Kelechi Iheanacho

[LCFCbwoi 158]

 
Anyway, here’s the club interview. He’s found his coat. Still cold, hopefully his English is more up to scratch though.

[UpTheLeagueFox 11,367]

2 hours ago, LCFCbwoi said:

Point still stands, Gareth Bale lived in Spain a similar amount of time and the difference between him and Nacho is Nacho has actually chosen to learn the language of the country he lived in.

I love the arrogance of the British, expecting people to pick up the language straight away whilst the majority of people on this forum will go on holiday to a Non-English speaking country and expect people to speak English back to them.

 

45 minutes ago, Neutral said:

This thread is weird. Kelechi's English is perfectly normal to me. He has been speaking some form of English most of his life. He's just a goofy, young lad who is a bit quiet and tends to slip in and out of Pidgin (Nigerian English) at times and was freezing during this interview. No one claimed the boy was an intellectual genius. It's no different than the many English players who can barely string a sentence, they've been focused on football primarily since they were 14 or 15.

i do agree that there is a British arrogance about expecting everyone else to speak English - even in their own countries - but when it comes to Iheanacho (and Ndidi for that matter), the official language of Nigeria is......................

 

 

ENGLISH.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Nigeria

Edited 11 February by UpTheLeagueFox

[Sly 2,134]

I can’t believe we’re having a debate about the interview. 
 

It’s freezing and he basically looks like he just wants to warm up. 
 

Put yourself in that situation, would you want to be doing post match interviews in a football kit at -2c?!? 
 

Well played Kelechi, may the goals keep coming! 

[NaijaFox 1,359]

1 hour ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

 

i do agree that there is a British arrogance about expecting everyone else to speak English - even in their own countries - but when it comes to Iheanacho (and Ndidi for that matter), the official language of Nigeria is......................

 

ENGLISH.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Nigeria

One still has to LEARN it, and many will never speak it as fluently as their native language(s).

That's why many Anglophone Africans still have to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to emigrate.

 

An "official" language merely governs what language is used on official documents and records.

Accordingly, many do not bother with speaking formal English, and the most widely-spoken form is Pidgin.

 

Edited 11 February by NaijaFox

[UpTheLeagueFox 11,367]

Just now, NaijaFox said:

One still has to LEARN it, and many will never speak it as fluently as their native language(s).

That's why many Anglophone Africans still have to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to emigrate.

That's true of course although the Nigerians I've met ( and others of African heritage, mainly via Tinder ) speak very impressive English. That's not knocking Iheanacho or Ndidi btw.

[NaijaFox 1,359]

1 hour ago, UpTheLeagueFox said:

That's true of course although the Nigerians I've met ( and others of African heritage, mainly via Tinder ) speak very impressive English. That's not knocking Iheanacho or Ndidi btw.

If you have met those Africans in the West, they are unlikely to be "average" Africans (tbh I'm clueless about Tinder ).

 

The reality though is that LEARNING a language (especially formally rather than colloquially) is vastly different from naturally "inheriting" same. I personally know adult foreigners (and not just Africans) who would still first think in their natural language and then translate and verbally transmit those thoughts in English (or French, Spanish, German, etc.). Obviously, I don't personally known Nacho's (nor Ndidi's) individual circumstances, but my personal experience (not least as a widely-traveled multi-lingual expatriate) is that linguistic skills are often erroneously equated with intellect.

 

Anyway, back to the FOOTBALL! Get in Nacho!! 

Edited 11 February by NaijaFox

[Plastik Man 512]

5 hours ago, MPH said:

 

Steve Mclaren could do a pretty impressive Dutch accent to be fair..

For sure.

[Duquesne Whistle 160]

The normal complaint is that he doesn't offer enough of a threat.

 

He scores the winner, and now his interview technique is the problem. Pathetic.

 

Well done Kelechi, thanks for helping us into the quarter finals.

[hejammy 1,730]

6 hours ago, LCFCbwoi said:

You’re talking about a foreign player whose second language is English. I’m sure you’d look like a bright spark speaking french in Paris after a few years 

He's actually been playing in England for 6 years. But it's not the fact that English isn't his first language. Like I said. I've met the guy and he's not the brightest. Really doesn't matter though cause he's paid to be a footballer and not a scientist. My point was that he shouldn't really be doing interviews. For example Youri and Ndidi's first language isn't English but they come across much better in interviews. 

[hejammy 1,730]

5 hours ago, NaijaFox said:

Well, does take something of a genius to meet someone superficially and leap to the conclusion that "he isn't too blessed in the intelligence department". 

