Anyone Know Why Chen Uses Translator When He Speaks and Understands English!

[Old#5fan]

Very interesting as Arte Johnson used to exclaim on the old tv show Laugh In!

[Old#5fan]

Can we get a translator for this sentence please?

Sorry several typos there and unable to edit. What I was saying is Johnny Damon is very well spoken in the English language and also intelligent as was easily observed on the tv show Celebrity Apprentice where he fared quite well. So that statement about him that he could barely understand English was preposterous !

[Old#5fan]

Damon himself has acknowledged his "fluency disorder" and that's not to say he's dumb. But I leave it to you to interpret things your own special way.

Well he has conquered it then as it didn't show at all.

[EagleOriole]

Sorry several typos there and unable to edit. What I was saying is Johnny Damon is very well spoken in the English language and also intelligent as was easily observed on the tv show Celebrity Apprentice where he fared quite well. So that statement about him that he could barely understand English was preposterous !

I've never watched celebrity apprentice and could care less about Johnny Damon. The point of the thread is terrible. Chen wants a translator for interviews, get over it.

[Old#5fan]

I've never watched celebrity apprentice and could care less about Johnny Damon. The point of the thread is terrible. Chen wants a translator for interviews, get over it.

So if you knew someone could understand and speak a language that you know but forced you to watch and listen to them go through a translator in public conversation that is quite all right with you? I guess I just find it a tiny bit phony but that's just me!(

[tinamodotti]

I know I have better things to do

It annoys me that if he does understand Emglish but just uncomfortable speaking it

Perhaps you should follow your own advice there...

[byrdz]

Well he has conquered it then as it didn't show at all.

OK, So maybe we give a guy who's been living here a fraction of the time Damon has to master the language? Just a thought. Have a nice day. This thread is going nowhere fast.

[Old#5fan]

I for one would rather hear a player stumble over English during an interview than hear Nick Markakis saying "you know" or "and uh" after every sentence.! Now that I found truly annoying!!

[tinamodotti]

Any kid wearing diapers shouldn't be there period just for safety and common sense issues alone !

What about the elderly who wear diapers?

[BarclaySouthway]

I for one would rather hear a player stumble over English during an interview than hear Nick Markakis saying "you know" or "and uh" after every sentence.! Now that I found truly annoying!!

I don't know, that post-game Urrutia interview last night was pretty painful to watch, and I imagine for Henry, to participate in. I bet he wishes he had one them translators.

[LA2]

How so? You think the same thing when they are talking to him in the dugout? I te you one thing if he can actually speak fluently several languages he shouldn't require a translator to relay interview questions after a game either as they aren't questions contemplating the origin of the universe - they are all baseball related!

How do you know that Chen is fluent in English? He obviously doesn't feel that he is.

Interviews in front of a mic are the same as the abbreviated conversations he has on the mound? Do you actually hear what is being said between the coach or manager and a pitcher? Seems to me that the pitcher mainly just nods and says Yeah, yeah, but I actually have no way of knowing. But I bet they aren't asking him his personal thoughts and feelings about an emotional topic the way reporters do post-game.

[LA2]

Absolutely not that has nothing to do with anything. It just seems highly suspect almost as if immediately after the interview he walks away like it was great fun fooling everyone that he doesn't understand English!

I think you ought to report Chen to the TSA. He may be a foreign operative.

[scOtt]

Threads don't get deleted. They get merged.

Old threads never die, they just fade away.

[scOtt]

It wouldn't be a problem at all if he truly didn't understand what was being said but he obviously not only understands his catcher, pitching coach and teamates without a hint of a problem as he not only hears and comprehends what they say he answers them back! If he truly didn't understand wouldn't a translator need to come out during key moments if a game? Yet they NEVER do!!

Old Fan, the difference is Chen has been here for only four years, but he was a pro in Japan for 6? He was a big name. He is more than just a player, he is a brand in Japan, and Taiwan too. He is already a rich man. He wants his public statements to be delivered with stunning clarity. Not in some language he's still learning and not deft at.

And to the same point, most of the Latin players, even the Cuban players, are not wealthy at all. They can't afford a translator. And it doesn't mean as much to them as it does to Chen.

[Barnaby Graves]

I skimmed the thread a bit, can someone bring me up to speed? We're trying to make Johnny Damon a Wow Offer so that he's not very interestingly signed by Artie Johnson?