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Feeling stupid when stuck in L2 | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7017 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto | Message 1 of 5 18 May 2009 at 10:46pm | IP Logged | ||
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How do people deal with feeling stupid (or being scared of appearing stupid) when being unable to express themselves in their L2?
I'm currently taking a French oral communications course and I find myself spending a long time on the assignments (reviews of articles and such) because I want them to be as intelligent and in-depth as if I were doing them in English. Obviously this poses a problem because I'm _not_ fluent in French. The issue is that I'm unable to separate the "I'm doing a superficial review of this article because that's all I'm able to do in French" from "I'm doing a superficial review of this article because I'm stupid and have nothing interesting to say on this topic." I think I'm scared that if I do (1), people will assume (2). (Why I'm scared of people thinking I'm stupid is a topic for another day, and probably not on a public message board :P) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5772 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 2 of 5 18 May 2009 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe - dumb it down for the audience, not for yourself. Write it as a "Simple French" presentation, bearing in mind it should be as accurate as possible while still easy to understand with limited French. That your own French is still limited only makes it easier to figure out where the limits of limited French are.
(I personally think people who do not only understand a topic, but also are able to presentate it in a way that others can understand it come across as ultimately more intelligent as those who can't explain it well.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5929 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 3 of 5 19 May 2009 at 1:21am | IP Logged | ||
Yes, as an oral examiner I'd really rather hear something that is clear and well-explained albeit using simple language than the 'kitchen sink' approach where students go overboard, use structures and vocabulary they are not comfortable with and end up making the examiner wince. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6157 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 4 of 5 19 May 2009 at 2:03pm | IP Logged | ||
I don't think people will ever assume (2). I've the exact same problem in Spanish, as we've to write summaries, reviews and discuss orally books and films, as well as political ,cultural and religious articles. The majority of my class are educated professionals including a couple of language teachers, but everyone struggles with some of the simplest expressions, and continuously make the same mistakes. E.g English: She likes films. Bad Spanish said quickly: Ella le gusta las películas. Proper Spanish: A ella le gustan las películas. When it comes to discussing the articles, the class can discuss it at an advanced level in English, but we sound like children in Spanish. Nobody ever assumes anyone is stupid, so you should never let this get you down. Edited by DaraghM on 19 May 2009 at 3:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6278 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 5 of 5 19 May 2009 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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If I use an L2 a lot, it can erode my L1 (English) a little bit, especially my spelling. However, I am sometimes struck by the range of vocabulary and flexibility of expression in my English that I cannot approach in any L2, even my best ones.
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