|
 |
How do you handle corrections in speech? | ||
Tags: Corrections | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5123 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 37 21 August 2012 at 1:32pm | IP Logged |
|
We are a family who are intensely focused on languages. Me in particular. This means that although the teachers insisted children should not be corrected in their speech, we have always corrected our children from when they were very small. They are also exceptionally articulate, and I trust there is a link.
Fast forward 10 years, and they now start correcting us; my husband in English and Norwegian, me in English , Norwegian and Spanish. Since I think that corrections in general are good, because they help you become better, I do not mind, but my husband goes bananas when the kids correct him - particularly if it is in front of others. How do you deal with it, are you able to take it with a smile, and rejoice in the fact that your kids (or other family members) have a high level, or do you feel humiliated and react with anger? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4446 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 37 21 August 2012 at 2:17pm | IP Logged |
|
Usually, I am grateful for corrections. The problem is that I have to ask for them or pay a tutor :).
But I can understand your husband as well. We accept adults correcting children's speech in everyday situations but the same is not true for adults. We don't usually correct adults, even when what they say is wrong. And men have fragile egos. It may be time to explain your children that correcting adults when speaking is OK in private but not in public, or that they should find discreet way to signalize error. I am sure your children are clever enough to understand. There is time and place to make correction in somebody's speech, but there is also time and place to let it go... 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4411 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 3 of 37 21 August 2012 at 2:42pm | IP Logged |
|
It can also depend on the culture of the country. Just the other week, I was talking to a colleague who had worked in Japan for a couple of years and could speak some Japanese.
She told me the Japanese people never corrected her. In fact they went to the opposite extreme, telling her that her Japanese was "excellent" when it was nothing of the sort. I assume this was done out of politeness and respect for someone making an effort with their language. But it didn't help the lady make progress. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5123 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 37 21 August 2012 at 2:54pm | IP Logged |
|
I think my sister has corrected me 600 times for pronuncing "of" like it were "off". Sure, I hated it, but I now know how to pronounce "of" :-)
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5219 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 5 of 37 21 August 2012 at 4:26pm | IP Logged |
|
I think corrections are essential. To this day I remember being corrected for something many many years ago. I think the problem is one of discretion. And of course it depends on the relationship with the person. Some people welcome corrections because it helps them improve their language skills. Others take offense because you are questioning their authority.
I personally love to be corrected. How can I improve otherwise? The other day someone explained the difference between rifa and sorteo in Spanish. I was so grateful. I cringe when I think of the mistakes I have inflicted on others because no one had corrected me instead of just smiling at me. If I feel the person is embarrassing herself (and maybe all of us) and wouldn't mind the correction, I'll try to slip in it in the course of the conversation and hope that the person picks up the hint. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6061 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 6 of 37 21 August 2012 at 4:53pm | IP Logged |
|
I probably don't get corrected enough, esp. with Turkish, which makes it a problem to overcome the plateau effect. I stay more or less the same but don't make further progress, and mistakes can become fossilised.
An example is Maus. Art Spiegelman depicts his father's broken, presumably Yiddish-influenced English after he settled in America. Unlike many, he had reasonable knowledge of English before going there - in Auschwitz he taught English to a camp trusty who sensed that Germany might not win the war and thought learning English would be a good move. As depicted in the graphic novel, though, Vladek Spiegelman's English in the USA is not very good. It was no doubt good enough for his daily affairs but he probably remained stuck with it at that level for the rest of his life. On the other hand, having your mistakes corrected a lot in an L2 can cause a morale problem, discouragement etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5555 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 7 of 37 21 August 2012 at 5:10pm | IP Logged |
|
I go out of my way to hint at mistakes without having to say it outright. (My mom used to call me a know-it-all ... and I learnt to get the point across without getting the attitude across.)
Unless I'm really distracted, I tend to get those hints myself. (And being corrected directly often embarrasses me so much that I have trouble learning the correct version itself, and it also discourages me from speaking even more.) With close friends/family, corrections are just part of the daily banter. And usually I am the one being corrected, because I have a habit of trying to say several words at the same time. But in general, those 'corrections' are just feedback - not 'what you said was WRONG' but 'hey, what you said was unclear, and even though I can guess what you meant I find it more amusing to tell you what my first, puzzling interpretation was'. Edited by Bao on 21 August 2012 at 6:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4919 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 8 of 37 21 August 2012 at 5:39pm | IP Logged |
|
I suppose it depends on the person being corrected and how they take criticism in
general. Or how much time they actually have to devote to bettering their second language. Sometimes people can feel that they've failed themselves, wishing they could devote more time to improvement. I have a native Spanish-speaking friend that's learning English and direct correction - even in private - really brings him down, sometimes wrecking his entire day. He really does appreciate the corrections, but I quickly learned that I have to couch any correction with things like "that's common" or "oh right!... [correction]" and move on or wrap it in a story of some sort. So I always do it in a roundabout way and nobody feels bad. I'd never correct him in a group though. He'd take it as calling him out personally in a group setting. As for me being corrected, I don't mind at all and thank any corrections made. And I suppose I'm old enough to just not care all that much if I look silly sometimes. R. == 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
