Ladies Night+can ayu speak english?
 

Hey. I recently watched the PV for ladies night, and the bit in english is spoken really well. Is that actually Ayu saying that?
Also, alot of the time she's speaking a little english. Does that mean she speaks English?
I hope she brings her music over here!

BTW, Does anyone have the lyrics/translation of Ladies Night? Or even what she was saying. Something along the lines of...

.......... Hate it, but even so, you don't ever need to think you have failed.

I dunno what she ways saying, the bass played over it!

She doesn't speak fluent english. if you watch her concerts you just hear say "sank you" "come on!" "here we go". and if my memory corrects me someone said that wasnt her speaking in the video.. There is a translation of the song somewhere here but I don't think the rap part is included.

I think she speaks a littel english. Mostly just polite phrases etc... (she thanks the people in her Bold & Delicious pv) but i think i read somewhere that she herself said her english isn't good. For example when she had her vocal training etc... in new york before her debut she didn't actually speak any english to anyone or even leave her appartment/room much. She had a handler who did everything for her, including getting food etc.. so i wouldn't be surprised if her english was sub par.

I do remember her speaking on the mtv asia awards a few years back where i believe she said "Thankyou everybody, i love you all" after her performance.

However, even if ayu was fluent in english, i doubt she'd have success on western shores. Look at Utada for example. Exodus was a good album, but it's success (or lack of as is the case) just goes to show that sadly, asian artist have very little crossover appeal. I also believe utada's music is much more suited to a western market than ayu's, so if she can't succeed i really can't see ayu managing it.

It's a sad truth :(

Check here:
http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37962
(English part in Ladys Night)

Haha, you read that here because I was the one who translated the talk where she mentioned that stuff! ^_^

I really don't think she's at all near fluent in English. If you watch the making of B&D, she doesn't say a word of English to the make-up artist who was joking with Ayumi the whole time (I think she was laughing because of his gestures and not at what he was saying). Whether or not she is good at pronouncing the few words she knows is pointless, too. For example, the group Soulhead is amazingly good at pronouncing English (they sound fluent) but I recently found out that they don't speak English at all.

i watched the making videos on my dvd and she does say SO CUTTEEE about marron to someone, and she does say THANK YOU GUYS in the bold and delicious PV

however i think it is noted that ayu didnt rap the english parts, if you look at the credit pamphlet, it says VOVOCAL (something like that) and has some girls name

I don't think so, I think she can probably speak english fluently by now. She has said so many things in english. Even in the Bold & Delcious PV she says "Thank you! Thank you guys!" She even sang in english last year "White Christmas" right? And I could understand what she was singing, and she has all english titles for her songs except a few like Hanabi, and she puts english in her songs.
Well that's just my opinion, I don't know for sure weather she can speak it fluently or not. >.<

She doesn't speak english but atleast she tries. Which I think is progress and maybe she can even master the language

True. I don't think she's fluent with English but she has some sort of background for this language. Maybe some day she'll eventually master English.

well, on her way through her career I think she´ve learned more or less phrases but I don´t think she can speak fluent english =)

It doesn't sound like Ayu speaking in Ladies Night. I think it's someone else. I'm sure she knows some English (from school) but doesn't get to apply it often. I'm sure she's not fluent, but she does know a good amount.

In the video she was singing it... usually artists don't sing a part that is only backup when filmed, no?

She was saying it, but it doesn't sound like her voice at all.

I do remember that she looked rather confused when Mandy Moore was speaking to her.

And Exodue most likely didn't succeed because there wasn't a lot of publicity for the album. If it was like Britney Spears who had her face everywhere when her album came out then it might have been successful.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that Ayu was learning how to speak English - But I think that was from a few years back, so maybe she knows more than we think she does :o

the only english ive heard her speak, is Someday My Prince Will Come, White Christmas, "thank you guys", "put yur hands", "c'mon c'mon c'mon!", and "ok"

MAN you people.
She can speak english.
If you look online or do research, MOST JAPANESE CAN SPEAK ENGLISH - maybe not PERFECT, FLUENT english, but english.

Her concerts are no proof. She uses a Japanese accent because she's talking to a JAPANESE crowd.

If most Japanese know ENGLISH, why wouldn't Japan's most famous/best selling artist not know english?!

Anyways...It says all the time - Ayu writes her own lyrics.
Verdict: then who the hell wrote Real Me?
Ayu maybe? Hm...let me think about it.

EDIT:..........errm..I seem to be in a mood today, scuse me.
Anyways, there's your point.

Thank you! Took the words right out of my mouth! ^_^

I don't know where you get your facts from, you should probably post some links. Even then, Ayumi might not be part of the majority that you speak of.

re: "Real Me" comment -- If you look in the booklet for "Rainbow", there are 3 people listed as translators. She uses two languages in that album: Japanese and English. I don't think she needs a translator for her native language so it's reasonable to assume she needed a translator for the English parts.

