just feels disrespectful. Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
I believe that parrot can speak any word that we teach to them. They hear and repeat, easily. So, Why people can't. Because they didn't want.
Prannoy is hungry. He’s moving so smooth touchwood. That confidence I haven’t seen from him before. Also, he has toned down. Let’s see, how he does in next rounds.
There is no perfect pronunciation, especially if it's not your mother tongue. But you can at least make an effort and try. Commentators who get paid for a job which includes saying the names over and over again should at least learn how to say them in an acceptable way. At least they should show that they really made an effort and try. Maybe nobody actually gave them feedback? I am actually quite impressed with how Gill pronounce Thai names. Of course the pronunciation is not perfect like a native. But you can really see that she really made an effort in pronouncing names like Puavaranukroh and Taerattanachai. One name that people often get wrong though is Katethong, which is supposed to be pronounced something like 'ket-tong' (two syllables) and not 'ket-te-tong'.
Lakshya has become a lot leaner. His physique to me looks like Lee Chong. Impressive performance today.
Katethong = ket-tong ? Now, this would have thrown me off. I didn’t know Thais also do silent syllables. I think BWF should ask each player how they want their names pronounced and put them in their profiles.
Looks like this is her. Seems to be a generic sports commentator rather than someone who has specialist knowledge of badminton. Sort of explains the other areas of misinformation that comes across. E.g. wrong coach identification. For someone who has been based in Singapore for a long time, it is a bit surprising her pronunciation of Ng Tze Yong is quite inaccurate. https://sg.linkedin.com/in/mousumi-dutt-871928a4
