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Another language with a fellow native? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| minahope Newbie AlgeriaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4261 days ago 2 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English | Message 17 of 26 01 April 2013 at 12:27am | IP Logged | |||||
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for me the best method to learn new language is to speak with a native person in which he
can guide me and correct my mistakes and in the same time i have not any posibility to speak only this language to understand each other for example i have a friend from england he speaks only English and i speak a little English in this case i must do my best to understand me 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5376 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 18 of 26 01 April 2013 at 2:31am | IP Logged | |||||
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To the original poster's questions... yes, I go to Spanish meetups quite often when there are only native English speakers. We always talk in Spanish. That is why we are there. It is better if there is a native there, but often we just proceed in Spanish. There are only a few exceptions to the "Spanish only" model of meetups... if it is something that is very important not to be misunderstood or if someone needs help with a certain word (como se dice "grass" en espanol). I don't find it awkward at all to speak only Spanish with my meetup friends.
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| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5208 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 19 of 26 01 April 2013 at 12:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
My experience with French meetups is similar. We all come there to speak French, and while having native speakers there is ideal, it doesn't stop us if there aren't any. Sometimes the less serious learners will be more inclined to switch to English when there are no French people there, but those who want to improve accept that speaking to other learners is far better than nothing and stick to French. Of course, as soon as we leave the bar, or if we bump into each other outside the meetup, the conversation goes to English. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Rob_Austria Heptaglot Groupie Austria Joined 5003 days ago 84 posts - 293 votes Speaks: German*, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Japanese Studies: Croatian, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic (Written), Turkish | Message 20 of 26 16 April 2013 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more common in Austria (and, I guess, in Germany as well). This policy is called "Englisch als Konzernsprache" (English as the language of a company group). I find this policy extremely counter-productive because most people are not proficient enough in English to actively take part in vital discussions. This weird policy leads to situations (as happened just a week ago at a conference where I worked) where we have to interpret Austrians who speak in English back into German. The same happens with group communications. An Austrian writes to another Austrian in English and then they have the text translated into German (for legal purposes if one of the companies is involved in court proceedings for example and they need a German version of a document that turns out to be important for the proceedings). Porsche is one of the few and laudable exceptions where the group's language remains German. They have realized that following the trend of using English as the language of communication within the group (between non-native speakers) only hinders communication and is the reason why a lot of important knowledge is not transferred adequately or efficiently. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4534 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 21 of 26 16 April 2013 at 1:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
My wife, who is works in London, does this all the time when she is with other German colleagues. They'll go out for lunch and all speak English, not German. They are all C2ish in English, and work in the language, and say they prefer not to switch. The Max Planck Institutes in Germany use English as their linga franca as they are internationally focused. I suspect even if non-german speakers are not present English would still be used as it's the official language, and there is probably a practical cost to switching back. Also people I have met are so fluent it doesn't probably matter to them if they work in English or German. Edited by patrickwilken on 16 April 2013 at 1:57pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| overscore Triglot Newbie CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4564 days ago 23 posts - 38 votes Speaks: French*, English, German | Message 22 of 26 16 April 2013 at 3:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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As I am living in Montreal, I speak to other French Canadians in English all the time. There's just too much momentum built up from using it at the Uni that it's hard sometimes to realize you've just stepped out of the English-speaking bubble. Plus, I've come to be able to detach myself from a given persona.. I could go up to any Quebecer and start a conversation in my crappy German/EN if that person were so inclined. It's not really to show off either, as any random native of a Germanic tongue has got me beat at pronunciation by a thousand miles, lol. Or the bilingual Montrealers.
I take it a bit further and speak English with various members of my family too so they can get some free practice (don't think anyone is fluent except my mom who speaks rusty English), as well as for my personal amusement. Edited by overscore on 16 April 2013 at 4:00pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lecavaleur Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4778 days ago 146 posts - 295 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish | Message 23 of 26 16 April 2013 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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My native language is English, while my working language is French. I often speak
French to other Anglos if there are other people around or if I know the person speaks French and the idea I'm trying to express is something I learned about in French or just for whatever reason comes out in French more easily than in English. Otherwise, I just find it more natural to speak English to other natives. I often drive a carpool between Sherbrooke and Montréal (Québec), and sometimes I'll get a mix of Francophones, Anglophones or someone who has neither English nor French as a first language. In such cases, a few people have tried to spark up conversations in English, but I usually use my influence as the driver to direct the conversation back to French if I know everyone in the car speaks it (unless everyone is Anglo, which has never happened). A few times, I've had an Anglo or near-Anglo try to converse with me in English even when everyone else in the car is a Franco and when we all know that person speaks French. This is something I personally object to, so I make it a point to respond in French only until the person takes the hint, realizes he or she's being rude, and goes back to French. Edited by lecavaleur on 16 April 2013 at 4:05pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4623 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 24 of 26 16 April 2013 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
Hmmm, I'm not sure about that. The Institutes may well publish their findings in English and use English on the job when foreigners are present but I doubt very much if a group of Germans working in Germany would speak English among themselves. It wouldn't be natural, plus I don't think anyone born and raised in Germany would ever be just as comfortable in English as opposed to their mother tongue. Edited by beano on 16 April 2013 at 4:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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