[edit]
I just rewatched the "Ladies Night" PV and listened to the mp3 and don't think the person doing the English part is Ayumi. She doesn't even mouth the words to the English 'rap' in the PV (if you look closely, she's just mouthing other things)

After seeing a scan of the inside booklet, the credits for "Ladies Night" credit 3 non-Japanese ladies for background vocals and a woman for the Vocoder Voice (this is the synth 'rap' part). So, Ayumi does not sing the English for sure.

^that makes me sad...i thought it was ayu. :(

During her LOVEppears era, releasing the album LOVEppears I think she could have done well in EUrope (Dance music), considering the type of music that was popular then. SHe probably woulden't hit big though. When it comes to a lot of dance music few people seem to care about the lyrics, (Like dragostea din tei)
. As Ayumi is no one hit wonder artist. I doubt it would suite her.

I think the biggest problem many j-artists would face abroad except for language barriers is their singing style.

English is a required part of Japanese people's primary education, but that sure doesn't mean most Japanese can speak English. Think of it this way: people are required to take a second language in America, but does anyone really remember how to speak it once they leave school? No, not unless they keep up with the practice.

As an American studying abroad in Japan, let me assure you that you cannot trust in the English skills of Japanese people just because they were required to learn it at one point in their lives.

^^but again, as said before, her handler did everything, and she even said on TV that she stayed in her room.

I was also under the impression that most Japanese people could speak English, of course not fluently, but definitely little phrases here and there. But then again, I would think that as English is becoming more and more popular around the world, many people can speak English, or at least know how to say most of the basic phrases.

But I think that her English is definitely limited to Hello, Goodbye, Thank you, Your welcome. At the MTV Asia Awards in 2002, as said above, she did say, "Thank you so much, I love you all." But also while they gave her the award she just kept saying "thank you" which I think is one of the things she can definitely say without getting looks of confusion, or being confused herself.

I think that with English, its easier to understanf than speak? like, if you asked for directions in Japan, someone would probably be able to help you, and with the overwhelming number of foreigners in places like Shibuya and the Roppongi District, you would think that the people who lived there would assume that you did not speak Japanese, or would try to talk to you in Enlgish.

I've always wondered it she can too... I mean at least can she interact with english speakers... If so I'll bet her accent is very adorable! But spending all that time in NY had to help her english tremendously... even if she can't really communicate alot I'll bet she learned alot from that trip!

I'm glad there's a person speaking from recent experience. When I went to Japan the first time, my family and I were initially under the impression that there'd be a lot of people who could speak English but we were wrong. When we wanted to find a street (their address system is somewhat odd) there was a lot of pointing and gesturing. Realistically, though, you can get around without knowing the language.

Also, regarding use of sporadic English and the possibilities of fluency: think of it this way, it's just like how so many non-Japanese speaking members here use phrases like "kawaii", "sayonara", "konnichi wa", "ohayou", "sugoi". You know the basics and possibly say it perfectly but that doesn't mean you can converse, right? It's just like how many people memorize Ayu's lyrics & the translation.

For ladies night ->
B.G.vocal：Gloria Ryann， Chantale Cerisier， Vickie Natale
Vocoder Voice：Jusme

don't have time to check if it's already posted or not.. but here is the info xD Ayu didn't sing it.. but that doesn't take away anything I said earlier about Ayu speaking english

see I always thought the rumors about kids having to learn english were false... do they take a foreign language at a young age? Or is it even required...?


oh and the Vocoder voice is probably the word 'danger' not the rap that everyone is debating right? Because the rap doesn't sound THAT synthesized right?

^English is a required subject in Japanese primary education.

DEVILAYU: YES, the address system hurts my brain! @_@

Also as another side point...if Japanese people were all great at English, you'd see a lot less...um...molestations of the language all over the place. Check out www.engrish.com for lots of funny examples.

ROFL, I WENT TO THAT SITE. Got a good laugh out of it! XD XD XD XD

nope, she definetely doesn't have fluent english. i'm 100% sure of that.

omg me too!! :roflmao

No, she can't speak fluent English, but she knows enough of it.

Note: The background vocal people were also credited in 'Bold&Delicious' which means that they are part of the SPECIAL CHOIR. I think they just sang the background in the chorus, not the "rapping" parts.

True, she probably knows enough to get around.

O_O That really surprises me that Soulhead doesn't speak English at all....they really do sound fluent.

- Haven't checked this thread in a while.
Anyway, about real me.
Yes, they have translated it, but it rhymed perfectly, I doubt ayu's lyrics somehow translated perfectly to rhyme. She had to know enough english to write that song.

And i get my facts from sources where i practice my Japanese. Alot of the time, it mentions japanese artists time-by-time. I heard that most japanese CAN speak a little english. I Did not say that Ayu can speak perfect, nice vocabulary, and grammar english, but english.

I do tons of research on the japanese language, and japanese people, and iv'e come across that fact many times. Most Japanese people can speak english, atleast some.