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How do you handle corrections in speech? | ||
Tags: Corrections | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5667 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 9 of 37 21 August 2012 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
Let me add to your appreciation of being corrected ;-) "pronouncing" 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hekje Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4504 days ago 842 posts - 1330 votes Speaks: English*, Dutch Studies: French, Indonesian | Message 10 of 37 21 August 2012 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
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When I was really little, I picked up the word "melancholy" in a book somewhere and took a shine to it. I
remember waiting days, days for the perfect moment of existential malaise so I could use it in front of my mom. Unfortunately, I thought the word was pronounced "mell-ANN-choh-lee", not "MELL-en-KAH-lee". Not even remotely close. So when the moment came and I announced to my mom, "Hey mom, I'm feeling pretty mellannchohlee today", her response was the following: "HAHAHAHA. You mean melancholy." At first I was crushed. How dare she?! She just ignored my feelings and corrected me and laughed at me, all pretty much at the same time! But eventually I got over it, and later I even grew to really appreciate that help. My response now is always just to nod, say thanks, and continue. The only important thing is that I learn from my mistakes and do it right from now on. If I didn't do this I would still pronounce "melancholy" like I have broccoli in my mouth, and I don't wanna go down that road anymore. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| numerodix Trilingual Hexaglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6584 days ago 856 posts - 1226 votes Speaks: EnglishC2*, Norwegian*, Polish*, Italian, Dutch, French Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin | Message 11 of 37 21 August 2012 at 6:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm having this dilemma a lot recently in language exchanges. In general I would say I
like getting corrections, but if I'm struggling to piece together enough ingredients to make my sentence at all, then they're not very useful. Especially when I get interrupted mid sentence, because then I have to stop thinking about my sentence and start thinking about this new information, and it's not the right time for it. I think one thing that probably makes people annoyed about getting corrected is that you're shifting attention away from what they said to how they made a mistake. People often talk when they think they have something interesting to say and then it's discouraging when you don't acknowledge their point. I don't have a problem with being wrong, but when the flow of communication is truncated that way I find it grating. I tend to try to find a way to say "I agree/disagree with your point, but it's incorrect to say ___". Edited by numerodix on 21 August 2012 at 6:47pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4458 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 12 of 37 21 August 2012 at 7:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is a reason why I suggest in conversation, unless the sentence is completely wrong, to use some form of signal. Even in normal conversation people give usually such signals - we only need to watch for them carefully. But in language exchange, simple gesture or one tap on the table or similar signalize that something is wrong. The speaker can than decide either to correct himself, stop immediately, ask later for clarification or ignore it completely. The other possibility, which stunts the conversation some, is to let the native speaker rephrase what was said - after the learner finishes his part. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tommus Senior Member CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5667 days ago 979 posts - 1688 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish | Message 13 of 37 21 August 2012 at 7:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
It is probably better to suggest the improvement using positive words. Such as: "I agree/disagree with your point, but it's better to say ___". I try to work the "improvement" into the next sentence or two without specifically pointing out the problem. For example, if someone says "I am having trouble with my pronounciation", I might follow that with something like: "I know it takes some work but good pronunciation is very important". Maybe put a slight bit of emphasis on "pronunciation" as you say it so the "improvement" is not missed. The advice "Never say anything positive using negative words" is very good advice. So often you hear politicians saying things like: "I will not let you down. There will be less crime, unemployment and homelessness". Rather, they should say: "You can count on me. We will have safe streets, more employment and affordable housing." 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Teango Triglot Winner TAC 2010 & 2012 Senior Member United States teango.wordpress.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5357 days ago 2210 posts - 3734 votes Speaks: English*, German, Russian Studies: Hawaiian, French, Toki Pona | Message 14 of 37 21 August 2012 at 7:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Personally, it depends on a) how I'm corrected, and b) the rate at which I'm corrected.
For example, when I started having lessons at Berlitz upon my arrival in Germany, I was initially provided with a teacher who sharply nitpicked every single imperfection and frankly had the personality of a bag of hatchets! By the second lesson, I was so petrified to speak in German with her that I ended up taking extended toilet breaks to flee her grammatical clutches and just silently nodded away like a Sunshine Buddy for the rest of my short prison sentence. This was a nightmare! I quickly asked to change tutor and was assigned a lovely easy-going German lady. She focused more on fluency and only corrected my mistakes every now and again when I clearly repeated them. Each time she approached this in a relaxed and friendly manner, with plenty of rephrasing for me to mirror later on. By the end of the lesson, I ended up speaking nineteen to the dozen and had already made swift progress. More importantly, I left looking forward to the next lesson. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5135 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 15 of 37 21 August 2012 at 7:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
Thank you :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mooby Senior Member Scotland Joined 5906 days ago 707 posts - 1219 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Polish | Message 16 of 37 21 August 2012 at 7:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
I can attest to this! One of my conversation partners corrects every tiny thing, so much so that I become a little inhibited. She is very nice actually, and well intentioned so I don't mind that much. However, with my conversation partners, I have now arranged to talk the first 30 minutes with the aim of fluent speech (lots of mistakes, but good for unlocking the voice) and the next 30 minutes to focus on accuracy (slow, pedantic but good for ironing out grammar). 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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