Nakamura factor sparks Japanese language interest in Scotland

By Juno Kondo

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

conqueror_of_Uranus at 06:26 PM JST - 26th May

Apparently these Scottish students will not be amongst the Glasgow Rangers fans who like to chant this particularly charming (and inaccurate) terrace ditty:

Nakamura ate my dog, ate my dog...

He sliced it

And diced it

And cooked it in a wok...

Nakamura ate my dog - ate my dog!

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=4679

Replace "Dog" with "Whale" and "Wok" with "grill" and at least they won't be ignorant rascists.
kenchan at 08:02 PM JST - 26th May

the glaswegians are not too bad, but its the dodgy edinburgh folk who offer bouts of racial abuse.
abumaca at 05:27 AM JST - 27th May

Now if the Scots could just learn to speak the Queen's English instead of sounding like Jim McTaggart, there would be real progress :)

Cheap joke on the Scottish timorborder, and where do you exactly hail from? Let me see, you don't have an accent...right? And finally, what exactly is the Queen's English? You will find that people from Inverness speak the clearest and most easily understood English in the UK.
rjd_jr at 08:02 AM JST - 27th May

From what I understand European soccer fans have achieved quite a notoriety for their abundance of racist heckling of soccer players, whether in Italy or Scotland. Quite a shame really, that doesn't fly it he rest of the civilized world.
Zen_Builder at 08:11 AM JST - 27th May

Heckling and hooliganism was part of the sport since it was first practiced. Not at all a new phenomenon.

Same with Shakespeare, he wrote his pieces in a certain way due to the audience who had a short attention span and his biggest competition was drunken brawls, whores, etc common at the venue where his plays were performed.
frontandcentre at 10:31 AM JST - 27th May

timorborder - agreed. Learning to speak English properly is surely more of a priority for the Scots. As soon as Ronaldo transfers to Parkhead they'll all want Portuguese lessons and start eating churrasco. Daft!
ogtob at 11:24 AM JST - 27th May

As they say at the matches in Glasgow, "It's so Japaneasy!"
thepro at 01:55 PM JST - 27th May

These Scottish kids will probably master Japanese before any Japanese student learns English properly.
abumaca at 07:13 PM JST - 27th May

timorborder - agreed. Learning to speak English properly is surely more of a priority for the Scots.

What is proper English, apart from biased people on this site that think they don't have an accent. Every English speaking town you go has their own form of English as you know. I would rather have a Scottish accent than an American one....it gets you laid more especially with North American birds.
1GiantStudMuffi at 11:17 PM JST - 27th May

Now if the Scots could just learn to speak the Queen's English instead of sounding like Jim McTaggart, there would be real progress :)
shikoku14 at 11:43 PM JST - 27th May

Nakamura should have learnt some English by now but he still has a translator trailing round after him all over Glasgow, not exactly the greatest role model for kids to inspire them to learn a foreign language. "Hey kids, foreign languages are cool, but get paid enough and you don't need to bother"
shikoku14 at 11:46 PM JST - 27th May

I'd also like to add that I'm amazed British commentators haven't been told how to pronounce Shunsuke yet, it sends a shiver up my spine every time I hear Shun-Sue-Kay.
KitsuneYoukai at 11:46 PM JST - 27th May

abumaca...So this tactic has worked for you. How pathetic! I like the soudn of Irish, Scottish, and English accents while speaking English. Intelligence is nto int he accent but how well they communicate and in vocabulary and pronunciation. In England and in America people are taught to speak proper English but tend to over time develop their own form of speaking that sometimes to me is quite annoying. Take the Bronx's accent. It drives me crazy when I hear someone speak with that accent because I know they did not learn how to speak that way at school. I've had Japanese males tell me that I am smart not merely because of my education but they say the way I speak, the vocabulary I use...interesting I thought.
frontandcentre at 10:14 AM JST - 28th May

shikoku14 - he needs the translator to translate from Glaswegian to English, not to Japanese!
zaichik at 06:17 PM JST - 28th May

Some of the best Japanese speakers of English that I've met have been taught by Glaswegians. There are quite a few Glaswegians in Niigata and a not inconsiderable number of students of English there have a Scottish lilt when speaking English.

Anyway, go Shunsuke!