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Too shy for Skype? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Khublei Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Yugoslavia homestayperu.net Joined 5338 days ago 90 posts - 141 votes  Speaks: English*, Irish*, Spanish Studies: Russian, Khasi, French, Albanian | Message 1 of 25 20 September 2010 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hello.
I've been trying to get into Skype for some time to practice Russian. My problem is that I don't feel I'm at a good enough level to have a conversation. I got a message from one guy today and his English was great. So if we were to ever have a Skype conversation we'd be having a great conversation in English and then a quick chat about the weather in Russian. Is this self-doubt normal? Should I study for another while before Skyping? I can't help but hear the words of Benny the Irish Polyglot on my left shoulder shouting, "It's never too early!!" Do people often start with typing to each other? Any personal Skype stories would be appreciated. Thanks Edited by Khublei on 20 September 2010 at 6:16pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5372 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 2 of 25 20 September 2010 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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I admit that I too find Skype intimidating, even more than a face to face encounter.
However, your level should not prevent you from getting the most of it. You need to prepare. Get all your questions in line, prepare topics and exercices, and you should get lots out of the experience. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ThisIsGina Groupie United Kingdom languageblogbygina.w Joined 5309 days ago 56 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Greek, German, French | Message 3 of 25 20 September 2010 at 7:38pm | IP Logged | ||
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You could try instant messaging first, because the speed means it is more like a real conversation than writing an email or whatever, but you can have a dictionary by your side to look things up if you get stuck, which you can't really do in a spoken conversation. Obviously it's not as good as actually speaking, but it could help boost your confidence.
Another good thing is that at the end of the conversation, you can look back at everything you've discussed and make some notes of new words and expressions you've learned. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| justberta Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5576 days ago 140 posts - 170 votes Speaks: English, Norwegian* Studies: Indonesian, German, Spanish, Russian | Message 4 of 25 20 September 2010 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm too shy for Skype in general, not because I'm speaking a target language. However I'm
also terrified of speaking on the phone so that might have something to do with it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ReachingOut Pentaglot Groupie Greece Joined 5228 days ago 57 posts - 81 votes Speaks: English*, German, GreekB2, French, Romanian Studies: Italian | Message 5 of 25 20 September 2010 at 8:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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A lot of face to face communication takes place through body language and when you talk on the phone you're deprived of this advantage. On Skype you can see the other person which helps, but the sound, like on the phone, is fuzzy and not quite natural which makes it hard to understand if you don't know the language well. So I think it's normal to feel like this, though I'm sure that if the other person knows you're not speaking your native tongue he or she will be patient and understanding, so you shouldn't worry too much about mistakes.
I know this can be easily said than done. I also have quite a phone phobia and don't use Skype unless I have met the person face to face, though I do often use it to send instant messages. However, I know that if I want to improve I really need to overcome this phobia. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6002 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 6 of 25 20 September 2010 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | ||
I would say you've identified your own solution there. I started with text, but then I started internet exchanges before I had a computer that could run Skype. I would say that starting with email exchanges is a good way to go, because it gives you the opportunity to start getting a feel for what chatty language is like. What I mean is that it's hard to go into a real live-speed conversation with just "book language", and it's practically impossible to work out what you're going to need to read up on before starting an exchange, because you don't really know what the other person talks like. After exchanging a few emails (helped greatly by a dictionary, and possibly even Google Translate or Babelfish!) you'll have built up a better idea of the little bits and pieces you need. I wouldn't bother with text-chat like MSN Messenger though -- it can be frustratingly slow in a new language. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| BellaLuna Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5185 days ago 21 posts - 37 votes Speaks: Korean*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 25 21 September 2010 at 12:04am | IP Logged | ||
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I have been studying Spanish for 7 weeks now, and i try to use skype as much as i can and try to get in
touch with any native speaker who barely speaks English or korean. I would go sit with mexicans who is waiting to be picked up for a job in the morning once in while and just talk to them. And if they laugh at my Spanish nerdness, first thing i try to think to myself is, ha you dont speak damn word of English, then i can laugh at myself. Try to find someone who barely speaks your language, and teach that person your language, bit of a trade off. Great place to find these cool people are all in livemocha.com. i got friends in argentina, spain, panama, peru, guatemala, and uruguay. I talk to one person a day for about an hour or more. First it was intimidating because my Spanish is so limited, but now it all fun and good. I mean, who can say they know how to say my husband ran away from me and i divorced him afterwards, after learning for only 4 weeks of Spanish lol. And the friend from argentina, i barely learn Spanish from her because her 8 year old daughter teaches me. Ya... a kid is teaching me. Its just fun But ya Russian must be tough to learn >< Edited by BellaLuna on 21 September 2010 at 12:15am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Yashinka Diglot Pro Member SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5200 days ago 29 posts - 37 votes Speaks: Swedish*, EnglishC2 Studies: Japanese, German, Italian Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 25 21 September 2010 at 2:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Haha, great to hear BellaLuna, both amusing and inspiring story at the same time! ^^ Regarding the topic, I prefer
to meet up with the person, but then again, I am never satisfied with my japanese skill, but after each meeting, i have a fairly good idea whats lacking and what I need to improve, so the advantages is far better and worth getting over your your own critical feeling for. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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