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When you meet target-language speakers... | ||
Tags: Native Speakers | Speaking | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5204 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes  Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 22 25 November 2014 at 1:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm curious about what people do when they meet someone who speaks a language they are learning, and how it might change based on the situation. I'm not saying there's a "best" way to do it, and I know it's not even a big deal really; as I say, I'm asking mainly just out of curiosity!
Say you study French and you're introduced to a friend of a friend who happens to be French, or you meet French people in a hostel you're staying in, or in a random conversation at a bar, or at a party, or in a work situation... basically any "normal" social setting, as opposed to something specifically focused on language practice like a meetup or exchange. Do you mention that you're learning or you speak their language? If so, straight away ("Oh, you're French, I speak French!"), or do you wait for an appropriate moment? Does how you handle it change based on your level in the language (are you "learning" or do you "speak")? Do you use it as an opportunity to practice the language? For the polyglots, is it different for different languages? And I'll be particularly interested in input from learners of less common languages as well as ones like French that everyone and their dog has at least contemplated studying. Similarly, if you're at a party and overhear a group speaking your TL, would you just go and join them and start speaking in it? I've had mixed reactions doing that. Personally, I used to be more keen to mention it and even try to squeeze a practice opportunity out of it, but these days I'm more hesitant and often don't even bother. I think there are both positive and negative reasons for this. I have less of an ego about languages these days so I'm not too interested in showing off, and I have less of a scarcity mentality towards practice opportunities so I don't feel the need to force a normal social interaction into one. On the other hand, I think bad experiences with native speakers have made me more shy about it than I once was, and I'm sick of the "why are you learning our useless language?" attitudes. Mentioning my Italian study has more than once turned a pleasant interaction into a sort of interrogation about my motivations and my level. Then again, there have been other times when doing so has turned generic small-talk into a much deeper discussion and surely caused me to make a more memorable impression. This question came to my mind because I was in a hostel at the weekend, and ended up sitting with a group of people from France, Italy and Spain. I opted to continue the light-hearted banter as opposed to going "hey, so I know all your languages...". They'll never know; too bad. Edited by garyb on 25 November 2014 at 1:40pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5763 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 2 of 22 25 November 2014 at 2:00pm | IP Logged | ||
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"Oh, you're French? Which city are you from? Oh, I have been there!/Oh, I haven't been there yet, I'd love to go there some day. Care to tell me more about your city? Yes, I've been to [another French city], it was very interesting, but I still struggle with French, so I feel my experience there was incomplete ... I want to learn more about the language and the culture, and go again when I can ..."
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| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5233 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 3 of 22 25 November 2014 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have a couple of degrees of social situations. Firstly at work where there are a number of people who speak various languages, I ask them if they'll practice with me, and we chat on non-work related subjects.
I rarely go out and "Level-Up" like Moses McCormick, but I did take the opportunity to abuse and destroy Mandarin at a Mall where there was a sort of business exchange thing happening. It wasn't pretty, and I think I made a young woman doubt my sanity. I remember sitting in Oxford at a restaurant with my daughter and some young Italians (young to me anyway) who were eating and chatting in Italian. I eavesdropped for a little while, but stopped because I chuckled at a remark they made about the poor service (which I agreed with) and my daughter asked me to explain, and they worked out that I understood them. SO PLEASE NOTE PEOPLE; Just because you are in a foreign country, don't assume the natives don't understand you! I suppose basically my attitude is that if I've met you a couple of times, and you speak a language I'm studying then I'd ask you to help me, otherwise I would just use English. The exception is when I go to Italy, I do not speak English, France... eeehh, not so much. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| chokofingrz Pentaglot Senior Member England Joined 5186 days ago 241 posts - 430 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Japanese, Catalan, Luxembourgish | Message 4 of 22 25 November 2014 at 3:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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One mustn't be too forward about these things. Personally, I like to wait until at least 5-6 years after the relationship has been consummated.
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| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4441 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 5 of 22 25 November 2014 at 5:29pm | IP Logged | ||
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When meeting someone from France, you wouldn't be too upfront by saying: "Je parle français aussi" and continue
with the rest of the conversation in French. You might say "J'apprends français" to indicate you're learning the language. If you are in a bar or restaurant with a class of students learning to speak French, you assume everyone is at roughly the same level. This may be your opportunity to practice the language. Some people may be a bit uncomfortable trying to speak French and switch back to English instead. People in a group may say politely "Hope you don't mind we speak French" and they will talk for a few minutes among themselves before including you into a conversation. Depending on the English fluency of the French visitor, that person may talk to you in English or you have to try your best with your rudimentary French. If you do get the opportunity to get into a conversation, there are certain topics you'd discuss such as "Which region of the country do you come from?", "I can pick out your accent", "I was in France a few years ago" sort of thing as an introduction. You wouldn't get into local politics unless you or your parents came from a specific part of France. I've been to dinner parties where you have the whole table of Mandarin speakers. The lone person who speaks Cantonese would sit quietly the whole evening. Besides recognizing each other as ethnic Chinese, there was no effort to include everybody into the conversation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4906 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 6 of 22 25 November 2014 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've had a few bad experiences and a few good experiences. When I had studied French for about 2 months, I met somone from France at a party, and mentioned that I was learning French. I mauled the grammar, and she politely corrected me, but she seemed genuinely pleased to run into someone who wanted to speak a little French.
Another time, while waiting for a delayed connecting flight, a couple who only spoke French was at the counter trying to ask what was going on. My wife nudged me so I went up to try to help. Unfortunately, I could barely understand their African accent, but I was eventually able to explain to them what was going on. I'm sure I was helpful, but I was disappointed with myself. I think for me, I'm more likely to try speaking one of my languages with someone if I know them, rather than try my stuff on strangers. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| guiguixx1 Octoglot Senior Member Belgium guillaumelp.wordpres Joined 4089 days ago 163 posts - 207 votes Speaks: French*, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Esperanto, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Polish, Mandarin | Message 7 of 22 25 November 2014 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | ||
Even for French native speakers (from Belgium and France) it can be difficult to understand the African accent (same with the accent from Québec) ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3904 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 8 of 22 25 November 2014 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just simply start talking to them (after I've verified that they do indeed speak that
language). In every experience I've had with German natives, they were flattered that I was so interested in their language and would continue talking me to help me learn/practice; they were all very helpful and I even made a friend out of one such occasion. Even with languages that I don't know well at all (but know how to say things like "hello" and "how are you?") I'll still say it to the person. Maybe it's because this happens in America and they're surprised that an American knows a foreign language other than Spanish; they're usually flattered by it. Give me a few drinks and introduce me to a foreigner, I won't stop pestering them with questions (I'm pretty sure I annoy them after a while). 1 person has voted this message useful |
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