|
 |
Speaking German to natives | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| TehGarnt Diglot Newbie Germany Joined 4852 days ago 33 posts - 63 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 33 of 42 14 August 2011 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
As a non-German living in Germany I can attest that Germans can be damn annoying when
you try to practice your Deutsch with them. I know several other non-Germans who have suggested practicing their German with me (an intermediate level speaker at best), just because they can't get their German acquaintances to stop answering them in English. Another thing which I find absolutely infuriating is a tendency for my German colleagues to finish my sentences for me if I make a hesitation, often misunderstanding what I was going to say. Maybe they're trying to be helpful, but it feels like you're being punished for your lack of ability. It can make speaking a nerve-wracking experience, like being an escaped POW in disguise trying to get through a checkpoint. Maybe it's some sort of stereotypical desire for efficiency of communication that causes this? Like, if both parties are ok in English, why bother struggling through in anything else? And I must qualify this by saying that I know some lovely Germans who are very patient and helpful when they realise that you're trying to practice their language. But for the most part, I get the impression that non-expert speakers have to explicitly ask to have a conversation in German, which is something that requires a certain level of familiarity. Edited by TehGarnt on 14 August 2011 at 10:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Rob_Austria Heptaglot Groupie Austria Joined 5002 days ago 84 posts - 293 votes Speaks: German*, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Japanese Studies: Croatian, Mandarin, Russian, Arabic (Written), Turkish | Message 34 of 42 18 August 2011 at 9:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I'm sorry but those acquaintances must be really rude. At least, I consider it to be rude to do something like that. Basically, I'd say you should have no problems to find people willing to speak to you in German if you tell them that this is what you want to do. However, unfortunately you seem to have had rather negative experiences in this respect. I'm not sure, though, if that is something specifically German. It also happens to me when I speak to Chinese, Japanese, French people etc. If they speak English or my mother tongue, they tend to at least try and switch to these languages a couple of times during a conversation. It is different with my foreign friends or when I make it clear to people that I want to practise a specific language with them. If they keep switching to German or English, I'll just find somebody else to talk to (and this never really was a problem). Besides, these things normally happen if you do not really know the people well (even though there is no guarantee your long-time friends will always speak to you in German, simply because in my opinion it really depends on the individual's character and attitude). In Austria I'd say people are even more likely to stick to German if you can make yourself understood reasonably well. If people do not want to talk to you (for whatever reason), it does not really matter how well you speak a language they'll just ignore you. Personally, I must say that so far I have witnessed only very few incidents where that happened. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| fnord Triglot Groupie Switzerland Joined 5033 days ago 71 posts - 124 votes Speaks: German*, Swiss-German, English Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch | Message 35 of 42 23 August 2011 at 1:43am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Sorry for my late answer.
I am really not good at keeping track of what my tongue does when I speak my native language. So please don't take this as a basis for your own learning and practice without getting some other input. Anyway, I think my tongue does not move much.
Doesn't sound far off to me.
I fail to see what's supposed to be wrong with that? Isn't communication all about getting one's points across in the most efficient manner available to both speakers? And as an English speaker in Germany, don't you still have enough opportunities to make good use of your German? Aren't there enough people whose English is rudimentary at best, people who'd actually be glad if you turned the tables with your command of German? They might not be your colleagues at work, though... However, let me say that as a German living in Switzerland, I can certainly understand it from an emotional standpoint. For instance, when people switched to Standard German when talking to me. But can I blame them? No - for most of them Standard German had probably proved to be a more efficient means of communicating with Germans (even if a few of them clearly struggled).I actually do this switching myself now. The funny thing for me lately has been other Germans assuring me how well they understand Swiss German and how totally alright they'd be with me speaking Swiss German to them. Guess what I am trying to say is this: The intention of most people switching to English with you is neither malicious nor irrational. Edited by fnord on 23 August 2011 at 2:06am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| TehGarnt Diglot Newbie Germany Joined 4852 days ago 33 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish | Message 36 of 42 24 August 2011 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Opportunities to extensively speak German can be surprisingly rare. My experience is
that non-German speakers tend to form 'international' social circles where everyone speaks English, which leaves German mainly for speaking to the less-educated tradespeople and customer service people that you meet during your daily life. I agree, it's worth remembering that any annoyance is often not because of any intended insult on the other's part. If someone switches to English when you don't want them to, it's probably because they haven't realised your desire to practice their language, or at least prove to yourself that you can get by in it. My interpretation, which may or may not be unfair stereotyping, is that practical communication (e.g. in the workplace, or even asking for directions) is taken rather seriously here, and so is not something one would want to compromise with a poorly-understood language. Or perhaps they don't expect anyone to actually want to speak German. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5556 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 37 of 42 24 August 2011 at 8:16pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Having spent a couple of years recently living in Germany, I can certainly relate to people's frustrations here on both sides.
