Dafabet Northern Ireland Open

[throtts]

Interesting to hear Ronnie say he struggles to hit centre ball. Has anyone actually done a shot with the "cue cam" yet? Obviously not designed by a snooker player.

Yep, I did say on the Coaching Forum a while back that lots of pros do not hit centre cue ball..But after tens of thousand of hours of playing its all compensated for automatically within their technique.

Never used a cue cam, even my camera is mega dusty ( I am a miserable old git, bud ).

[throtts]

if Williams turns up will his head be there ?
terrible to be in that position....
hope all comes ok for all....

Yep, it has to have an effect, even a guilty one from not being at her side.

Not sure of her condition. Hope its not serious.

[DeanH]

Dafabet Northern Ireland Open

has MJW been on FB?

[throtts]

Not sure, bud. Not allowed on that

[ADR147]

has MJW been on FB?

yes he was on earlier.

[DeanH]

has MJW been on FB?

yes he was on earlier.

Obviously I meant if not bad scenario but if not too bad....
Prayers with the Williams family

[jonny66]

Yep, I did say on the Coaching Forum a while back that lots of pros do not hit centre cue ball..But after tens of thousand of hours of playing its all compensated for automatically within their technique.

Never used a cue cam, even my camera is mega dusty ( I am a miserable old git, bud ).

I think fear of side is worse than side itself, like the devil but that's for another thread.

I hope all is well in the Williams family.

[Odrl]

Not a great match in the end, with both players feeling the pressure more than I expected, particularly Lyu. Let's hope Williams is okay to play tomorrow. :smile:

I'm not an expert about languages, but in Chinese it's very much about the accentuation. When I was in China they told me I shouldn't even try to pronounce a word if I wanted to go to a specific place by taxi, but had to show the driver written this place on a card, cause I would certainly pronounce it wrong.

Words that seem the same (in the english translation) can have a totally different meaning if pronounced differently. It has to do much with the symbols of their language. I know from Japanese that words or names that seem the same to us cause they have the same translation can be written with totally different symbols (for example in Haruki Murakamis novels in the german version there is sometimes explained when it matters that a characters name is written with this and this signs) I guess this will be true for Chinese as well.

I'm definitely not an expert myself, but I do find things like that fascinating. This Youtube channel has a couple of nice videos about stuff like that, although most videos seem to be about ancient swords and armour. :smile: This video in particular talks about some of the intricacies of Mandarin Chinese, most of which are quite difficult to comprehend for someone whose native language doesn't really have those concepts.

Most foreigners pronounce the letter "i" the way it is pronounced in their native language so Manchester City becomes Manchester See-tee and Sydney becomes Syd-nay. The most annoying for me as a snooker fan is the way that the Polish commentators say "kick" They call it a "keek" Hopefully the new chalk will eradicate kicks so I don't have to hear that any more.

That's a great example actually. As a Slovenian, I totally get what you mean, and there is a good chance I mispronounce "Higgins" and "kick" that way myself. It would be really difficult to explain to someone over here that there is some discernible difference between their pronunciation and the correct one. Another example would be the way most people here would say "Robertson", pronouncing the letter "o" exactly the same in both syllables.

That said, most commentators and journalists do at least make an effort, even if those intricacies are lost on them. For example, no one would pronounce Michael Schumacher and Michael Phelps the same way, or stuff like that. :smile:

[Stony152]

That's a great example actually. As a Slovenian, I totally get what you mean, and there is a good chance I mispronounce "Higgins" and "kick" that way myself. It would be really difficult to explain to someone over here that there is some discernible difference between their pronunciation and the correct one.

It's really not that difficult if you give it an honest try. Most European athletes, like tennis players, don't even try to get it right.

The word "seat" is mostly pronounced correctly. The "ea" has a pronunciation very similar to the "i" in many European languages. However, when you want to say the word "sit" you have to get your brain to forget about how it would be said in your language. This "i" is pronounced in a way that is between the "i" and "y" sounds in languages other than English. Probably closer to "y" than to "i".

