When do you "speak" a language? (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

When do you "speak" a language?
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28 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4

eyðimörk
Triglot
Senior Member
France
goo.gl/aT4FY7
Joined 4101 days ago
490 posts - 1158 votes

Speaks: Swedish*, English, French
Studies: Breton, Italian

Message 25 of 28

21 August 2014 at 8:39am | IP Logged

Iversen wrote:

And if I have stated that I speak their language like a speech impeded Spanish donkey then they can't really blame me for speaking like a speech impeded Spanish donkey.

Which is why I was such a fan of the idiomatic expression "parler français comme une vache espagnole" (speak French like a Spanish cow) after moving to France. Not only does it lower the expectations, being a bit self-effacing from the outset seemed to put people at ease. It usually resulted in a "Well, I don't speak a word of English/Swedish, myself!" type of response.

These days it's seems like a good expression to use on my really bad off days. "I understand you perfectly, but I speak like a Spanish cow" saves me a lot of "okay, and then you take the screwdriver... you know 'a screwdriver' [turns an imaginary screwdriver in the air]... and a screw... uh... [panicked expression over having to mime 'a screw']" and puts people at ease.

Edited by eyðimörk on 21 August 2014 at 8:41am
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kujichagulia
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 4849 days ago
1031 posts - 1571 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Portuguese

Message 26 of 28

22 August 2014 at 8:14am | IP Logged

I think what we can learn from this is that everybody has a different definition of being able to "speak" a language, and nobody has THE definition of being able to "speak" a language. It's all up to your personal feelings and experiences.

As a perfectionist, I don't think I'll ever put any of my languages into the "speaks" column, because I feel that I'll always make mistakes, or there will be something I discover that I never knew before. If English was not my native language but I knew it at exactly this level, it wouldn't be in the "speaks" column, either. I still learn a lot of English all the time... and I'm an English teacher. A few weeks ago I heard the word "stanchion" for the first time.
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luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7207 days ago
3133 posts - 4351 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

Message 27 of 28

22 August 2014 at 9:00am | IP Logged

kujichagulia wrote:

As a perfectionist, I don't think I'll ever put any of my languages into the "speaks" column, because I feel that I'll always make mistakes, or there will be something I discover that I never knew before. If English was not my native language but I knew it at exactly this level, it wouldn't be in the "speaks" column, either. I still learn a lot of English all the time... and I'm an English teacher. A few weeks ago I heard the word "stanchion" for the first time.

Have you figured out how to get English out of the "speaks" column yet?
2 persons have voted this message useful

kujichagulia
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 4849 days ago
1031 posts - 1571 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, Portuguese

Message 28 of 28

25 August 2014 at 3:15am | IP Logged

luke wrote:

Have you figured out how to get English out of the "speaks" column yet?

Not yet. I'm still working on it. Dang website. :)

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