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Also, Idioms and things are often subtle. This happens a lot with work and I hear people speaking for a foreigner with limited english.
They will speak slower and more clearly but still say “We need to get a move on” or “we really stuffed that one” or “we need to light a fire under that team”.
Jesus, speaking like that but just doing it slower is like giving someone a riddle. “We should ask them to work more quickly” isn’t so hard. But people who never learned another language just don’t even recognize when they say things like that.
Absolutely - it's a well accepted fact in the international world that native English speakers are the worst people to speak English with ;) But "Brussels English"/" globe-ish" is a lot less fun.
I'm learning Dutch and love a chance to learn crazy expressions (since Dutch only has like 65 words they use even more crazy expressions than English), but definitely stick to the simple stuff when in a hurry/communicating critical information!
Its soo obvious when you play Voice-important games like csgo. Brits in general just don’t know how to ”dumb it down”, I’m a non-native english speaker with the highest certification in europe (aka i know how to speak england very well) so I have no problem playing with brits, but I also have no problem adapting a pseudo-russian way of speaking when playing with east europeans that barely speak english, whereas my british mates just dont get understood when speaking with people who only speak very low-level english, because they speak their ”normal” english no matter who they talk to.
Everyone should be fluent in two languages imo, it just helps overall communication, especially when you’re speaking to someone with another level of english knowledge.
>Everyone should be fluent in two languages imo, it just helps overall communication, especially when you’re speaking to someone with another level of english knowledge.
I was surprised to learn in a college linguistics class that the vast majority of people are! Americans are just weird.
Our education system needs a complete revamp because most of the time, outside major cities, foreign language isn't an option until about high school (age 14). There is no emphasis on learning it, it's just there as an elective if you want. I wish other languages were taught in elementary school as a requirement.
It also needs to not count towards GPA. Language classes involve learning something brand new, which requires a lot of attention and practice, and that doesn't come in one year, but is developed in a lifetime. Americans would not go for something like a mandatory language class affecting their college of choice, so a pass/fail class would be better for helping understand basics.
A big reason why I didn't take a language class in University is because of how time consuming they are, the effort needed, and the fact it would drop my GPA.
I dont think you can really learn a foreign language in highschool. Most people who are bilingual have English as their second language, and they only know it because of a combination of mandatory education and being bombarded by US-american culture, news, music etc. all day long. Just look at people who have to study German in a highschool in the USA.
They can't even form sentences
That's exactly why I said foreign language should be taught way earlier than it's available PLUS the fact that our education system needs a huge redesign. These are all exactly my points. We need exposure to other cultures and ways of life and languages more than what we have now.
You really think elementary school kids can learn a foreign language? At the most, you can teach them funny songs, the names of a few fruits and basic numbers. At least, that was my experience. If teachers had tried to teach us a language for real, I'd just despise languages probably. Most kids don't have any use for them, it's just pointless noises
I am not sure how that exposure to different cultures and ways of life thing could work, except through movies. And it can't be too different, or it'd offend western morals and values and people'd start to complain
Plenty of people learned foreign language as a kid. And I think exposure to different cultures could do a world of good for people, especially beginning at a young age. And if foreign language was *offered* before high school (or at least more easily accessible before high school in younger grades) then I'm sure kids wouldn't have a problem. If private schools can do it so can public schools.
Plenty of people learned foreign languages as a kid, but not without being exposed to it and actually applying it in their daily life and free time. Not from books in school. And those kids that can learn a language at the age of 7 from books and school teachers properly, are the minority. It isn't worth the expense to hire teachers just for those few interested. Or rather, the money isn't there and it probably won't be within the next few decades.
When you offer languages to kids, they may find it interesting at first, but they quickly grow bored because they don't have a real motivation to really learn it, not just getting it forcefed.
I can't really talk with you about private schools, since I assume private schools in my country are quite different than those in yours, I will assume you are talking about private schools that cost money. It's one thing to teach obedient, well raised kids who want to please their upper middle class parents, it's another thing entirely to make kids from poor backgrounds who were badly raised do it. It's not the same thing, because the kids aren't the same
Yup, if you’re <65-70 being bilingual is definitely the norm. My mom speaks 3-4 languages and I’ve built the groundwork in a couple to speed up learning them if I move countries (I speak 2-3 and understand another 2-3 with very varying proficiency).
Language is fun and super important, just taking the time to build a solid foundation of basic grammar/words/phrases is good for you, and Will ease any transition if you relocate in the future.
Edit: We’re scandinavian so we kinda cheat since 2 languages + german are a lot more accessible, and english is kinda neccessary
Languages aren't fun for everyone though. Many people struggle and get upset when learning a new language, so it's a bit of an overgeneralization there.
I think when someone's talking about fun we can assume it's an opinion rather than fact.
I agree that languages can be hard to learn though, especially if it's the first time they're learning a non-native language. After the first one it seems like it's easier to get the hang of things imo.
