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Getting people not to speak English

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169 messages over 22 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 8 ... 21 22 Next >>
Linas
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Lithuania
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 Message 57 of 169
14 February 2006 at 1:55am | IP Logged 
Another good way of discouraging people to speak you in English would be to learn Australian English, and whenever a person insists to speak English you respond in Australian, I guess he soon would lose any desire to speak English.

it is so noice(=nice) weather to die(=today), eh? :)
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Sir Nigel
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 Message 58 of 169
14 February 2006 at 11:26am | IP Logged 
What's so bad about the Australian accent? I doubt using it would discourage people from speaking English with you.
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Linas
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Lithuania
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 Message 59 of 169
14 February 2006 at 2:40pm | IP Logged 
Sir Nigel wrote:
What's so bad about the Australian accent? I doubt using it would discourage people from speaking English with you.


Simply, that Australian English is almost unintelligible to nobody except to Australians themselves, especially so-called broad Australian accent, which I propose to use with unwilling foreigners.
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Eidolio
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Belgium
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 Message 60 of 169
14 February 2006 at 2:57pm | IP Logged 
When I was in France a few years ago a man started talking to me at a tram station in the suburbs. I was alone and quite afraid because the man clearly didn't have good intentions - he wanted me to come to his appartment and such things (and yes, this shocked me, I was only seventeen). So I pretended not to understand him. The man started to talk in English of course, so I pretended I only spoke German :-D

You see, sometimes it can come in useful to pretend you don't speak the LOCAL language :-)
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owshawng
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United States
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 Message 61 of 169
17 February 2006 at 10:12pm | IP Logged 
Linas wrote:
Sir Nigel wrote:
What's so bad about the Australian accent? I doubt using it would discourage people from speaking English with you.


Simply, that Australian English is almost unintelligible to nobody except to Australians themselves, especially so-called broad Australian accent, which I propose to use with unwilling foreigners.


The Aussie rural accent takes a while to get used to. The New Zealand accent can be even harder to understand. The typical Australian accent in Melbourne and Sydney isn't too hard to understand.

When I first moved here I had a conversation at work with a New Zealander, an Irishman with a heavy brogue, a Hong Konger, and an Aussie from the Bush (Outback). I got a headache.   Now I see why many international organizations accomplish very little. Their members don't understand each other.
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SteveP
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United Kingdom
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 Message 62 of 169
10 March 2006 at 6:31am | IP Logged 
I can readily identify with this thread. I have found that speaking to older people, small children or people from (or preferably in) small villages is the best way to get real practice, including the vital 'negotiation of meaning.' Actually I think small children are best for the beginning stage of learning a language. A friend of mine had amentaly handicapped sister, and she would chat away to me for hours, repeating questions and phrases many times without getting bored. If you ever try to teach a young child English you will find that you pick up more of their language - you can also get paid for it!
I found in Tallinn, Estonia that even if I asked for a sandwich or cup of tea in Estonian the shop assistants or waiters would switch to English. It was very annoying. Going out to villages is a good way to speak some of the local language in eastern Europe, or talking to older people...
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Hencke
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Spain
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 Message 63 of 169
15 March 2006 at 11:26am | IP Logged 
Linas wrote:
whenever a person insists to speak English you respond in Australian, I guess he soon would lose any desire to speak English.

On the contrary. Oz, as well as NZ, has a noice and refreshing "twang" to it.

To me, a much more effective discouragement would be the robotic, antiseptic droning of the "Pimsleur man": "... this is the form used to TULK about things that HEPPENED in the PEST". If they are not discouraged by that, it would at least put them to sleep - R2D2 sounds positively cozy and human by comparison ;o)

Edited by Hencke on 15 March 2006 at 11:39am

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patuco
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 Message 64 of 169
15 March 2006 at 11:40am | IP Logged 
HEncke wrote:
Oz, as well as NZ, has a nice and refreshing "twang" to it.

I've got to disagree with you there since I don't really like either accent.


Hencke wrote:
"... this is the form used to TULK about things that HEPPENED in the PEST"

This sounds (to me anyway!) like English spoken with a South African accent.




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