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Get drunk to speak better ? | ||
Tags: Learning Strategy | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Bolkonsky Diglot Newbie France Joined 5204 days ago 25 posts - 27 votes Speaks: French*, English Studies: German, Swedish | Message 1 of 32 20 April 2011 at 9:37pm | IP Logged |
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Hello everyone,
I have always felt, and I'm sure a great part of language learners too, that we speak better in a foreign language when we are drunk. Usually people just say it is because we are less aware of our mistakes or because everything just seem to be easier when we are drunk. But I really feel that we actually do speak better when we get drunk because we are more self-confident, a kind of temporary fluency as though alcohol gives us the way to gather all our knowledge in a language to improve our ability in this language. Has anyone else experienced this feeling and agree with me or do you also think it comes from a loss of lucidity ? Share your own experience. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SamD Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6659 days ago 823 posts - 987 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 2 of 32 20 April 2011 at 9:44pm | IP Logged |
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I remember a dinner in France where I had some good red wine. It loosened my tongue, but I can't say for sure that I spoke better French--just more of it.
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| LanguageSponge Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5766 days ago 1197 posts - 1487 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Welsh, Russian, Japanese, Slovenian, Greek, Italian | Message 3 of 32 20 April 2011 at 10:26pm | IP Logged |
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I agree with SamD. I don't think alcohol makes us speak better, it just makes us speak more. My girlfriend often gets me to speak French when we're in the pub - because she knows I have trouble even opening my mouth in French at all in normal circumstances. When I'm in the pub and I've had a couple, the words just come out and I don't seem to care how many mistakes I make or what I sound like. I still make the same mistakes as I would usually, and sometimes I even make more mistakes than I would when I'm sober - and notice them later, cursing myself.
Jack 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5130 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 4 of 32 20 April 2011 at 11:13pm | IP Logged |
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I remember back in my early twenties when I'd moved to Mexico people would tell me that I spoke better Spanish when I'd been drinking. What I think it was, at least in my case, was that I became better at parroting any corrections people would make to my Spanish. I still made plenty of mistakes, but I guess I was more receptive to getting corrections and then repeating those corrections. Call it a social lubricant or whatever you wish, just as it would be in my native language, but I was less inhibited, less shy about trying to reproduce better pronunciation, new vocabulary, or just conversing with people.
And, again in my case, all it took was a couple corrections for it to stick and I'd not make the same mistake again. Provided, of course, that I'd not had more than a couple or three drinks. Obviously there's a limit. Anything more than that and I'd have trouble remembering those corrections. R. == 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| psy88 Senior Member United States Joined 5591 days ago 469 posts - 882 votes Studies: Spanish*, Japanese, Latin, French | Message 5 of 32 21 April 2011 at 3:07am | IP Logged |
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I also wonder if the alcohol reduces inhibitions and self-consciousness so that there is less anxiety about speaking.
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| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5086 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 6 of 32 21 April 2011 at 5:26am | IP Logged |
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I would buy the confidence bit being part of it. I think we often over think things when trying to speak. When I want to say a German word, I often can't remember the gender, I know that it's in my mind somewhere but I keep doubting myself. Perhaps with that higher confidence we are more willing to just trust our gut instinct and use the information that is stored below our level of consciousness.
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| anothername Triglot Groupie Brazil Joined 5061 days ago 96 posts - 195 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Spanish, English | Message 7 of 32 21 April 2011 at 5:53am | IP Logged |
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Good ideas for marketers:
"Get a shot of Wyborowa: it does improve your polish!" "Want to 'speak Spanish like crazy'? You just need a bottle of Jose Cuervo!" "Practice your German pronunciation with your favorite barman: "Steinhäger, bitte"..." "Drink a generous amount of Marlborough Gin, and the word Marlborough will easily come out of your mouth, perhaps together with some unwanted substances...". 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5766 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 8 of 32 21 April 2011 at 6:59am | IP Logged |
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The only time I remember being drunk and speaking Spanish was with an Italian friend who kept reminding me that she understood English perfectly well and that my English was much better than my Spanish. :) Edited by Bao on 21 April 2011 at 12:19pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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