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Answering back in English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes  Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 17 of 80 10 June 2010 at 10:33am | IP Logged | |||||
I agree wholeheartedly with this. Imagine that as well as speaking English you had learned to speak close-to-perfect Polish, and worked as a receptionist in a hotel in London. Now, a Polish tourist came up to you and said "Mes wanting living ... night ... urm ... once" You explain you speak fluent Polish, but the tourist continues "Teachings me the English ... please to say" So, you switch to English: "Will that be a single or a double room?" Tourist: "Urm .. yes please" Your patience would soon wear out. So, to practice Polish you need either a willing friend, or a paid tutor, until you reach a level where it isn't painful for native Polish speakers to converse with you. Edited by Splog on 10 June 2010 at 10:33am 12 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6704 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 18 of 80 10 June 2010 at 11:18am | IP Logged | |||||
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Personally I prefer just to think in a foreign language until I'm sure I can manage a fairly complicated conversation. For instance I spoke mainly English (or sometimes Danish) to people on Iceland last year, but at the same time I translated my questions and their answers into broken Icelandic - almost like an interpreter, but without having to think in correct sentences. It is not quite the same thing as immersion, but a relevant alternative.
If you do feel that your skills are good enough then the obvious solution would be to continue speaking in the foreign language (though I can see a problem doing this to people whose servicemindedness and good will you cannot afford to lose). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| John Smith Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6043 days ago 396 posts - 542 votes Speaks: English*, Czech*, Spanish Studies: German | Message 19 of 80 10 June 2010 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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They want to practice speaking English just as much as you want to practice the languages you are learning.
Maybe you could compromise. Even if they reply in English keep using the language you want to use. Just a thought. You might need to work on improving your pronunciation. It might be hard to understand you.
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| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5335 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 20 of 80 11 June 2010 at 12:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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I am sure they meant no offence. Here they regularly switch to English as soon as they hear a hint of a foreign accent, and mostly that is out of respect, and a genuine wish to help.
Having said that, I do understand that it is frustrating. I have had the same experience at a couple of occasions, and one of them actually made me really mad. I was in Mallorca, and every shop owner would speak to me in German, although my German was really bad at the time, and I was fluent in Spanish. The problem was that they were so used to the German tourists, that they talked German to every non-Spaniard - and since I apparently have a "German face" they would not stop even when I pointed out to them that our communication in German would be short and painful. I had to throw a tantrum - in very quick Andalusian :-) before they saw the error of their ways. After having repeated the procedure a number of times I just gave up and went to the beach instead. I have a black belt in shopping, but it is supposed to be fun. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| OlafP Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5436 days ago 261 posts - 667 votes Speaks: German*, French, English | Message 21 of 80 11 June 2010 at 12:48am | IP Logged | |||||
From a logical point of view this is a valid and correct answer. Sometimes I do this on purpose for the fun of it. It demonstrates how blurry and imprecise colloquial language is. Once at a ticket office in Scotland: - Do you want a single or a return ticket? - Yes. He grasped it and laughed out. It doesn't work with everyone, though. Some people don't even get it after an explanation and think I'm pulling their leg. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| egill Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5697 days ago 418 posts - 791 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 22 of 80 11 June 2010 at 1:08am | IP Logged | |||||
That's the problem with or in English, it's ambiguous whether it's inclusive or or (or perhaps I should say xor here ;)) exclusive or. However I think in most cases intonation makes it pretty unambiguous, to say nothing of context. I know that it was just being said in jest and I certainly do engage in word play like that from time to time. So I want to be absolutely clear that I mean no offense by posting the following comic, which this discussion reminds me of: XKCD Edited by egill on 11 June 2010 at 1:12am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6910 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 23 of 80 11 June 2010 at 1:43am | IP Logged | |||||
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I agree with apatch3 and Splog. Kudos for anybody wanting to try their language in a native setting, but some (=many) think they have better pronunciation, prosody, and grammar than they really do. At work (the library) I have sometimes had to ask visitors to write the name of the author(restaurant/street) they're looking for, because their Swedish/English been impossible to decipher.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hobbema Senior Member United States Joined 5742 days ago 541 posts - 575 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Portuguese, French, Dutch | Message 24 of 80 11 June 2010 at 4:14am | IP Logged | |||||
Yah, I've been embarrassed a few times. My carefully thought out introductory phrase is either shot down by (something like) "We can speak in English"; or, the reply is too rapid for me to understand. At that point, the only way I can preserve any shred of dignity is to be prepared with the question "Sprecht je engels?" or "Voce fala ingles?" which allows a (more or less, more less than more) graceful exit back into English. As for me, I'm learning sort of later in life. Stepping out when encountering native speakers takes a little bit of courage and a whole lot of not taking yourself too seriously. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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