Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

[VanCitySportsGuy]

I caught his interview on NBA TV and that's the first time I ever saw him do a full interview in English. When he first arrived in Houston he could barely put a few words together. I applaud him for picking up the language that quickly. The English langauge is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

He's also got a restaurant/bar.
http://www.yaorestaurant.com/

I got hungry looking at the website. SI had a small feature last year where Yao invited Dik and Ewing to his private room. I would check out the restaurant if I was in Houston.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

I caught his interview on NBA TV and that's the first time I ever saw him do a full interview in English. When he first arrived in Houston he could barely put a few words together. I applaud him for picking up the language that quickly. The English langauge is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

He's also got a restaurant/bar.
http://www.yaorestaurant.com/

I got hungry looking at the website. SI had a small feature last year where Yao invited Dik and Ewing to his private room. I would check out the restaurant if I was in Houston.

Ming has picked up english very well.

[olec]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

english is not that hard to learn tho...

[therealslasher]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

english is not that hard to learn tho...

English is easy to learn, especially because of television, radio, internet

[olec]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

thats true... i mean i am german and english and german have much more in common than chinese an english - but i would say that it is much easier for an chinise dude to learn english than vice versa--

yes i did say vice versa...

[ryanm1058123]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

Did anybody see the special on Yao on TNT? Basically shows Yao's first year and his life and his life with his interpretator who becomes good friends with him. A great piece by TNT.

[4BiddenKnight]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

English is one of the easiest languages to learn. Chinese is far harder with all the individual characters to memorize. I believe most of the European languages are easier to learn than most of the Asian languages.

[TheLetterZ]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

I've always heard that English is one of the hardest languages to learn.

[Dallasin2K3]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, for sure. There are so many complicated rules and exceptions, both phonetical and grammatical. It is certainly the most illogical and hardest to learn of any Romance language. Asian languages, on the other hand, are based on a different system which makes them hard to compare.

[Bears_16_and_0]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

lol @ english being easy to learn. You guys read this forum?

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

lol @ english being easy to learn. You guys read this forum?

LMAO!

[Cataschism]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

English is made up of a lot of different languages and lots of rules that contradict themselves. It makes it easier to learn a language though when you immerse yourself for instance by going to Germany to learn German.

[platic]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

I caught his interview on NBA TV and that's the first time I ever saw him do a full interview in English. When he first arrived in Houston he could barely put a few words together. I applaud him for picking up the language that quickly. The English langauge is one of the most difficult languages to learn.

Actually, Yao already had a pretty decent grasp of the English language before he came to America. However, when he first arrive he would only speak through an interpreter for *diplomatic* reasons. His interpreter was actually as much an "interpreter" as he was an unofficial ambassador. Yao's people, the NBA people, and the Chinese brass were afraid Yao might say something wrong that'll cause controversy. Or his words might become misunderstood in America and cause an international incident. There were plenty of sensitive subjects --- communism, Yao's obligation to the Chinese National team conflicting with NBA schedule, the fact that Red China is taking a big slice out of Yao's salary, so-called American Imperialism, and so forth. Look what happened to Wang Zhizhi's basketball career. He said a few things wrong to the media, and now he's a pariah in his own homeland of China.

As for the English language, it definitely is one of the harder languages to learn. There are so many conflicting rules and exceptions to the pronunciations and grammar, it's very difficult to master. Just because it's widely used around the world doesn't mean it's easy. However, it's not nearly as hard as Chinese or Swahili.

[muzion]

Re: Yao Ming doing English interviews/Restaurant

lol at english being tough to learn. If that's the case, then is French the end of it all?! May be tough to master but PLEASE, French has so many more exceptions and nonsensical rules, and it ain't even that tough.

Arabic, Hungarian, and Japanese are some languages that come to mind as far as being difficult.