|
 |
Avoid talking in English? | ||
Tags: Convincing native speakers | Germany | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4098 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 9 of 25 31 May 2014 at 9:21am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
I can't help but wonder what part of Germany you're going to. I've never been able to get a German (in Germany) to speak English to me even when I've tried to. And I don't speak German. Even when we're driving through during the tourist season and I need to pay for something somewhere and my husband teaches me a few phrases to get the job done they will often prattle on like I obviously understand the language. And there is no way my accent is better than yours after having practised two or three sentences twice in the car, taught to me by someone with an accent. Maybe I just don't have an English accent? Weird.
On the very very rare occasion that someone responds to me in English when I'm at home in France (which is basically just at the vet unless we have family visiting, speaking lots of Swedish and behaving like lost tourists), I just carry on in French. I don't pretend that I don't understand English, and if there's no natural opportunity to mention where I'm from I don't tell them I'm not English either. They usually switch back pretty quickly. Only if everyone everywhere were stopping me from actually hearing the language spoken would I possibly go as far as to ask them to please speak a particular language. But I've never experienced the "everyone speaks English to me" phenomenon anywhere in the world (outside of anglophone countries). The closest I get is when I'm in Denmark. The moment they realise I'm Swedish and that they'll have to listen carefully now, lots of people lazily switch to English and get really annoyed if I don't too. ;) But I'm sure Danes have the same experience in Sweden. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4098 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 10 of 25 31 May 2014 at 9:29am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Another thought: Do you look very British? Or touristy?
When we lived in a much more Brit-populated area, my husband and I had a weekly game of 'Spot the Brit' going when grocery shopping. I'm sure we missed some assimilated Brits, but lots of them you could see coming a mile away when they were in a sea of Frenchmen. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the way they looked, but they didn't belong. Looking like you don't belong will play to people's preconceived notions of foreigners and may set them in a "must speak English" mindset. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5319 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 11 of 25 31 May 2014 at 9:34am | IP Logged | ||||||||
The easiest solution is to simply ask. Nobody will be offended. Seriously, it's as easy as that. If you don't have a very noticable English accent you could also pretend to be a native speaker of a different language with poor or no English language skills. For example: You: "Mein Englisch ist leider nicht so gut, sprechen Sie vielleicht Esperanto?" German: "Leider nein." You: "Schade. Dann sprechen wir besser Deutsch." 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4532 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 12 of 25 31 May 2014 at 9:41am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Lots of expats complain in Berlin about people switching to English, but I very rarely have this problem anymore - and in fact often insist on speaking German with native English speakers working in bars and whatnot much to their annoyance. :)
No one will force you to speak English. If you keep speaking German it will force the conversation into German. If you keep responding in German people will eventually give up trying to speak English. What I usually do is say (in German) when I am having a longer more business/formal like conversation (e.g., bank, plumber, doctor, travel agent etc): Sorry, I only speak a bit of German. If you say this clearly in German people will usually say "wow your German is actually pretty good" (expectations are low). If they offer to speak in English, I just say (again in German) that I am in Germany and I want to speak German. If they persist I usually say I am an immigrant and have an obligation to learn German and again apologize for my bad German (you can make up your own guilt ridden reason). At some point they usually say how bad their English is as well, and we agree to muddle through in a mix of German/English as needed. Usually I find that we don't speak any English at all in these cases, but if I don't understand something it's Ok for me to ask them to repeat things (in German) without them then switching to English. For simple conversations like in shops I only use German and don't bother trying with the above. I think this works well when your understanding is about B2 and you can speak at least at B1 level. If you understanding level is B1 or lower you shouldn't expect to have many German conversations though with random strangers. The tendency is for people to switch over when they think you don't understand what THEY are saying. So it can be helpful also to say that you understand much more than you can say. Edited by patrickwilken on 31 May 2014 at 9:49am 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5235 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 13 of 25 31 May 2014 at 11:50am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Before I went to Italy, I memorised a phrase which went something like this.
"I'm sorry but I have promised myself I would only speak Italian while I am here because I really want to learn your beautiful language." I figured if anyone tried to speak to me in English then I would resort to this phrase and that I would NEVER switch to English myself, even if they continued in English. I didn't actually use it because most people would just wait for me to complete my thoughts in Italian. But I doubt if anyone would have been offended if I said this phrase and continued to speak in Italian, because after all you are only keeping a promise to yourself right? Edited by rdearman on 31 May 2014 at 11:51am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| EnglishEagle Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4574 days ago 140 posts - 157 votes Studies: English*, German | Message 14 of 25 31 May 2014 at 1:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Thankyou everybody for the advice, I don't know how to quote more than one person so I thought I would just reply
this way. As I am going with my family (I am only 16) I think it would be obvious that I am English because my family doesn't speak much German and would be conversing in English. I would say that my German will probably be B1 possibly touching a low B2 before I head off to Germany. I might just say to the person - sorry, my German isn't that good would you mind if we continue in German please as I would like to practise in preparation for attending the University of Berlin next year. That way, I think I am being polite and also very honest. Thankyou all so much! Edit: I forgot to mention, I am going to Berlin. Although when I went last year I was surprised that the shop owners didn't have a good command of English. It was surprising how many Germans that I encountered couldn't speak much English at all. Edited by EnglishEagle on 31 May 2014 at 1:21pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4532 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 15 of 25 31 May 2014 at 2:23pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That sounds like a good sentence!
Some people speak very good English, others not. Even people who do 10 years of English at school aren't necessary very comfortable using it, as people really can just live in German all the time. However, shopkeepers, especially in shops that get a lot of tourists, are quite likely to switch to English. Berlin is a beautiful city and the weather has just turned into early Summer so you should have a wonderful time. If you want more German practice try to convince your family to go visit Leipzig or some other East German town where people won't switch much at all. Leipzig is pretty cheap to get to on the Bahn, and only one hour away from Berlin. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| EnglishEagle Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4574 days ago 140 posts - 157 votes Studies: English*, German | Message 16 of 25 31 May 2014 at 2:41pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thanks for the advice, I'll speak with my parents :-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
