On Feb 22, 6:46*pm, ai8o wrote:
On Feb 22, 1:59*am, bpnjensen wrote:





On Feb 21, 10:42*pm, ai8o wrote:

I heard Radio Japan NHK this evening *0510-0530z
February 22,2010 on approximately 9770KHz.
The broadcast was in English,.
The broadcast * seemed to be intended for somewhere other than North
America.
The sound quality was poor ,the signal was weak and fading completely
out at times.

R. Japan has an English broadcast directed toward Africa at that time
on 9770, relayed via France (viawww.PrimeTimeShortwave.com). *This is
probably what you heard. *Not a bad catch, actually, depending on
where you are located.

Bruce Jensen

I am in the western piedmont of North Carolina.
The BC was fading deeply, almost totally gone at times at times, but I
did manage to catch the S/off ID.
The announcer had a North American English accent. Not what I expected
from anasian broadcaster.

73
Dan
AI8O

Many people from Asia are very strong in English as a second language
- however, I think actual westerners at Asian and other shortwave
stations are pretty common. I was just listening to CRI Beijing
yesterday briefly for an ID, and sure enough, a woman with a proper
English accent identifies herself as being an announcer in Beijing for
CRI, and when she says her name (a proper English name) you could have
knocked me over with a feather.

Bruce Jensen

bpnjensen wrote:
Many people from Asia are very strong in English as a second language
- however, I think actual westerners at Asian and other shortwave
stations are pretty common. I was just listening to CRI Beijing
yesterday briefly for an ID, and sure enough, a woman with a proper
English accent identifies herself as being an announcer in Beijing for
CRI, and when she says her name (a proper English name) you could have
knocked me over with a feather.

That means very little. She could be Chinese from Hong Kong with a British
father, or someone who changed the pronunciation of their Chinese name to
fit British standards.

It's also very common for DJ's, news "readers", actors, etc to take western
sounding names or more common sounding names to make them more attractive
to the public. For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive, although I'd say it's likley you have never heard of
him by that name.

As for NHK, they also have an English language TV service, which is on
DBS here. My kids watch it.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
bpnjensen wrote:
Many people from Asia are very strong in English as a second language
- however, I think actual westerners at Asian and other shortwave
stations are pretty common. I was just listening to CRI Beijing
yesterday briefly for an ID, and sure enough, a woman with a proper
English accent identifies herself as being an announcer in Beijing for
CRI, and when she says her name (a proper English name) you could have
knocked me over with a feather.

That means very little. She could be Chinese from Hong Kong with a British
father, or someone who changed the pronunciation of their Chinese name to
fit British standards.

I do know that CRI (40dB over S-9 here) has a couple expats as announcers on
their regular China Drive show. One is from the US, the other from, IIRC,
New Zealand. Can't say whether they're there because of their political
beliefs, or just to make a Yuan...

Brenda Ann wrote:

I do know that CRI (40dB over S-9 here) has a couple expats as announcers on
their regular China Drive show. One is from the US, the other from, IIRC,
New Zealand. Can't say whether they're there because of their political
beliefs, or just to make a Yuan...

Political beliefs as in worldwide communist domination, or the right to
shop at Wal-Mart (where almost everything is made in the PRC)?

:-)

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.

On Feb 23, 4:23*am, "Brenda Ann"
wrote:
"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in ...

bpnjensen wrote:
Many people from Asia are very strong in English as a second language
- however, I think actual westerners at Asian and other shortwave
stations are pretty common. *I was just listening to CRI Beijing
yesterday briefly for an ID, and sure enough, a woman with a proper
English accent identifies herself as being an announcer in Beijing for
CRI, and when she says her name (a proper English name) you could have
knocked me over with a feather.

That means very little. She could be Chinese from Hong Kong with a British
father, or someone who changed the pronunciation of their Chinese name to
fit British standards.

I do know that CRI (40dB over S-9 here) has a couple expats as announcers on
their regular China Drive show. One is from the US, the other from, IIRC,
New Zealand. Can't say whether they're there because of their political
beliefs, or just to make a Yuan...

