LL-L "Language use" 2008.11.19 (01) [E]

Wed Nov 19 16:30:21 UTC 2008

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L O W L A N D S - L - 19 November 2008 - Volume 01
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From: heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Media" 2008.11.18 (01) [E]

>From Heather Rendall  heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk

Mark wrote

I would like to confirm what you say, not with respect to Afrikaans or other
South African languages,but with respect to Spanish and English.  Whenever
I've traveled in Mexico, most people see me as "American" (USA) and seemnot
to even hear that I have asked them a question in Spanish.  Theyseemingly
automatically answer me in English.  Now, if they don't know anyEnglish,
they don't seem to have that "problem."

Can I suggest that this is one of the BIGGEST reasons why English speakers
just give up when abroad trying to speak the language of the country. I have
heard it countless times from people who were all geared up to do their
shopping or ask directions or order a meal in the language only to be met
with English replies.

It is utterly disheartening!

I had the same experience outside my house  sometime ago. I noticed a woman
pushing a pram go past the entrance three or four times. As I live in an
isolated hamlet with only 5 houses, any stranger is usually lost. So I went
outside and asked her if I could help. It was clear from her faltering
English that she was German, so I suggested in German that we continue in
that language. We then had the weirdest of conversations where I spoke in
German to her, she spoke in English to me, but in German over the phone to
her daughter who was giving her directions.

Now why was that? You would have thought someone who was lost and with
little English would thank the Gods that they had happened to find
themselves outside the house of someone who happens to speak German but
no...... she insisted on speaking English.

Abroad I am happy to believe that many people use English in reply because
they are keen to actually practise their langauge on a native speaker. But
this was in England - and her English was poor..............

Word blindness or deafness indeed!

Heather

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language use

Hi, Heather, and thanks!

You are writing about common complaints. Here's my take.

The push to know English is enormous all around the world now. Many people
seem to have a hard time admitting that their English as a second language
isn't quite sufficient in a given situation, especially in an
English-speaking environment or talking with a person who has English as a
first language. Admitting that it's insufficient is like admitting failure,
which most people find too embarrassing.

Of course, then there are those that assume that English speakers can't
possibly speak their language, a generalization that tends to come with
"linguistic chauvinism." All I can say about that is "Go show 'em!"

To make it more complicated, although I am not assuming that this is so in
your case, it does happen more often than not that a person tries to help by
using your language when their command of it is noticeably worse than your
command of their language. Some people feel insulted by this. I used to.
These days I give people the benefit of the doubt by assuming that they are
showing off, are eager to practice their skills or are making a welcoming
gesture. Accordingly, I will only address people using their language when
I'm absolutely sure that their command of English (or whatever) is worse
than my command of theirs. (Once I watched someone address an
American-raised Hispanic person in poor Spanish, which was incredibly
embarrassing.) If people want to practice their language with me I go along
with it even if I know that my command of their language is better. In that
case I speak normally and see if they can understand and cope. They'll stop
if they can't.

Basic travel phrase lists are a dime a dozen on the Web. I suggest they all
contain a sentence requesting to be allowed to practice the host country's
language.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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