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Getting people not to speak English | ||
Tags: Language Banditry | Convincing native speakers | Immersion | Swedish | Learning Technique/Method | Accent | English | German | French | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| jasoninchina Senior Member China Joined 5020 days ago 221 posts - 306 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Italian | Message 137 of 169 16 August 2010 at 6:13am | IP Logged | ||
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A few years back, I tried something like this in Beijing, but with a bit of a twist. I had recently been subjected to many panhandlers and the sort, and was getting very frustrated with the situation. One day, one particular panhandler began following me down the street. I thought I would be smart and act like I didn't speak English. The man proceeded to speak to me in about 10 different languages. Suffice it to say, I felt a bit silly. I know this doesn't exactly relate, but since that time I don't feel completely comfortable using that particular trick.
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| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5008 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 138 of 169 19 August 2010 at 2:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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I generally stick to the language that will make it easiest for all to understand: in a one to one I am quite happy to have a bilingual conversation, especially if the correspondent will correct my idiom, syntax or grammar (and most do....)
I've had conversation in my bad Danish with Danes who spoke near perfect English just so I could practice, in English/German/Japanese all at the same time..... the Japanese spoke good English, one of the German engineers spoke nothing but German, I have proficient spoken Japanese, slightly better than basic German. Most people are generally happy to help out, I find. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| slymie Tetraglot Groupie China Joined 5017 days ago 81 posts - 154 votes Speaks: English, Macedonian Studies: French, Mandarin, Greek Studies: Shanghainese, Uyghur, Russian | Message 139 of 169 25 November 2010 at 2:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Once you get better at speaking the language people stop doing this automatically. I'm at a disadvantage being in China with a white face as people will just expect you to speak English, but I've found the easiest way to get them off the idea if they persist is to engage then in a conversation about politics, current events, or anything their limited vocabulary won't see them through. You can even do it at a fast food place. i.e. Me (in mandarin) "Can I have the pork bone soup and two steamed buns." Them (in broken English) "oklay sir, you wan soup and 2 bun. for here or go?" Me (still in mandarin) "oh right, I was wondering does the oil you use in the pork bone soup contain trans fat? I'm trying to avoid them.Also what kind of meat and vegetables are in the steamed buns, do they contain genetically modified products?" Them ".......... " for a language this is not possible with, I would recommend greeting their English with a smile, and politely say (in their language) "I'm sorry, I don't speak French" I actually got this the other way around, when I first started learning and a lady responded to my mandarin with "I'm sorry, I don't speak Shanghainese" it worked against me, so now I use it the other way! :) 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| CheeseInsider Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4911 days ago 193 posts - 238 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin* Studies: French, German | Message 140 of 169 26 November 2010 at 5:51pm | IP Logged | ||
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:P I don't think I'll ever have a problem with that. If I'm traveling in a European country I'll just say I only speak Chinese.
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6061 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 141 of 169 02 December 2010 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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It is particularly difficult in Germany to get people to speak in German and not take the opportunity to practise their English instead.
It was not always the case. In late 1944, the Nazi officer Otto Skorzeny sent out an appeal for English-speaking volunteers to dress up in US uniforms and pose as US Army soldiers in order to sow confusion behind Allied lines. Although a large number of volunteers came forward, the linguistic aspect was disappointing - only about 10 of the volunteers were genuinely fluent in American English, including being able to correctly use American slang. These were mostly ex-sailors who had paid extended visits to the USA in peacetime. A lot of the others spoke some heavily accented English, which was enough to give them away as German infiltrators. Although they did sow a lot of confusion, a high number of the infiltrators were executed as spies after being captured. Some appear to have been discovered as a result of using British English terms while posing as Americans. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| globus Pentaglot Newbie Germany learnwithmusic.wordp Joined 5400 days ago 28 posts - 35 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Dutch, Polish | Message 142 of 169 04 December 2010 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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In my opinion you just have to go on speaking the foreigner's language. That's what I always do. At a certain point, they won't talk English anymore. But if they really don't understand you, you should probably switch to English.
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6061 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 143 of 169 07 December 2010 at 11:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I do not usually get people speaking to me in English as soon as I use an L2. One reason may be that I often speak L2s well enough not to make "a British/American tourist" signal go off in people's heads when I open my mouth. But it may also be that my fairly light Scottish accent is not readily recognised by many people.
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6061 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 144 of 169 07 December 2010 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | ||
To add to the foregoing, it is quite telling how difficult it was for Skorzeny to find Germans who spoke the decent level of English needed. 1944 was a different time, before mass tourism, widespread student exchanges and an explosion of language education, especially in English. My guess also is that Germans in the armed forces with decent levels of English were often quite happy where they were, and not up for a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. On the other hand WW2 was a time when large numbers of troops were in foreign countries, and a number of countries produced basic dictionaries and phrasebooks which are quite interesting to read, as well as informative about wartime concerns, like a German one for occupied Russia containing phrases meaning, "Are there partisans here?" "If you run, I will shoot you!" and so forth. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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