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Getting people not to speak English | ||
Tags: Language Banditry | Convincing native speakers | Immersion | Swedish | Learning Technique/Method | Accent | English | German | French | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| KingM Triglot Senior Member michaelwallaceauthor Joined 7191 days ago 275 posts - 300 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Russian | Message 9 of 169 28 March 2005 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
The further irony being that the Dutch are even more likely to speak English than the Germans. In fact, I would think that immersing yourself in Dutch or one of the Scandanavian languages would be even more difficult than immersing yourself in Spanish, Italian, or even Mandarin, just because almost everyone younger than about fifty speaks English well. Or at least that's been my experience... 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 10 of 169 28 March 2005 at 11:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
That is for sure and Europe presents many travel opportunities that are not possible from North America because they cost more. Now I think that Barry Farber, in New York, reports in his book that among the great number of first generation immigrants from all over the world, he found many opportunities to practice his languages. Indeed, he says that people where enthusiastic whenever he opened his mouth in their native language and speaks about getting free espressos and the like. Does any North American forum member have similar experiences to report? Edited by administrator on 29 March 2005 at 5:41am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Malcolm Triglot Retired Moderator Senior Member Korea, South Joined 7315 days ago 500 posts - 515 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 11 of 169 29 March 2005 at 12:50am | IP Logged | |||||
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In Canada, most of the Chinese immigrants I've met are really enthusiastic about practising Mandarin with me. If I have the courage to say something in Mandarin, the conversation will not revert back to English until I encounter difficulties. If I were fluent in Mandarin, these conversations could continue indefinitely. I think the Chinese here are willing to talk to me in their language for two reasons:
1. Many of them no longer like speaking English. They've had enough experience with it and no longer feel it's a novelty. 2. They're curious to see just how good (or bad) I am. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| victor Tetraglot Moderator United States Joined 7318 days ago 1098 posts - 1056 votes 6 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, FrenchC1, Mandarin Studies: Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 12 of 169 29 March 2005 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
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What I'm finding is that in metropolitan areas in Canada - the languages that you can probably practice are probably Chinese, Korean, Greek, Italian, Punjabi, Arabic, Tamil...you get the idea.
(There is a city/town called Kitchener, before the World Wars it was called Berlin, as it had a huge German population. They still have Oktoberfest celebrations, but most of the residents now speak English at home. The younger generation would probably know no German.) Then I think there's the embarassment aspect of it. Generally you don't know where a person originally comes from until you get to know him/her better. By then it will be so strange NOT to speak in English. He/she would also be a little "too forigiving", and start switching back to English. I'm learning French right now. Despite being an official language, less than 5% (according to the Census, even less I'm guessing) would be around my area speak French. If they did speak French, they would also be fluent in English. In order to find French speakers, one would have to look east near the Quebec boundary to find them. Ottawa is a very bilingual city. Most people there at least understand 2 and speak 1 official language. (the two are English and French) I find it intersting to see shopkeepers saying their saluations in both languages before proceeding. The same thing happens with government phone calls (Hello, government of Canada, how may I help you? Bonjour, le gouvernement du Canada, est-ce que je peux vous aider? - they can say that in less than 3 seconds :P) Most of the teachers are not native speakers. If they were, they probably would not choose to live in English Canada. Therefore, it's not exactly the "every kind of language mixed together" situation you would imagine. Several languages dominate. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 13 of 169 29 March 2005 at 11:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I discovered that I myself turn to English when speaking with an American or English who speaks French with a strong English accent.
That's not very nice of me I guess. I will try to say something like "Your French is so good that it needs no further practice, please allow me to switch to English for the sake of my own improvement"! 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| pentatonic Senior Member United States Joined 7247 days ago 221 posts - 245 votes | Message 14 of 169 30 March 2005 at 4:39am | IP Logged | |||||
Then what will you say when he responds, "Sorry, I only speak French and Russian?" ;) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7376 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 15 of 169 30 March 2005 at 12:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
In that case I will, of course, oblige. I just wanted to say that it occurred to me that I was sometimes on the other side of that mirror! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jradetzky Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom geocities.com/jradet Joined 7207 days ago 521 posts - 485 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, GermanB1 | Message 16 of 169 30 March 2005 at 6:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yeah, when I was in Germany trying to talk to natives in their language they always talked to me in English. There were a few people who didn't speak German at all (and they looked German!). In contrast I remember explaining in German how to find a street near the Kudamm in Berlin to a local black German boy. Edited by jradetzky on 30 March 2005 at 6:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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