Morning Musume. '14 12th gen - Golden audition

[Celedam]

Pronunciation from reading a memorized statement isn't really indicative of fluency one way or another. ... So imo we need to hear her having an unrehearsed conversation in English first before we figure out her level of fluency.

This. Everyone (except experienced actors and presenters) sounds awkward when reading from prepared text. Miki sounds pretty much the same as Kaori Horiuchi from Backstage Pass, and we know Kaori is fluent.

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

Also, she gets her l's and r's correct. Maybe she'll be able to stop the engrish in songs by some of the girls?

Her english is pretty good, but it gives me the chills whenever i hear it, because it's so weird seeing a H!P girl speaking more than "haro eburiwan! mai nemu izu _________!!! Sanku yuuu!!!"

[forgetmenots]

It also doesn't help she's still talking with a Japanese audience in mind. I know that way of speaking from when I teach May J talks like that as well when she speaks English on J-Melo I noticed. For someone who has not spoken much English in five years or so she's got a pretty good grasp of it.

As a side note you can't really compare singing pronunciation to talking pronunciation. Singing is all about mimicry (As I'm sure anyone whose done a choir song in another language can testify) while talking is much less focused and practiced. My closest Japanese friend can sing with absolute perfect pronunciation, but her talking is very much heavily accented. Japanese speakers especially suffer because of Waseigo, or the words they have adapted from English and other languages, but written in katakana so that they lose their original pronunciation. I have to fight against that every day I teach ~_~ It's why the 5 year olds I work with sound much better as well since they have yet to become stubborn on the pronunciations. But I heavily digress ...

[Amped]

Ogata Haruna said she talked with Osaka born member, Nakanishi Kana. I wonder how that conversation was like..
http://ameblo.jp/mm-12ki/entry-11967393649.html

[CaptainBerryzGiraffe]

probably not understandable.

[Zunu]

As a side note you can't really compare singing pronunciation to talking pronunciation.

True I was kind of cheating there, but there's not much to go on; I couldn't really think off hand of someone who sounded fluent speaking prepared English but really wasn't. Like you said, spoken J-English tends to sound really bad even when done by normally fluent people because they have to alter the pronunciation and grammar so that their Japanese audience will make out the loan words and set phrases.

[Amped]

Space Shower TV plus special - 12th gen interviews, Leader Mizuki, Sub-leaders Eripon, Haruna interviews

part 1


part 2


part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zInqGspT5o

part 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuaQfJr_rvM

part 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmWZDCu2Vck

won't be up for long.

[Jessi]

Oh my god! I love hearing Haruna speak in Osakaben. Please never stop! They should call her Osaka like in Azumanga Daioh. I would be in love with her if that happened.

[Shabranikuduu]

I'm really looking forward to 12th gen's debut. They all seem amazing. And I'm glad Haruna wants to keep on speaking in Osaka-ben, I think it's really neat when members keep their original dialect.

[koregaboku]

Ogata and Nonaka admire Riho for her performance. Nonaka particularly admires Riho for her "stoic"-ness.
Ogata and Makino admire Sayu.
Makino also admires Fuku-chan.
Haga admires Kudo for her husky voice and her cuteness. She also admires Sakura.