Mao Asada’s Figure skating performance – Maosan triumphed NHK Trophy

I used to watch the Japanese television, eventhough I catch 20% of the Japanese words. The process of hearing is more important for learning a new language. Repeated hearing will engrave new words in our mind and by correlating the visual slides in television will help to form the concept on the subject.

Today I watched Mao Asada win the NHK Trophy. Whenever possible I will watch her performing figure skating. It is wonderful and exciting to watch her figure skating. She has won the World Championships in March.

I started living in Japan from February 2008. During March, I remember, when I switched on the television, I could see a Japanese girl performing figure skating impressively. I was unable to read her name written in Kanji in television. At that time except some wishing words I was totally new to Japanese language. After repeated hearing of the commentary in Japanese language, I guessed the name of the girl as Mao Asada.

Then in order to remember her name, I related her name with the Chinese communist revolution leader Mao Zedong. Normally I will forget Japanese names within 5 to 10 minutes of hearing. When I related her name with a famous leader, it was easy for me to remember.

I am great fan of Mao Asada now. I take care not to miss to watch her performance in television. Asada, after winning World championship in March has done many mistakes during her jumps at the Trophee Eric Bompard. It was unbearable to watch her pain.

Mao is 18 years old only and she has started training at a very young age. Her dedication to figure skating has taken her to the heights. Japanese fans are very supportive to Mao. Mao has done an excellent performance today. Maosan has shown the triple axel, a difficult 3.5-revolution jump that has been executed by only a handful of female skaters. She scored 191.13 in NHK Trophy today. She is well ahead of her competitors.

Mao-san’s new coach, a Russian national, is also very supportive to her like a mother. I have taken some photos from the television. Only at the final steps before finalizing the performance she was about to fall, but she laughed it off cheerfully.