Long-haired dictionary technique (Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies) Language Learning Forum

Long-haired dictionary technique
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Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies

18 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3

seldnar
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6920 days ago
189 posts - 287 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Mandarin, French, Greek

Message 17 of 18

02 February 2012 at 8:31pm | IP Logged

The problem exists also in China and Taiwan. Its not limited to guys looking for
intimate relations, though. It seems to affect just about every guy--straight or gay--
because the vast majority of our teachers are women as well as the Chinese students who
want to do language exchanges. Plus, if you do happen to have a native-speaking
girlfriend or wife, then almost all of your contact with the language is through women.
A bunch of foreign guy students once met after class to see if there was anything we
could do to change this--we'd each been studying Mandarin long enough to realize that
other Chinese guys didn't always think we sounded "manly." Alas, we didn't hit upon
solution. The best I came up with was going to all-male environments such as the
community bathhouse--the novelty of seeing a non-Chinese actually coming to such a
place is usually enough to get a lot of people curious enough to talk to you.

Regarding your last paragraph, I'm not sure if it makes much difference if you're
straight or not. If there is a difference in the way the language is used by each
gender, then I would think a guy (whether he is gay or not) would want to speak like a
guy.

Lucky Charms wrote:

William Camden wrote:

Some time ago I posted about British
officers in India who
learned local languages from their concubines. The only problem with this was that they
learned feminine verb forms this way, so they would scandalise their soldiers by
shouting orders at them using forms of address an Indian woman, not a man would use.

This is a rather famous problem among straight male Japanese learners. There are so
many guys who come to Japan for the girls, which is fine, but a significant subset of
this group tends to look down on Asian men and is not interested in making friends with
them. The irony is that because they limit most of their contact with the locals to
women (the vast majority of Japanese language teachers are also women), they end up
sounding like the Japanese stereotype of a gay man, which is especially hilarious when
combined with the macho casanova act that some of these guys put on :)

The moral: If you're straight and the language you're learning makes strong gender
distinctions, have your significant other introduce you to some of his/her friends of
the same sex as you. Make sure you offset your time with your partner with plenty of TV
and same-sex interaction.

1 person has voted this message useful

leosmith
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6338 days ago
2365 posts - 3804 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Tagalog

Message 18 of 18

03 February 2012 at 7:07am | IP Logged

seldnar wrote:

If there is a difference in the way the language is used by each
gender, then I would think a guy (whether he is gay or not) would want to speak like a
guy.

I'm going to disagree with this. Gay Thai men normally use feminine particles when talking. And I've had many gay
friends in the US who speak in a more feminine way. Not all of them do, but it's pretty common.
1 person has voted this message useful

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