StarTalk interview

[primavera♥]

This is a non-Japanese interview. It's one thing to have to do an interview which she is used to as a long-time celebrity. And it's one thing to speak English with people casually when you are not truly fluent in the language. To combine doing an interview and speaking in a language you're not really fluent in, you would expect her to behave a bit differently. And in part she exeggerates some motions to express herself. I do the same when communicating in French in front of a lot of people. I seem a bit different but still myself.

Ayu stays curving questions. It should be obvious that she doesn't want to answer certain questions that candidly. Partially because of the potential content of her answers but also partially because she would have to be more careful that she would be expressing the right thing in English.

She clearly wants to look good here and I don't think it was too much at all. I mean, she was traveling because she's featured in lingerie advertisements lol. Idk to me she's really cute here while trying not to be offensive. Because being yourself doesn't mean you should go be inappropriate on interviews.

Also bless her husband. He really fascinates me and seems precious.

But but I guess people can't try to look good without being superficial bitches lol. Ayu should try hunching over a bit and sounding a little more calm and sad so we can throw pity parties for her again or pretend like she's some sage.

[Andrenekoi]

To me she just looks unconfortable because she seens to be really concentrated on understanding the questions, answering them correctly and with proper english without saying anything compromising. It's also funny how japanese her facial expressions and body language are while speaking english, it has a really weird result. She seens to have to stop from times to times in order to find the right word on the back of her mind. And obviously she is trying to do all of that while looking good, considering looking good is a huge part of her job as a popstar.

She is just struggling through a language she still is learning while trying to look cute. If this alone makes people see her on a bad light over this forum, I guess this just speak a lot about the kind of people we found around here.

[chocopockymaster]

Originally Posted by primavera♥

This is a non-Japanese interview. It's one thing to have to do an interview which she is used to as a long-time celebrity. And it's one thing to speak English with people casually when you are not truly fluent in the language. To combine doing an interview and speaking in a language you're not really fluent in, you would expect her to behave a bit differently. And in part she exeggerates some motions to express herself. I do the same when communicating in French in front of a lot of people. I seem a bit different but still myself.

Ayu stays curving questions. It should be obvious that she doesn't want to answer certain questions that candidly. Partially because of the potential content of her answers but also partially because she would have to be more careful that she would be expressing the right thing in English.

She clearly wants to look good here and I don't think it was too much at all. I mean, she was traveling because she's featured in lingerie advertisements lol. Idk to me she's really cute here while trying not to be offensive. Because being yourself doesn't mean you should go be inappropriate on interviews.

Also bless her husband. He really fascinates me and seems precious.

But but I guess people can't try to look good without being superficial bitches lol. Ayu should try hunching over a bit and sounding a little more calm and sad so we can throw pity parties for her again or pretend like she's some sage.

I want to marry this comment.

[Brett.Mason92]

least the guy is cute and she's still promoting Winter Dairy with that look she has still

[Chibi-Chan]

If she's still struggling through the English language after all those years then her relationships with her ex-husband and husband have to be very superficial. What in the end makes her somehow superficial. If someone was married to a native German speaking person and now to a native English speaking person and therefore has to communicate through the English language with their significiant other since some time now I expect them not to struggle with those very easy questions.
It's not like you guys also have to find her superficial. But for me either her answers are superficial because she is a superficial person or she has superficial relationships because she isn't able to have a meaningful conversation with her husband what also makes her superficial in the end. Furthermore since a few years I find her superficial in general most of the time when she gives interviews or posts stuff somewhere. Since she is my favourite popstar I tried not to see her that way but her actions speak for themselves. I simply don't like her as a person anymore, what makes me very sad but it's not that I can change that. And others seem to feel the same way. I guess we are allowed to talk about that without people attacing us. It's not like we were attacing people who loved her in that interview.

[pimenta]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

If she's still struggling through the English language after all those years then her relationships with her ex-husband and husband have to be very superficial. What in the end makes her somehow superficial. If someone was married to a native German speaking person and now to a native English speaking person and therefore has to communicate through the English language with their significiant other since some time now I expect them not to struggle with those very easy questions.
It's not like you guys also have to find her superficial. But for me either her answers are superficial because she is a superficial person or she has superficial relationships because she isn't able to have a meaningful conversation with her husband what also makes her superficial in the end. Furthermore since a few years I find her superficial in general most of the time when she gives interviews or posts stuff somewhere. Since she is my favourite popstar I tried not to see her that way but her actions speak for themselves. I simply don't like her as a person anymore, what makes me very sad but it's not that I can change that. And others seem to feel the same way. I guess we are allowed to talk about that without people attacing us. It's not like we were attacing people who loved her in that interview.

Judging too much? Suddenly she's superficial and has superficial relationships because her English isn't fluent? This whole comment makes me want to bang my head against a wall...

