[News] Two Chinese Girls To MORNING MUSUME!

[Kira-sama]

One of my friends from Osaka just sent me an email, and he says he's been talking to other fans about the new girls, and the positive or neutral reactions outweight the negative ones.... and he also says that one of the positive things some japanese fans see here is that, given the japanese national pride, having two foreigners in the group is going to drive the rest of the girls to be BETTER, just so they won't be overshadowed by the gaijins.

i guess thats a good thing? lol

[Ms. McBackpack]

I just saw some clip from HM... So at least, Linlin can speak some Japanese, eh? What about Junjun? Can she speak Japanese at all?

[sousora]

From the looks of it, she doesn't speak any. LinLin was translating to her and for her whilst talking to Yossie.

[forever_AibonNozomi]

I guess she just need to work hard on it...
ppl who have the experience of learnin' a new language,
knows that at the beginning it is just "HARD"...to put it in a simple term...
you can't really express yourself...
you can't have a translator everywhere you go...
but I guess all the MM members understand that,too...

[reyfer]

To all those who say that they will have a hard time learning japanese, because "...I have been studying for put a number here years and still can't talk properly" remember something: learning japanese at a school in Los Angeles, or London, is not the same as learning it in Japan, being surrounded by the language, and being in a way forced to learn because, as said, that language is everywhere you go. I talk from experience. I learned in six months living in Italy what my cousin took two years studying at an italian language school in Venezuela.

[ShoujoHino]

To all those who say that they will have a hard time learning japanese, because "...I have been studying for put a number here years and still can't talk properly" remember something: learning japanese at a school in Los Angeles, or London, is not the same as learning it in Japan, being surrounded by the language, and being in a way forced to learn because, as said, that language is everywhere you go. I talk from experience. I learned in six months living in Italy what my cousin took two years studying at an italian language school in Venezuela.

EXACTLY! Plus, they're Chinese. They have kanji recognition and some similar vocabulary between the two languages, so it's like English speakers learning a romance language or German. They'll probably learn it twice as fast as an English speaker would in the same situation. It's not going to be another Coconuts Musume.

[Asmodai]

Yep. I imagine they'll have some pretty good tutors too.

Still, it's going to be a rush to get them ready to introduce themselves to the fans by Yossi's grad.

[forever_AibonNozomi]

To all those who say that they will have a hard time learning japanese, because "...I have been studying for put a number here years and still can't talk properly" remember something: learning japanese at a school in Los Angeles, or London, is not the same as learning it in Japan, being surrounded by the language, and being in a way forced to learn because, as said, that language is everywhere you go. I talk from experience. I learned in six months living in Italy what my cousin took two years studying at an italian language school in Venezuela.

well, yeah...
the best way to learn a new language is to throw yourself into that country...
there is no doubt about it...
plus, I guess there is not much time for them anyway...
since, they will be appearin' on stage in May...

[Nyago]

I don't see there being a huge rush to get them all japan-ified for their concert debut, considering the introductions are always scripted anyways. Active command of the Japanese language isn't necessary if you're just gonna memorize a script. The only thing that matters is getting the pronunciation right.

Now if we were talking about their first talk show appearance, that would be different...

[Twisted Blue]

Chinese 8th gen Morning Musume announcement on HM 2007.03.18

[Asmodai]

Thanks Thunderbolt!

[Ms. McBackpack]

Thanks for the youtube link, Thunderbolt!

Funny how Yossie laughed at first. She was probably thinking "Yes! I'm so outta here!"

[mpz]

EXACTLY! Plus, they're Chinese. They have kanji recognition and some similar vocabulary between the two languages, so it's like English speakers learning a romance language or German. They'll probably learn it twice as fast as an English speaker would in the same situation. It's not going to be another Coconuts Musume.

I don't find myself agreeing. Granted, some vocabulary is common between Japanese and Chinese (due to Japanese borrowing Kanji words as-is), but there's a lot that isn't and a lot that superficially looks the same but means something completely different.

Just because they happen to use the same characters doesn't mean the languages are related at all. It's often said that Chinese is actually closer to English in structure than Japanese. Japanese is only ever bundled together with Korean, which, while a fair comparison, is still a far cry from the similarities between Indo-European languages. Point is, I don't think they have any advantage or an easy start just because they're Chinese. No matter the language, learning a language is still going to require a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

I think LinLin will do OK, because she has been an Egg for a while so she has been in a 100% Japanese environment for a while. Junjun however.. if she can't speak Japanese at all yet, it'll be at least 2-3 years - even if you live in the country - before you can say anything remotely smart.

