Teammates speaking up to Fukudome

MESA, Ariz. -- Kosuke Fukudome appears to be assimilating well with his new Cubs teammates.

Alfonso Soriano and Derrek Lee arrived Sunday. Both can speak a little Japanese. Very little, it turns out.

"Bad," Lee said of his ability. Lee's father and uncle have strong ties to Japanese baseball. "I feel terrible. I should know it. I was there for so long. Actually, at one point, I got pretty good at it. I remember, like, 'sayonara.' "

Soriano played in Japan from 1995-97.

"I forgot, but I can remember some to speak with him," he said. "Now he's here with the team, so I think I'm going to speak a little more Japanese."

Soriano is from the Dominican Republic, so he'll be working in three languages. He wouldn't mind if Fukudome joined him.

"He has to speak English because we're in America, but if he wants to speak Spanish, I can teach him Spanish," Soriano said.

Fukudome seems to appreciate the gesture.

"I'm very fortunate to have good teammates around me who try to speak my language, and I'm very appreciative of that," he said. "I'm very much settled in now."