[Yannetakizawa]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

If she's still struggling through the English language after all those years then her relationships with her ex-husband and husband have to be very superficial. What in the end makes her somehow superficial. If someone was married to a native German speaking person and now to a native English speaking person and therefore has to communicate through the English language with their significiant other since some time now I expect them not to struggle with those very easy questions.
It's not like you guys also have to find her superficial. But for me either her answers are superficial because she is a superficial person or she has superficial relationships because she isn't able to have a meaningful conversation with her husband what also makes her superficial in the end. Furthermore since a few years I find her superficial in general most of the time when she gives interviews or posts stuff somewhere. Since she is my favourite popstar I tried not to see her that way but her actions speak for themselves. I simply don't like her as a person anymore, what makes me very sad but it's not that I can change that. And others seem to feel the same way. I guess we are allowed to talk about that without people attacing us. It's not like we were attacing people who loved her in that interview.

If you conjugate a wrong phrase close to her husband , then it will say the correct way for you and you probably will laugh of the situation.

but you can not expect the same kind of situation in front of the camera.

also i don' t think a superficial relationship lasts two years .

[Andrenekoi]

Ayu married Mannie in 2011. So, it has been +- 5 years since she has being on a relationship with someone with who she spoke in English. But let's not forget Mannie wasn't a native speaker either and that Ayumi married her current husband two years ago.

It took me six full years to finish my English course, and even if they aren't sister languages, English and Portuguese both were originated on Europe, so they do have some little points in common here and there.

Japanese and English has nothing in common and were originated in opposite points of the globe. It's well known that most Japanese people have a hard time learning English, and even more speaking English because the later has tons of phonemes that doesn't exist at all in the former.

You are judging a person's character based on her language skill because she is married with a native English speaker for two years... Ok then...

[love in music]

Originally Posted by channy

I could hardly recognize Ayu in this interview o.o

She was so busy flipping her hair and working her eyes'n'mouth play that she could either barely give specific answers or simply didn't want to. It seemed somewhat ironic to me when she talked about being yourself paired with her I-don't-care-at-all attitude.

It somehow always saddens me to see the image she once had fade away, even though she's always retained fragments of it. In this interview though, I'm having a hard time feeling Ayu at all.

Seriously. It actually made me concerned for her. Like maybe something bad is going on in her life right now to make her act this way. this doesn't seem like her.

[JinHamasaki]

Originally Posted by love in music

Seriously. It actually made me concerned for her. Like maybe something bad is going on in her life right now to make her act this way. this doesn't seem like her.

Yikes. This is Ayus first English interview without editing and she gets ripped? I would be nervous as hell too if someone interviewed me in Japanese. I don't think this interview indicates she is superficial or something is going wrong. She just needs more practice in impromptu english events.

[Brett.Mason92]

it's awful how my abusive ex, I can connect now more with Ayu than him after three years after being my best friend and partner.
I hope she does more English as of course as it's my first language and I connect with it better and I want something literal to what she sings in Japanese to be able to relate to with a more sincere feeling than reading translation. It's a biased opinion to someone against "EEL THA LAUUUV" but I depend on her music too much that even I'd be hit for mentioning her. Silly but he saw I valued music more than his own deep issues I knew of at the time.

I add a lot of rational depth to simple things like her only know November performance and Snowy Kiss that they personally mean a lot but I understand I'm beyond the point of that yet I wish our relationship was still self-destructive when we were together and had the chance.

[love in music]

Originally Posted by JinHamasaki

Yikes. This is Ayus first English interview without editing and she gets ripped? I would be nervous as hell too if someone interviewed me in Japanese. I don't think this interview indicates she is superficial or something is going wrong. She just needs more practice in impromptu english events.

I don't think she even looked nervous she looked like she couldn't give 2 fucks about the interview and just wanted to look good for the camera. I think something went wrong that day at least to put her in a bad mood.

[Aderianu]

at the Alvin's birthday party Ayu wears the same dress
wonder when it was filmed - before or after. Maybe she was drunk? =)

[tenshi no hane]

Ugh I was going to stay out of this, but I can't resist making one comment:

Speaking a different language with a stranger and speaking it with someone you know is very different. With a friend or husband, you'll know what speech style to expect. You're used to their pronunciation. Her husband will probably also know what level she's at, and alter his English to it, subconsciously even.

I'm proud she has the guts to take on English interviews. Japanese and English are nothing alike. Aside from a few loanwords, there's no vocabulary to build on. And the grammar is completely different. Comparing it to English and German (or any other European language) is unfair.

[aliceshields]

Originally Posted by channy

I could hardly recognize Ayu in this interview o.o

She was so busy flipping her hair and working her eyes'n'mouth play that she could either barely give specific answers or simply didn't want to. It seemed somewhat ironic to me when she talked about being yourself paired with her I-don't-care-at-all attitude.

