|
 |
Claiming to Speak a Language - Pet Peeve | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Stryozyk Newbie United States Joined 5471 days ago 39 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 17 of 164 03 December 2009 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't really mind people exaggerating their abilities, since it's really just a personal thing of theirs. But the fact
that so many people will say they speak German because they've had some high school classes makes it very difficult for me to convey to others my own level of knowledge. I would never say I speak the language personally, but compared to others who say they "speak" it I am often more capable. I usually compromise by saying that I can read it but not speak it. It is difficult to properly describe this long stage of semi-fluency. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6440 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes  Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 18 of 164 03 December 2009 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | ||
Seconded - I have the same problem. That's an excellent description of it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7222 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 19 of 164 03 December 2009 at 5:00pm | IP Logged | ||
|
It does come down to the individual. Some truly believe they are fluent speakers, while others like to exaggerate to the point of even lying.
Example in one of my Linguistics class, the teacher asked "Who in the class speaks another language?" In my interpretation this is current, as he asked speaks indicative of the present tense. Multiple students had raised their hands. One classmate said I speak Spanish. After class I asked in Spanish "¿Entiendes español mucho, porque puedo hablarlo también?" Her instant reply was. "I have not taken Spanish class for a while and do not speak it." I found out all she took was an introductory academic year of Spanish in school. Why presently did she say she speaks the language in class, but admitted to me outside of class she does not. My guess is just impression to others at the time. Of course I did not do this in front of others, so the interaction was one on one to avoid embarrassment. Their have been others that actually do speak the language and it was great practicing with them. My goal of course is constant progression. My most common statement I use when speaking Spanish is "Todavía soy principiante." Edited by alang on 03 December 2009 at 5:10pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Jimmymac Senior Member United Kingdom strange-lands.com/le Joined 6154 days ago 276 posts - 362 votes Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, French | Message 20 of 164 03 December 2009 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Here's a pointless story for you:
A couple of months a go I attended a weekend TEFL course. The trainer said that during the weekend if anyone wanted to give their presentations in a second language then they could as this would enable us to really experience what it could be like to teach English to someone with no knowledge in it. He then asked us to raise our hands if we spoke a second language. Despite being able to chat away with my Uruguayan friend for an hour and comprehend 90% of what he said I decided to keep my hand down. I had every intention of presenting in Spanish but I don't consider myself a Spanish speaker. As people raised their hands they said which language they spoke. One guy to the right of me said 'Spanish'. My interest was peeked. I'm always desperate to have face to face conversations in Spanish so I made a mental note to chat to him. We didn't get the chance to talk beforehand but we were in the same group for the presentations. He went first. He was teaching the present perfect and on the board he wrote 'he vivido en newcastle para uno ano'. I was in shock! I played along, even painfully repeating his phrases. He was speaking with confidence but didn't actually string a Spanish sentence together. Apparently a 'winner' in Spanish was 'un weener' and 'lavántate' means 'sit down' to a group of people. After his presentation was finished and everyone was impressed I did mine purely in Spanish and I could see him looking fairly uncomfortable. It turns out he'd been studying Spanish for 3 months and had barely finished Michel Thomas. Fair play to him for having the confidence to get up there and try but how blooming annoying is it for the rest of us who actually spend years studying, refuse to claim fluency, and come out looking worse than someone who has never even heard of the subjunctive. He's actually the third in a year who has claimed to be better than he was. I rather naively started speaking to the other two expecting some sort of a response and both looked at me blankly while others were looking on. So to avoid these awkward situations I just keep my mouth shut and act impressed. Edited by Jimmymac on 03 December 2009 at 5:37pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6769 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 21 of 164 03 December 2009 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I tentatively propose calling this Peggy Hill Syndrome, especially where Spanish is involved.
9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| alang Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7222 days ago 563 posts - 757 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 22 of 164 03 December 2009 at 6:06pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Jimmymac, I do not think the story was pointless. Like you I would have been shocked, even though others might have burst out laughing. If I am correct the word should have been año and the person was not doing a play on words that English speakers reference a particular planet. Usually I say I am a beginner, as each new word and concept learned are something new to use. This is what I remember, as an advice from the book of Barry Farber. View yourself as a beginner each day. Still I do think people do cheat themselves, even if they truly do not know. Example they might not progress to a higher level, embarrassment like the person writing on the board, and some just become indignant. I have encountered some that think it was an insult, but unfortunately IMO these are the ones that were taken out of their comfort zone. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5586 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 23 of 164 03 December 2009 at 6:19pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I just say " I study a lot of languages, like ........ [insert language] "
If I encounter a native speaker, I always ask them questions pronuciation etc. Spanish and maybe portuguese are really the only languages I can "speak" and react too. Spanish is my best. I'm able to read the paper and watch the news and stuff in both, but Spanish I speak better because I've been around it longer. In German I have trouble forming proper sentences and making everything agree, so I don't count that yet. I'm working on it, I've made a ton of progress. I can read fairly well while looking up a few things in the dictionary. I plan on taking Russian in college :) I have a Polyglot Ukranian friend that speaks russian, polish, ukranian and English. All Advanced/native fluency. He's really been helping me with reading and pronunciation. :D -Jordan Edited by datsunking1 on 03 December 2009 at 6:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| MegatronFilm Triglot Senior Member United States peligrosa.tumblr.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5939 days ago 130 posts - 275 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 24 of 164 03 December 2009 at 6:22pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Oh, you guys are going to hate me. I used to do this as a preteen. I was so excited about wanting to learn every
language. After going through a few pages of an Italian phrase book I thought I had the basics down. I had no idea at the time how much effort went into learning a language. But I'm changed now! I actually speak Spanish with ease now. When people ask me if I'm fluent I always hesitate and then tell them about levels of fluency and how I'm around basic fluency. And for the last 3 months I've been busting my butt to learn french. I think I'm in the high-beginner level now. On the opposite end of this subject, I've actually met people who say they aren't fluent but definitely are fluent . I met a dutch girl who said she wasn't fluent, but she spoke English with incredibly ease, great vocabulary and with a native accent. She thought it was because once in a great while she couldn't find the English word to explain something, so instead she would use her English skills to describe it in other ways. Edited by MegatronFilm on 03 December 2009 at 6:25pm 3 persons have 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. |
