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Having a "default" language with someone

 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
20 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3  Next >>
Olympia
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5986 days ago

195 posts - 244 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Old English, French

 
 Message 1 of 20
04 May 2010 at 3:01am | IP Logged 
I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find it anywhere on the forum. I'm curious if any of
you have ever felt strange hearing a person speak a language other than the one you normally hear them speak.
For example, I still keep in touch with my high school Spanish teacher and I've known her for many years and she
has always insisted that I speak to her in Spanish. Now that I have graduated and we don't see each other on a
regular basis anymore, she tends to speak more English to me. I find this really weird--almost uncomfortable. It's
like talking to an entirely different person. The same thing happened when I heard my Portuguese professor speak
English recently. She had only spoken Portuguese to us from day one and avoided English at all costs. Then
suddenly there was instance where she had to speak English, and it was really awkward for her and for us. My
exchange student friends say the same when they hear their friends/family from home speaking English.

What have your experiences with this been like? Does it happen to you?
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tracker465
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5357 days ago

355 posts - 496 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch

 
 Message 2 of 20
04 May 2010 at 3:13am | IP Logged 
Well recently I was snooping on the internet, and found a website on which my Spanish professor is reading a poem in English, and it sounds really weird to me, to hear him speaking English.

For me, it always seems as though I get used to speaking with someone in one language, and then to speak in a different tongue seems ackward or strange.
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JacobTM
Groupie
United States
Joined 5603 days ago

56 posts - 67 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 3 of 20
04 May 2010 at 4:12am | IP Logged 
This is a big problem for language learners like myself. Even in Spanish class all the students speak to each other in English becuase that's everyone's native language.

I actually started conversing with a Political Science professor of mine in Spanish before the class started, but of course the class is taught in English. I talk to her in English when we're in the classroom, even if it's a question after class, but when I've met with her privately we speak Spanish.

I think to a large degree, people don't like the speak socially in a "foreign" language. I know that when I was in Mexico some people would try to talk to me in English, but that it would always remove me from the conversation at large, since most people don't speak it. You isolate yourself by speaking a foreign language.
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Smart
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5344 days ago

352 posts - 398 votes 
Speaks: Spanish, English*, Latin, French
Studies: German

 
 Message 4 of 20
04 May 2010 at 4:42am | IP Logged 
Has not happened to me yet, I'm used to people being either English or Spanglish.
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LatinoBoy84
Bilingual Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5580 days ago

443 posts - 603 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French
Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Latvian

 
 Message 5 of 20
04 May 2010 at 4:48am | IP Logged 
I have managed to avoid this problem, by using code switching early in a relationship
(assuming the person is bilingual or are learning something I speak). I don't abuse the
code switching to use it to mix things up once in a while. I know a lot of people find
code switching annoying, but for bilingual friends I have found it to be the most
effective means of communication. By using both languages (or three) I have effectively
increased the number of Idioms/slang/inside & cultural jokes.   I love hearing people use
their native languages (or code switch with the two strongest languages), as expression
is in its freest form.

Edited by LatinoBoy84 on 04 May 2010 at 4:50am

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goosefrabbas
Triglot
Pro Member
United States
Joined 6373 days ago

393 posts - 475 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: German, Italian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 6 of 20
04 May 2010 at 4:50am | IP Logged 
Hmm. In some of the language classes I've taken, I'd speak English or the other language during class with students, but outside of the classroom it was natural to only speak in English. I guess I generally just use the common language of the given circumstance. Inside class we're learning/practicing a language. Outside class, in no special situation, English is normal. Of course with certain friends we always speak a certain language or use a mix of one language and English, but I wouldn't classify speaking with them as the same as speaking with a random person.
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ruskivyetr
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5486 days ago

769 posts - 962 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Spanish, Russian, Polish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 7 of 20
04 May 2010 at 5:01am | IP Logged 
I find speaking English with the German teachers at the school awkward. It makes me feel uncomfortable because I
don't really like speaking English when I don't have to. I have to though when there are other kids around because
the other kids in the German classes don't speak a lick of it (and we all here know why).

I also find speaking with my Russian speaking friend in English awkward. Russian was technically her first language.
My Russian isn't good enough to be really conversational, but I understand her fully and respond in English. It's
really fun because I improve my listening comprehension. In a few weeks perhaps I will start to speak more and
more in Russian :).
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ericspinelli
Diglot
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 5788 days ago

249 posts - 493 votes 
Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Korean, Italian

 
 Message 8 of 20
04 May 2010 at 5:15am | IP Logged 
Although I do avoid speaking Japanese with other native English speakers unless necessary, I mostly experience this on the receiving end. Despite being a native speaker of English and despite my friends knowing this, my friends have complimented me for how well I can speak English because they normally only hear me speak Japanese. One of them who has been learning English recently still refuses to speak English with me because he's "so used to talking to me in Japanese."


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