It somehow always saddens me to see the image she once had fade away, even though she's always retained fragments of it. In this interview though, I'm having a hard time feeling Ayu at all.

I'm with you... Esp the last paragraph...

[aliceshields]

Originally Posted by tenshi no hane

Ugh I was going to stay out of this, but I can't resist making one comment:

Speaking a different language with a stranger and speaking it with someone you know is very different. With a friend or husband, you'll know what speech style to expect. You're used to their pronunciation. Her husband will probably also know what level she's at, and alter his English to it, subconsciously even.

I'm proud she has the guts to take on English interviews. Japanese and English are nothing alike. Aside from a few loanwords, there's nothing to build on. Comparing it to English and German is unfair.

I agreed with you, as my husband is Englishman but he never talk to me in proper Brits accent (even thou is not difficult to catch). Hehe but I "spoiled" him with my Malaysian-English, haha!

[Chibi-Chan]

Originally Posted by Andrenekoi

Ayu married Mannie in 2011. So, it has been +- 5 years since she has being on a relationship with someone with who she spoke in English. But let's not forget Mannie wasn't a native speaker either and that Ayumi married her current husband two years ago.

It took me six full years to finish my English course, and even if they aren't sister languages, English and Portuguese both were originated on Europe, so they do have some little points in common here and there.

Japanese and English has nothing in common and were originated in opposite points of the globe. It's well known that most Japanese people have a hard time learning English, and even more speaking English because the later has tons of phonemes that doesn't exist at all in the former.

You are judging a person's character based on her language skill because she is married with a native English speaker for two years... Ok then...

It's not like I wouldn't know all of that. First I'm pretty sure Mannie's English was pretty good since his native language is German. And it's very easy to learn English if you speak German. If Ayu's English was worse than now 5 years ago she and Mannie surely had a superficial relationship. I'm just pretty shocked about her English since my Japanese friends all were able to speak better German in just one year. And German is way harder than English. I'm not saying she is bad person because her English isn't that improved. But like I said, that means she isn't able to communicate with Tyson all that well either what makes me think they also have a superficial relationship. Furthermore it's common for interviews that you get the questions before hand because the management checks if they are ok. So she had to know the questions beforehand and wasn't able to provide a meaningful answer. Someone also said it's different to speak to someone you know or in public. Sure it is, but not after five years and speaking on a daily basis in English.
It just is the whole picture for me. If it was just that, I wouldn't care. But a lot of things lately fit together like a puzzle so that I get the feeling Ayu the queen of depth became a very superficial person during the last years. That's the feeling I get. If you don't, well be happy you don't. lol I tried a long time to defend her for everything against myself but it reached a point were I simply don't like the persona she presents us anymore.

[mizuki-7]

Originally Posted by Chibi-Chan

If she's still struggling through the English language after all those years then her relationships with her ex-husband and husband have to be very superficial. What in the end makes her somehow superficial. If someone was married to a native German speaking person and now to a native English speaking person and therefore has to communicate through the English language with their significiant other since some time now I expect them not to struggle with those very easy questions.
It's not like you guys also have to find her superficial. But for me either her answers are superficial because she is a superficial person or she has superficial relationships because she isn't able to have a meaningful conversation with her husband what also makes her superficial in the end. Furthermore since a few years I find her superficial in general most of the time when she gives interviews or posts stuff somewhere. Since she is my favourite popstar I tried not to see her that way but her actions speak for themselves. I simply don't like her as a person anymore, what makes me very sad but it's not that I can change that. And others seem to feel the same way. I guess we are allowed to talk about that without people attacing us. It's not like we were attacing people who loved her in that interview.

As you think she is superficial since years you obviously wasn't here for listen to her answers ... what she says about her music, her dreams, what she does in private, fashion etc... is what she has always responded in the past !
Honestly some fans keep an image of Ayu stuck in the past which is sad ...

[280301]

Given that Ayu hasn't really lived overseas for a significant amount of time, I don't think her English proficiency is terrible by any means. Even if her partner speaks a differentiating language, it isn't as if her entire environment also commits to that language, and that is the major method of learning a language swiftly. Moreover, it isn't as if she is attending an institution of education (like international students are exposed to), and so her lack of interaction with people with a greater emphases on her proficiency (i.e. having to hand an assignment in, or give a group presentation in English) would disadvantage her also.

I'm not sure how proficient her staff are in English, but given that she takes Timmy everywhere with her, perhaps she doesn't have to use a lot of English overseas as her staff organise many of her activities and events for her?

[Andrenekoi]

^Timmy also speaks some Japanese, so they probably comunicate with each other with a mix of both languages depending on what they are trying to convey.