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How to get Germans to speak German to you | ||
Tags: Convincing native speakers | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4027 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes  Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 33 of 51 17 March 2014 at 2:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another anecdote: I was in the main branch of Deutsche Bank in Mannheim, and went to the
teller. My German was not even A1. I had to change my address and some other simple stuff. I spoke in broken German, and she spoke in German (perhaps she did not speak fluent English, but I gotta believe her English would have been better than my German). She also explained how to do something at the ATM, in German. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Fuenf_Katzen Diglot Senior Member United States notjustajd.wordpress Joined 4314 days ago 337 posts - 476 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Polish, Ukrainian, Afrikaans | Message 34 of 51 17 March 2014 at 4:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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I haven't actually gone to a German speaking country yet, and even among people who I know do speak German, I don't insist on speaking it with them here (because I know that when you're in one country, sometimes it genuinely is difficult to switch languages). They usually are more than happy to do so once they find out, but I never insist on it--that's probably why my speaking level is so rough at times! I've had one instance where I asked what the problem was with my German. I had a friend come over here from Germany, and we were speaking German with each other for several weeks before her husband came over to join her. He would have conversations with the two of us together and speak with her in German and me in English--this was all one conversation, so he knew that I could understand him. At one point I got tired of going back and forth like that, so I said that I know my accent is pretty obvious, but I do understand German very well and can handle a conversation. He actually was pretty nice about it and said that no, my accent was fine, it's just an instinct to speak English to Americans in the US. We continued in German after that.
If I had been in Germany when this was taking place, I imagine I would have said something sooner. My opinion is that especially in a city, there are plenty of people who are completely content to only speak English (native language or not). If I start a conversation in German though, that's the language I'm going to use. Interestingly enough, I do some contracting work involving reading German documents and e-mail correspondence. I've read many e-mails between several German employees and a particular Norwegian employee whose German is extremely difficult to understand in writing. Considering everyone at that level really does speak English (and very good English too) I'm always surprised to see the conversations continue in German. So maybe it's not that big of a problem. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5711 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 35 of 51 17 March 2014 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | ||
Yes. I misunderstood the situation described, probably because with the hundreds of Spanish speaking people I interacted with I had two (!) encounters of a similar kind, one where a vendor in a tourism oriented shop switched to (good) English and one where a person who had a German mother in law who seemed to be hard of hearing treated me as if I was hard of hearing. (And, I look foreign, I often react slowly when I want to be sure I didn't misunderstand so people often thought they had to repeat themselves when I actually had understoof.) I'll make sure to take my time to read what's actually there in the future. (Reacting slowly ...) Edited by Bao on 17 March 2014 at 6:13pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Steffen Newbie Germany Joined 4916 days ago 27 posts - 63 votes Studies: German* | Message 36 of 51 18 March 2014 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | ||
I could't agree more. If you want to practise German, just switch to complex topics. Most Germans will be quickly out of their depths. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4413 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 37 of 51 19 March 2014 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I didn't experience any issue as to German-speaking with German people. They're quite geduldig and the only few times they switched to English was when I asked them to do so. They're also quite friendly, so I don't feel I am annoying them too much.
Of course that could be just luck on my part, but that's the impression I had. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4567 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 39 of 51 22 March 2014 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think the idea that "they all prefer to speak English with foreigners" is an old con-trick often used by British
expats who can't actually be bothered learning the language. I've been all over Germany and have spoken with hundreds of people from all walks of life and have never encountered any resistance to speak German. Academia and international banking never equates to real life for the majority. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5711 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 40 of 51 22 March 2014 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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mitsos, it's embarrassing, but I think there is some bias in how people from different countries are treated thanks to past migrant worker schemes. If you look like you're from one of those countries people will often assume it's easiest to communicate with you in German.
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