WITH empty stadiums and no cheering fans, the delayed 2020 Olympics will look a little different this year.

For those wanting to experience the event at home, the language experts at Busuu have come up with a guide on understanding the Japanese commentary.

Many of us will be cheering on North Wales' athletes like Jade Jode and Victoria Thornley - so these Japanese phrases could be useful if you're shouting for your favourite shenshu to win kin!

They’ve looked at the words most commonly associated with the event, like medal, gold and athlete, and translated them into Japanese.

Other words cover the places the sports will play out in, like velodrome for cycling, pool for swimming and diving events and track for all the races.

Busuu’s language experts have also spelt them out phonetically for those willing to learn the language while enjoying the televised sports on offer.

Some are fairly straight forward. Gold, for example, is pronounced ‘kin’, silver is ‘gin’ as in gingham and bronze is dou.

Anyone taking part in the games can be described as ‘senshu’, which literally means someone who has chosen to play sports.

Others are slightly trickier. The winner is pronounced ‘yuushousha’ and the velodrome is ‘berodoroomu’.

Japanese Language Expert Maiko Miyoshi at Busuu said: “The sporting event will be a much more low-key this year, but we can still enjoy all the great moments from the comfort of our own homes.

"What those who normally attend in person will miss out on is experiencing the Japanese culture – being in a different environment, witnessing a different way of living, trying new food and drink and, of course, learning the language.

"That's why we've put together this guide. It'll give armchair spectators the chance to learn some of the language and if they do hear the odd word in Japanese, hopefully they will understand it, too.

"Japanese is one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn, but this is certainly a good place to start, while enjoying everything this great event has to offer."

Here is the full list of translated words by Busuu:

English - Japanese phonetic

  • Gold Kin
  • Silver Gin
  • Bronze Dou
  • Medal Medaru
  • Athlete Asuriito
  • Swimmer Suimaa (or suiei senshu)
  • Track Torakku
  • Pool Puuru
  • Marathon Marason
  • Javelin Yarinage
  • Relay Riree
  • Baton Baton
  • Velodrome Berodoroomu
  • Gymnast Shintaisou senshu
  • Long jump Hashiri habatobi
  • Winner Yuushousha
  • Flag Hata (or kokki for national flag)