On the one hand, I was looking forward to totally immersing myself in German when I first moved to Germany, but that's not how things turned out. The moment anyone got an inkling that I was a native English speaker, or in many cases just a foreigner (often thinking I was Dutch), it was "let's practice my English" time! This was further complicated by branding and shop-signs plastered everywhere in English, radio stations playing predominantly English songs, and a fair sprinkling of Denglish (an influx of English or pseudo-English vocabulary) in much of the conversation on the street or in the media. After a while, it was all too tempting to give up this language I hadn't spoken since high school altogether, and for a while I indeed found myself falling into an English-speaking lifestyle and mixing almost exclusively with other ex-pats from around the world. However, on the other hand, I'm also guilty of doing much the same thing myself when I first meet foreigners in England, and am all too ready to inflict my embarrassing language skills on unsuspecting strangers at the drop of a hat (and trust me on the "embarrassing" bit here...a German or French GCSE, which I'm sad to say isn't even compulsory anymore in England, just doesn't cut it in real life). It's all too exiting, when the opportunity arises, to try out another language with native speakers. And if I'm to be totally honest with myself here, any foreign language will usually cause me to gravitate (almost levitate ;) ) in the general direction of the speakers and try to come up with any soft excuse to start up a conversation in the few words I know. So what's the answer if you're like I was in Germany and just want to learn the language, but are also surrounded by people like...*ahem*...me? Well, why not give this a go: Step 1) Politely explain you're genuinely interested in learning about German language and people, and ask if it's ok if you can practice your paltry German with them in future (tip: initially learn some phrases along these lines off by heart, so that you can repeat them easily when the call arises). Step 2) Try to learn the language in your spare time to the point where conversing in German is no longer too uncomfortable for either party. And until you reach this level, over a period of time, expect that it will often be easier for people to communicate with you in English to get things done more swiftly. So just try and be patient with switching back and forth whilst you build up your cool German skills. Step 3) When you've finally reached a more comfortable and independent level, just keep doggedly speaking in German until your conversation partners, realising that you can now get by well enough in German, give up on English with you. Just be stubborn, eventually they'll get it! :) Edited by Teango on 25 August 2011 at 2:04am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| fnord Triglot Groupie Switzerland Joined 5033 days ago 71 posts - 124 votes Speaks: German*, Swiss-German, English Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch | Message 38 of 42 25 August 2011 at 1:46am | IP Logged | ||||||||
In my experience, many or most Dutch speak German quite well. Their communication with native German speakers takes place in German more often than in English. Not wanting to step on anybody's toes, but from my job experience in retail sales retail I can say: I regularly see or hear foreign-language customers addressing sales people in their own language from the get-go, without bothering to ask whether others understand it - and almost all of them are American or (to a lesser extent) British. They are of course most likely to get away with it. But mind you, I live in Switzerland, French's a national language. Yet not even the French-speaking take their own language for granted. They politely ask whether anybody speaks French. So yeah… I guess you could also blame it on some of these people. And then, in Germany, a good part of the population have functional skills in none or just one other language - and if they do, it's most likely English (with the exception in some border areas/immigrants etc…). Which is the most useful language for traveling etc. as well. Nevertheless, I believe you can easily surround yourself with people who will find it easier or more efficient to communicate in German with you - or put yourself in situations where people will do. What can you do to stop others from resorting to English? Try to reduce your accent. Many people aren't that good at identifying accent by little nuances. If you can reduce or eliminate just a few of the most tell-tale signs in your accent, you should be able to fool quite some people - or keep them guessing. This should greatly increase the odds of people speaking German to you. Your accent doesn't even have to sound particularly German. Whatever it sounds like, the important thing is not to speak as the typical Brit/American would. While we're at it, faking a third-language accent is also sometimes suggested by language learners. If you can do it casually and convincingly it might be worth a try - otherwise, I certainly wouldn't put great effort into this. Edited by fnord on 25 August 2011 at 1:57am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5556 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 39 of 42 26 August 2011 at 2:03am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I'll take that as a compliment then. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| LebensForm Senior Member Austria Joined 5050 days ago 212 posts - 264 votes Studies: German | Message 40 of 42 26 August 2011 at 6:09am | IP Logged | ||||||||
|
Sorry for my late response, I just want to say your replies have been very helpful. I am working on reducing my accent. Like I may have said, part of my problem is the lack of practice speaking German here. But I am back in school now, and there are plently of people I can now speak with. Again, thank you for your responses.
I do look forward to this experience and using my German!! 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. |
