I think she’s aware of it. But it’s not that easy to get rid of certain speaking habits, especially when you speak a foreign language.
Iga Swiatek - News, articles and interviews
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It's a nasty habit to begin with
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It's a nasty habit to care about this kind of stuffIt's a nasty habit to begin with
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No, it's not! 🤓 Proper language is key to successful comunication! It also tells you a lot about a person.It's a nasty habit to care about this kind of stuff
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She's not going to teach English at Oxford.
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I know!She's not going to teach English at Oxford.
But she is giving press conferences. She is being quoted by the media, talking not only about tennis but about important, complex matters, as well. Don't you think avoiding confusion is a good thing? Even on this forum, some people were quoting her wrong because of this "kind of" interjections.One more time: Her English is good. She just has this unfortunate, stupid habit that is more suiting for a Californian airhead rather than an intellectual.
It's a small thing, not worthy of this rant, but also not something that shouldn't be pointed out
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I think it's not reasonable to expect particular English conversation refinements when it's not your first language. And it's not reasonable to expect from a busy athlete to attend some sort of schooling just to be able to speak prettier. Having her PR manager giving the kind of advice you are advocating for will just put her under stress in the interviews and leave her unable to express her freely.I know!
One more time: Her English is good. She just has this unfortunate, stupid habit that is more suiting for a Californian airhead rather than an intellectual.
It's a small thing, not worthy of this rant, but also not something that shouldn't be pointed out
She will get better, and it will be enough for every intent and purpose that matters.
I know I'm ranting, but just as Iga's speaking habits may trigger a pet peeve in you, so does your little rant trigger a pet peeve in me.
@Lurker85 @Frainbart
And then there is me who is “triggered” by both 😅 As a former foreign language teacher I pay attention to such details, but I can see this also from a learner’s perspective.
And then there is me who is “triggered” by both 😅 As a former foreign language teacher I pay attention to such details, but I can see this also from a learner’s perspective.
I agree with you. It's just a habit, it's got nothing to do with actual English. It might be not the most important thing in the world, but Iga would sound so much better if she decided to get rid of it.I know!
One more time: Her English is good. She just has this unfortunate, stupid habit that is more suiting for a Californian airhead rather than an intellectual.
It's a small thing, not worthy of this rant, but also not something that shouldn't be pointed out
Proper language is language appropriate to a situation. As a native English speaker the wording she uses is absolutely fine. It tells me that she is a non-English speaker who expressing complex feeling/situations in a foreign language. As a young sportsperson it is well over and beyond what I expect from her. From personal experience it is much better to work with someone with less-than-perfect English, but excellent comprehension, than someone with perfect elocution, but poor comprehension. Iga has absolutely nothing to worry about with her spoken English. In fact the most spoken language in the World is 'bad' English.
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I know it is! You focused on the wrong post
In the next, I elaborated on what ticks me off about her language habits But it was more of a rant than anything else.
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I think one habit Polish people have which I used to notice Kubica in F1 doing and a lot of tennis players do it, is that they say ‘for sure’ a lot. In 99 percent of cases though it’s redundant or you’d just shorten it to ‘sure’. It’s not a big deal mind you, just an interesting quirk I’ve noticed.
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Someone took the time to read that magazine and posted some quotes:
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For Sure is direct translation of Na Pewno. For sure, that's the reason they use it this way.
Not only Polish. I notice many (most?) other non-native English speakers from Europe also use this phrase. We have discussed it before in this forum and a better English translation of 'for sure' is 'of course'. But for sure
one of the (very many) quirks of English is that 'course' has several different meaning, none of which on their own means anything similar to 'sure'.So it makes complete sense for any non-Enative nglish speaker to ignore the mental gymnastics needed to remember that 'of course' means 'for sure' and use 'for sure' because while it might sound clunky, the meaning is clear.
I think that in Poland, "for sure" is most often translated as "na pewno", whilst "of course" as "oczywiście". There's slight difference between these two in Polish: "na pewno" is used to express conviction/ certitude/ or agreement about something, sometimes would be better translated as "must", as in: it must be a mistake, and "oczywiście" ("of course") close to "obviously". In some context using "of course" could then seem a bit rude to us, like saying "duh" or something like it, but that would depend on context and non-verbal expression that goes with it. I'd say "sure" is usually translated to Polish "jasne/ pewnie" or "oczywiście" (the last one same as "of course"), so I think is somewhere in between the other 2 and usually is used to express agreement or consent.Not only Polish. I notice many (most?) other non-native English speakers from Europe also use this phrase. We have discussed it before in this forum and a better English translation of 'for sure' is 'of course'. But for sure
So it makes complete sense for any non-Enative nglish speaker to ignore the mental gymnastics needed to remember that 'of course' means 'for sure' and use 'for sure' because while it might sound clunky, the meaning is clear.
I always find it funny (and never use it myself) that in English you reply "sure" when offered for example a drink. In Polish we would not say "oczywiście" as it would mean "obviously" - not very polite.
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Not a lot, actually. One may be a learned, erudite person and speak poor English. You can acquire a wide knowledge and culture through your native language, can't you?
I know that shallow native English speakers have a tendency to judge people's intellect - also foreigners' - by the richness and correctness of their English. Shallow people are prone to shallow opinions, what can be done... But this attitude has no much more sense than e.g. judging an Australian on grounds of his/her proficiency in Polish.
You can assess (to some extent) someone's intellectual maturity by the way they use their native language. But you have to know this language very well. If you don't speak perfect, rich Polish, you can't sensibly judge Iga by her language.
Having said this, I do agree that it's good to nurture and improve our English. But we should not attach excessive significance to it.
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I can hardly write in English, I only know the basics, but I speak better than I write.
But thanks to google, somehow I manage to communicate here on the forum.
Sometimes probably transforms words for me, but at least I can move around here.
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