 

Btw, earnestly interested as to the basis of your seemingly precipitous conclusion. Did he not speak the Queen's English properly? Did he fail at solving complex mathematical equations? Perhaps he failed to grasp the intricacies of the effects of Covid on the UK economy? Or did he simply fail to negotiate his way out of the grocery aisle or the parking lot? Here's a suggestion buddy, try sitting down for a proper conversation in his particular Nigerian language and then figure out what his "intelligence blessing" truly is. What? You cannot speak his language (even though he can passably speak yours)? Wow! We might all be compelled to re-evaluate who's really 'blessed' here.

    

Seriously not going to get into this debate with you. See my reply from others. His English language skills isn't the problem. Look at interviews with Ndidi and Youri and then compare. 

[nnfox 1,351]

People have just got it in for Iheanacho.  It's completely unjustified.  All season there is a section of our fans who berate him for basically not being Jamie Vardy when he comes on for 5 minutes at the end of a game and want him out of the club.  Last night he came on, scored a 94th minute winner to put us into the quarter finals.  Difficult to criticise his contribution on the pitch so now turn on him for his post match interview!  Give the lad a break!

[Kevin Russell 406]

Match winner, has been harshly treated, but comes into the side and delivers for the second time of late......so FT has a thread focussing on his speech/accent!

 

Seriously fellas - should be a few more on here giving credit where it’s due and focussing on why the hell we tried that absurd false 9 experiment with the increasingly frustrating Perez - rather than playing a player with the strength and ability to play as a striker.

 

Not saying he is perfect by any stretch, but it was ridiculously harsh to pick Perez ahead of him as the focal point of our attack.

 

[Le Renard 220]

Why did this thread go off into language skills?  Us Brits should be last to comment on foreign language skills....go to France or Spain and you'll find British(usually English) immigrants who have lived there for 10 years or more and they can hardly put a sentence together in Spanish or French.   Nacho scored and got us out of playing an extra 30 mins, so we should give him praise instead of criticising his language skills!

Edited 11 February by Le Renard

[RumbleFox 7,692]

This thread is one of the most depressing I’ve ever read on here, and I remember Thracian. What a strange, strange lot some of you are. 
 

Well done Nacho. You scored the winning goal for the team I support which, strange as it might sound for some, makes me happy. X 

[RumbleFox 7,692]

6 hours ago, LCFCbwoi said:

So what point are you trying to make? Gareth Bales team mate said he could speak Spanish therefore...? 

That sometimes in interviews people may be shy, awkward, etc so they may not the the ideal way to judge a player’s entire intellectual worth I assume was his point? 

 

EDIT: I think I’m wrong. It’s early. Ignore me. X 

Edited 11 February by RumbleFox

[StanSP 31,190]

God forbid someone tries a bit of humour in a post-match interview. I thought we all loved it when people went off-script or does that only apply to some players? 

[mozartfox 5,429]

49 minutes ago, Le Renard said:

Why did this thread go off into language skills?  Us Brits should be last to comment on foreign language skills....go to France or Spain and you'll find British(usually English) immigrants who have lived there for 10 years or more and they can hardly put a sentence together in Spanish or French.   Nacho scored and got us out of playing an extra 30 mins, so we should give him praise instead of criticising his language skills!

[Nalis 5,683]

Glad there's a bit of sense on this page. I thought the post match interview was humorous. Beats the usual cliched / dull comments.

[los dedos 691]

I thought it sounded like he'd picked up a bit of a Leicester accent . Maybe that's what made him sound thick 

[whoareyaaa 2,559]

more than adequete to come in for Vardy and im more confident in nacho scoring than Vardy atm thats saying something 

 

hope he gets a cup for his contribution 15 goals in cups

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson 2,922]

Really happy for Nacho, scored a couple of important goals of late and is showing his worth now, hope he keeps it up.

[Vindaloo FOX 666]

I've always liked Nacho, we are lucky to have another striker helping out with goals other than Vardy. 

[Stadt 13,357]

Kelé 

[HighPeakFox 12,562]

I'm reminded of a section from 'All Played Out', by Pete Davies, about Italia '90. At one point, some dim English fans are being spoken to by Italians.' They're taking the piss', comes the protest. How so?  asks Davies. 'Speaking foreign' comes the reply. 

 

That book still deserves reading, but if you're someone who thinks being English makes you innately superior, you'll be offended by it. 

[lcfcell 338]

11 hours ago, hejammy said:

Nacho, great at heading a last minute goal. Should never do a post match interview again. Almost car crash TV that was 

have you heard vardy’s interviews? if anything they’re just as bad. full of cliches. at least Kelechi spoke his mind.