[Csmith]

That's true. I believe he mostly grew up in Canada and learned to play snooker there. I think the problem now is that kids growing up first trying 8 ball or 9 ball because most pool halls have smaller tables with larger pockets. Snooker is so difficult, that it can be really frustrating for recreational players.

I think the other factor is American culture and TV. Snooker is pretty much unknown in the US and Canadians tend to follow what's popular there. These days, unlike in the 1980s, you never see snooker or darts on Canadian TV. I'm just thankful for Eurosport and YouTube.

He did spend his formative years here. I've found results from past Canadian Championships with him in it, and he didn't even win! There was some pretty strong players.

Ya, the learning curve for snooker so steep that people may play for a laugh but stick with pool. Same thing in cities where there are a lot of 7 foot bar boxes, new players gravitate to the easier table over the 9 footers.

[SnookerFan]

Will there even be a final today, I wonder?

[Odrl]

It's really not that difficult if you give it an honest try. Most European athletes, like tennis players, don't even try to get it right.

The word "seat" is mostly pronounced correctly. The "ea" has a pronunciation very similar to the "i" in many European languages. However, when you want to say the word "sit" you have to get your brain to forget about how it would be said in your language. This "i" is pronounced in a way that is between the "i" and "y" sounds in languages other than English. Probably closer to "y" than to "i".

I see what you mean. It's quite easy to pronounce "seat" and "sit" like in the video, and this will help me to finally get "leave" and "live" right as well. :smile: Now that I think of it, the concept of a short "i" as opposed to a slightly prolonged one exists in Slovenian as well. Most one-syllable words with the "i" vowel are pronounced like "sit" in English. In words with multiple syllables, the "i" is prolonged if it is in the stressed syllable of the word and short otherwise. This then presents a problem when encountering words like "Higgins", which have a short "i" on the stressed part of the word. I can't think of anything that is pronounced that way in Slovenian. :smile:

The letter "y" doesn't exist in Slovenian, so "i" is the only way to get that sound. Combinations of other letters would be pronounced differently as well. For instance, the "ea" like in the word "seat" would always be pronounced like in SEAT the car, and "ee" would almost always mean the first "e" was the end of one syllable and the second "e" was the start of another.

At the risk of going further off topic, another thing I really struggle with is the word "true" in English. I can never make it sound any different than "through". Do you have any tips for that? :smile:

[jonny66]

I see what you mean. It's quite easy to pronounce "seat" and "sit" like in the video, and this will help me to finally get "leave" and "live" right as well. :smile: Now that I think of it, the concept of a short "i" as opposed to a slightly prolonged one exists in Slovenian as well. Most one-syllable words with the "i" vowel are pronounced like "sit" in English. In words with multiple syllables, the "i" is prolonged if it is in the stressed syllable of the word and short otherwise. This then presents a problem when encountering words like "Higgins", which have a short "i" on the stressed part of the word. I can't think of anything that is pronounced that way in Slovenian. :smile:

The letter "y" doesn't exist in Slovenian, so "i" is the only way to get that sound. Combinations of other letters would be pronounced differently as well. For instance, the "ea" like in the word "seat" would always be pronounced like in SEAT the car, and "ee" would almost always mean the first "e" was the end of one syllable and the second "e" was the start of another.

At the risk of going further off topic, another thing I really struggle with is the word "true" in English. I can never make it sound any different than "through". Do you have any tips for that? :smile:

Move to Ireland

I teach English for a living, but it's my day off.

[JimMalone]

Mark Williams tweeted this about one hour ago:

Right , better get ready for the first session of the final then ������

I hope this means, his wifes condition is already better.

[Stony152]

At the risk of going further off topic, another thing I really struggle with is the word "true" in English. I can never make it sound any different than "through". Do you have any tips for that? :smile:

Don't listen to Ken Doherty.

The consonant sounds that my students have the most difficulty with are the two different "th" sounds, "tr" and "dr"

three, think, through
the, this, that, these, those
trip, tree, Trump
drink, drive, dream

It just takes practice and it makes things a lot easier if you know a native English speaker that you can talk to. There are also slight differences between American/Canadian English (that I speak) and British English.