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Language on ITTF site
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Normal English words for anyone who likes to read or ever had to prepare for the TOEFL exam.
For people who have English as their second language, these are very difficult. Nine out of ten wouldn't know a single word of these three. I think it is the British commentator who writes the news articles
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So I am not the only one who noticed that this specific writer likes to use 'big' words and (in my opinion) ends up sounding very pretentious and rather incomprehensible. Can't stand his articles. 
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So I am not the only one who noticed that this specific writer likes to use 'big' words and (in my opinion) ends up sounding very pretentious and rather incomprehensible. Can't stand his articles.
You need to live in a country where they try to speak the Queen's English.
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Well I am fan of many other things besides TT and most of information on the web are in English, but ITTF website made me for the first time looking for some words in translator. Just wondering if it is necessary, sometimes I do not know why people try to make easy things complicated. I have never had any troubles with understaind what Adam Bobrow is saying. Surely he does not write this articles.
I think ITTF is internation website not only for English native so it will be better if they understand that some people are not English natives or finished their education 20 years ago like me.
I think ITTF is internation website not only for English native so it will be better if they understand that some people are not English natives or finished their education 20 years ago like me.
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As a non-native English speaker, I remember these words appear in the word lists of TOEFL and GRE tests, which took me so much time to prepare in order to be admitted into Graduate School in the US.
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Alas, yonder world is most susceptible to the tides of our ever changing musings. Tis surely includeth our most precious soliloquys. Will we succumb to this atrocious bane of primitive language that scarcely resembleth the Queen's English? Forsooth! Let it not be so!
Haha! Sorry, couldn't resist. Let's all head down to the library and check out a good book or two.
Haha! Sorry, couldn't resist. Let's all head down to the library and check out a good book or two.
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Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
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Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
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Ian Marshall has been commentating and writing articles for ITTF for an unbelievably long time and knows an overwhelming amount about the history of ITTF. He has an unbelievable memory of matches and results from world tour and WTTC going back decades, you could call him The Archive. Sure sometimes he writes some less common words but he is just trying to capture the excitement of what he has seen, I don't think it's fair to blame him because some people can't understand some of the words that he uses in the articles. When you write as many articles as he does (and I can somewhat relate although my output volume is not even close) it becomes a mission to make sure you are not always using the same descriptive words over and over again in your writing. It's not as easy as it looks!
I think Ian does an amazing job for table tennis.
I think Ian does an amazing job for table tennis.
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Alas, yonder world is most susceptible to the tides of our ever changing musings. Tis surely includeth our most precious soliloquys. Will we succumb to this atrocious bane of primitive language that scarcely resembleth the Queen's English? Forsooth! Let it not be so!
Haha! Sorry, couldn't resist. Let's all head down to the library and check out a good book or two.
That made me smile...and wonder who could top that. Probably only berndtmann...
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Ian Marshall has been commentating and writing articles for ITTF for an unbelievably long time and knows an overwhelming amount about the history of ITTF. He has an unbelievable memory of matches and results from world tour and WTTC going back decades, you could call him The Archive. Sure sometimes he writes some less common words but he is just trying to capture the excitement of what he has seen, I don't think it's fair to blame him because some people can't understand some of the words that he uses in the articles. When you write as many articles as he does (and I can somewhat relate although my output volume is not even close) it becomes a mission to make sure you are not always using the same descriptive words over and over again in your writing. It's not as easy as it looks!
I think Ian does an amazing job for table tennis.
Indeed he does a very good job, although I generally prefer Bobrows commentating (or Bobrow + Marshall) over Ian Marshalls. But whenever I'm in the right mood I like to retreat to my library, wearing my paisley patterned dressing gown, nipping on a nice cup of Earl Grey, eating pork stew in peppermint sauce and watch a tt match commentated by Ian Marshall. In doing so I almost feel like an aristocratic Briton...
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Amen (especially the part about conveying emotions). Not to sound like a bore or a snob - or so be it - but OP sounds like advocating for doubleplus simple speak (if you catch my drift). Standardisation in all things is bad enough as it is.
(edit: quote got lost but I'm referring to Matt's post)
(edit: quote got lost but I'm referring to Matt's post)
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ok, I will go back and make sure you have access.
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It is a valid criticism. Writers should try to keep their audience in mind. The problem when writing for an international audience comes from using unnecessarily obscure Anglo-Saxon words like "thwarted" that don't have cognates in other languages. The "big words" are actually not the problem.
I think ITTF has bigger problems than this though.
I think ITTF has bigger problems than this though.
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Happy days then, more things to learn for everyone. On the opposite end of the scale, "X won because X is very good; Y did not win because he is not so good" will do a whole lot worse for the audience.
I do get your point of course, but I think it's fair if a match report should sometimes read like an old medieval battlefield account, Greek epic or whatever else of the kind. Again, it's all about conveying emotions (really can't think of a better phrase) and if it means people will have to open a book more often - who am I kidding -, then all the better.
[Before you ask, I haven't turned thirty yet]
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ok, I will go back and make sure you have access.
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Obviously that is not what I am calling for. Read Hemingway. Great example of someone who writes in a style accessible to pretty much anyone without resorting to "X won because X is good". Still, like I said, this is not a problem that keeps me awake at night.
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None of these words would be regarded as unusual or archaic to any native English speaker. Unless their only reading material was the Sun newspaper... What that means for non-NES is moot. But I am inclined to oppose dumbing down of the language on principal. I read a couple of other languages, and expect to need to look up some words, or infer meaning from context. The ones that get me worried are more likely to be slang than difficult or long.
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I asked my uncle who live in USA for 40 years (his wife is native american) and have more problems with polish language now after these years. Anyway I sent him these words and he does not know any of them.
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Yeah, sorry my answer was a bit over the top for emphasis. I know it's not what you suggested and by "you", I was kind of addressing the whole idea in this post (which I had originally ignored since, as you say, it's not exactly a world-threatening issue). I think I've had too much time on my hands this past couple of weeks.
Cup of coffee, anyone?
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