Thanks, Brenda. I guess this gets to my fascination with the
phenomenon. If CRI wants to put its best foot forward, do they have
their own best native-born people do the talking (which of late they
have done pretty effectively IMHO), or do they put forward some
sympathetic Westerners who have the appropriate gift of gab? Of the
announcers' beliefs - I cannot speak for anyone else, but as a person
who does not buy into the Communism "thing" or much else that goes
along with living under such a regime, I'd have a mighty hard time
staying in Beijing if my primary goal was to have a broadcasting
career. Assuming, of course, that they'd allow me to leave... ;-)

FWIW, here in North America west coast, CRI blasts in on several
channels, and its domestic subsidiaries and jammers muddle up quite a
number more. Every other 5 kHz channel has Chinese radio on it - but
you knew that.

Bruce

On Feb 23, 3:39*am, "Geoffrey S. Mendelson"
wrote:
bpnjensen wrote:
Many people from Asia are very strong in English as a second language
- however, I think actual westerners at Asian and other shortwave
stations are pretty common. *I was just listening to CRI Beijing
yesterday briefly for an ID, and sure enough, a woman with a proper
English accent identifies herself as being an announcer in Beijing for
CRI, and when she says her name (a proper English name) you could have
knocked me over with a feather.

That means very little. She could be Chinese from Hong Kong with a British
father, or someone who changed the pronunciation of their Chinese name to
fit British standards.

Yes, I realize this - but the mannerisms, the flow of speech, the
timbre of the voice and everything I could tell, suggested a solidly
European background. Not that it matters - I was just surprised

It's also very common for DJ's, news "readers", actors, etc to take western
sounding names or more common sounding names to make them more attractive
to the public. For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive, although I'd say it's likley you have never heard of
him by that name.

Yeah, I know. Why an international shortwave program host would do
this is beyond me - I doubt if psychologically it would make much
difference to the listening audience. Similarly and as an example,
there is a reporter by the name of Willoughby who works at/for Radio
Prague in the Czech Republic, and he fully gives the impression that
he is not a native-born Czech but an import who does English service
for them. Not as extreme an example as the CRI example, but along the
same lines. Everything is international these days.

As for the movies - I am neither a big fan nor detractor of Marion
Morrison, whose pseudonym I know well, although I have enjoyed a few
of his movies when they were good movies. He played a limited number
of character types, and played them very well. Some of his somewhat
lesser known movies (such as The Quiet Man) are among his better
ones. I have yet to see John Ford's "Stagecoach", which is on my list
of must-sees. A movie I enjoy very much is 'The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valance" but as much or more for the ensemble cast, the story and the
fine Ford direction as for MM's performance.

As for NHK, they also have an English language TV service, which is on
DBS here. My kids watch it.

Geoff.

Not surprised at all by this last.

Bruce
*******

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel *N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.

Bob Dobbs wrote:
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive,

Who could be a fan of a draft dodging phoney,
well, maybe cuhu.

His draft dodging is questionable, and to answer your question, look at Jane
Fonda, who actually fired a North Vietnamese anti-aircaft gun at US airplanes.

Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

Bob Dobbs wrote:
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive,

Who could be a fan of a draft dodging phoney,
well, maybe cuhu.

His draft dodging is questionable, and to answer your question, look at Jane
Fonda, who actually fired a North Vietnamese anti-aircaft gun at US airplanes.

Did she actually fire it or was she simply photographed sitting on it?



Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge or
understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the situation.
i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found in the Wikipedia.

dxAce wrote:


"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

Bob Dobbs wrote:
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive,

Who could be a fan of a draft dodging phoney,
well, maybe cuhu.

His draft dodging is questionable, and to answer your question, look at Jane
Fonda, who actually fired a North Vietnamese anti-aircaft gun at US airplanes.

Did she actually fire it or was she simply photographed sitting on it?

It was a Russian gun, wasn't it?

On Feb 23, 8:42*am, dave wrote:
dxAce wrote:

"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote:

Bob Dobbs wrote:
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
For example, I'm sure you were a big fan of Marion Morrison
when he was alive,

Who could be a fan of a draft dodging phoney,
well, maybe cuhu.

His draft dodging is questionable, and to answer your question, look at Jane
Fonda, who actually fired a North Vietnamese anti-aircaft gun at US airplanes.

Did she actually fire it or was she simply photographed sitting on it?

It was a Russian gun, wasn't it?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Either Soviet or a Chinese copy. N.Vietnam did not have it's own
industry in those days. Majority of Russian weaponry was based on
sucessful Western designs . T-34 and maxim machine gun are the most
obvious. BTW Jane Fonda was married to none other than Ted Turner for
10 years!