I am somewhat concerned and worried for them. If Morning Musume was only about singing songs, then it wouldn't matter because you can always memorize songs phonetically, but it's sooooooooooooo much more. Hello! Morning, talk shows (Utaban etc.), all kinds of events and radio shows..

The bottom line is.. Tsunku's got balls. Huuuuuuge cojones.

[Blu-Cherri]

^but since linlin seems to be able to speak it ok, probably better than she thinks she can, they're probably be translating of a few things.
some of the coconut girls didn't know it before and they eventually left with that as reason so I hope she copes well.  I mean MM are successful, Coconuts weren't so much so hopefully that'll keep her here.
especially since we'll support her, right? ^_^

[reyfer]

I think LinLin will do OK, because she has been an Egg for a while so she has been in a 100% Japanese environment for a while. Junjun however.. if she can't speak Japanese at all yet, it'll be at least 2-3 years - even if you live in the country - before you can say anything remotely smart.

The bottom line is.. Tsunku's got balls. Huuuuuuge cojones.

But you see, LinLin has been an egg only since January, so she has been in a 100% japanese environment, as you put it, only for three months and she already has basic communication, so why would JunJun take 2 years? Unless she's mentally impaired, I don't see why one could learn basic in three months and the other will need 2 years.

And right now you realize that Tsunku likes risks?

[ShoujoHino]

I don't find myself agreeing. Granted, some vocabulary is common between Japanese and Chinese (due to Japanese borrowing Kanji words as-is), but there's a lot that isn't and a lot that superficially looks the same but means something completely different.

Just because they happen to use the same characters doesn't mean the languages are related at all. It's often said that Chinese is actually closer to English in structure than Japanese. Japanese is only ever bundled together with Korean, which, while a fair comparison, is still a far cry from the similarities between Indo-European languages. Point is, I don't think they have any advantage or an easy start just because they're Chinese. No matter the language, learning a language is still going to require a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

I think LinLin will do OK, because she has been an Egg for a while so she has been in a 100% Japanese environment for a while. Junjun however.. if she can't speak Japanese at all yet, it'll be at least 2-3 years - even if you live in the country - before you can say anything remotely smart.

I am somewhat concerned and worried for them. If Morning Musume was only about singing songs, then it wouldn't matter because you can always memorize songs phonetically, but it's sooooooooooooo much more. Hello! Morning, talk shows (Utaban etc.), all kinds of events and radio shows..

The bottom line is.. Tsunku's got balls. Huuuuuuge cojones.

I didn't mean to say that they're THAT similar, but just generally Chinese and Korean learn Japanese more quickly than us English-speakers. Especially Korean, but Chinese too. If LinLin can speak and understand basic in 3 months, by May they will be able to introduce themselves, ask for help, and order food at the least. And for singing the songs, they might be able to decipher some meaning from the kanji used in the song before they are good enough to actually be able to understand the Japanese.

EDIT: And I also think that having the experience of having to overcome language barriers together will make them closer, and the difference between this and Coconuts is that they're working together, and as I said before, the Chinese will probably learn Japanese a lot faster than Danielle and Lehua were doing. I am hoping that all will go well. The girls are probably used to new people so they're not going to get all clique-y like when 2nd gen came in.

[iachu]

Great link Thunderbolt!  Much appreciated!  

...you know, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of Linlin and Junjun joining.....

[Koolmon93]

This is kinda like BoA. She knew no Japanese whatsoever before she debuted her, but look at her speaking fluently... Sure it's been 4 years, but hey! She released more singles in Japan than Korea!

[LaJon]

JunJun & LinLin: The Search for More Money

[mpz]

But you see, LinLin has been an egg only since January, so she has been in a 100% japanese environment, as you put it, only for three months and she already has basic communication, so why would JunJun take 2 years? Unless she's mentally impaired, I don't see why one could learn basic in three months and the other will need 2 years.

And right now you realize that Tsunku likes risks?

Oh, I didn't know that. I thought Linlin had been in the Eggs for like a year now. Dunno where I got that impression.

Still, she's probably studied it before she even came to Japan. I kind of got that feeling from the way she spoke (even though she spoke very little).

And Junjun is older (19 vs 15). It's well known that learning languages at an older age is more difficult and the end result is more stilted, although with hard work you can still achieve fluency.

And yes, Tsunku is fucking crazy. This is probably the biggest risk he's ever taken. Even bigger than graduating Goto way back in 2002. Then again it doesn't really matter because he's already achieved his goals like more than half a decade ago, and we all know he likes to experiment.. After all, the two newbies are referred to as "exchange students", so if it doesn't work out, dropping them is probably easier than graduating ordinary members.