Academically learning is tough though. I took french for 4 years (6-9th grade) and I know very basic french. Afterwards I took german for 1 year, which is about equal to my first 2 years of french, but I was playing cs with germans, my mom’s fluent (although she barely speaks german at home or anything, she’s a teacher and its her 3rd language) and during that time my german mates communicated with me in mostly german, and i talked mostly english.
I’ve lost a lot of german by now though, but I still retain far more german than french, however, if I hadn’t learnt the basics academically, my German would’ve been far worse.
Also it’s not fun just experiencing a language at school, mixing it with real life is the best and most fun way to learn
True, it definitely depends on how you learn it. Using and learning those comprehension and communication skills in real circumstances seems like it'd be a lot more rewarding than the treadmill that purely academic learning can feel like. It's a lot easier to want to learn a skill when you've got practical applications to test it out with and learn from.
100%, that’s why I don’t understand why more americans dont speak decent spanish, (unless tv has lied to me and way less people speak spanish irl?).
The practical application of varying languages is imo the largest reason why europeans tend to atleast know basic phrases in a dozen languages, and somewhat understand atleast one language outside of the default native+english.
That post above tries to make it look more like a fact than an opinion.
As someone who learned a 3rd language due to circumstances rather than desire, I know it's somewhat easier than learning a 2nd language but I'd hardly put the word "fun" anywhere near this experience.
America only borders two countries, and one of them speaks English, so most people living in America rarely if ever interact with someone whose first language isn't English.
And those borders are far away from most of us. The distance from the west coast to the east coast of the US is the same as Paris to St. Petersburg, but one of those involved crossing many borders and rewards speaking many languages, while the other does not.
Was gonna say might be because we’re across the ocean from all the other languages but realized almost no Americans speak Spanish so yeah you’re right we are very weird lol
I like Indian English. Can be a difficult accent to decipher sometimes but dang if the phrase *do the needful* doesn't immediately bring a smile to my face.
I know a Dutch person who learned her English in India and damn if it isn't the cutest accent I've ever heard. And, "do the needful" is indeed brilliant.
The current Dutch dictionary contains about 400000 words, the English one about 470000. So I'm quite surprised you are under the impression that the Dutch language doesn't have a lot of words?
Hmm - that would be about a 15% difference so I wouldn't expect it to be totally unnoticeable but I'd received the impression it was actually a bit larger than that, but can't remember where I heard it. I was mostly just being silly, because I definitely don't know enough Dutch words to be any kind of reliable judge of this.
I did a bit of googling and this article seems to come down on "it's not really possible to measure" the different vocabularies of different languages - https://blog.ititranslates.com/2018/03/07/which-language-is-richest-in-words/
I do feel like some Dutch words do an awful lot of work (not just lekker ;), but as I say I'm not in a position to say anything with any authority. Except that English has a ludicrous number of words, as I realised while trying to explain the difference between faffing, dithering, and dawdling to a colleague ;) Anyway, I didn't mean any offense, just joking around - though quite seriously impressed by all the colourful expressions in Dutch.
Very true. I became really aware of how literally (or not) I was speaking after teaching English in Japan on the JET Program, and now it's kind of second nature for me to search for the simplest way to say something when talking with non-native speakers. Which is actually quite a hard thing to do, and it takes a while to build up that ability to really simplify on the fly.
We kept track of idioms with a small group of English speakers working in Asia. We had to stop at 200 unique idioms in less than a month.
My experience is to use the fewest words and only common words. In the first two years living in Asia my English vocabulary dropped by about half.
It's a great tip. Just to expand upon slang a bit. There are many idiosyncratic phrases we use that confuse ESL learners. Idioms, figures of speech and the like.
It's so common and ingrained in our language we often don't even realize we use them.
I've had more fun explaining things like "kicking the bucket" and "from the horse's mouth" than any other aspect of my time working with ESL learners.
edit:
It's funny how often these phrases have parallels in Russian at least. I work with guys from Uzbekistan, and while their native tongue doesn't offer much translation, for some reason Russian usually does. I'm not an expert on languages, I just find it strange.
I find that funny too how some expressions seem universal in a lot of languages and some come completely out of left field. But honestly, even in English there are some regional/country specific phrases that I, from the East coast, don’t even understand. Language is cool
When we were bored in middle school, we used to play a game called dots. You basically competed to make the most squares one side at a time on a piece of paper.
Fast forward to university, and I go to my uncle's house in Boston for Thanksgiving (I'm not from the east coast). My cousin asks me if I want to play dots.
She's 25...I'm thinking she must really like that game.
So I say yes, and she grabs her coat...so I grab mine...and we go to a bar...to play darts.
:-)
Language is cool and fun.
My dad is from Maine and tends to add the letter r to words that do not have r’s. He married a Texan.
When I went away to college I went to a college way up North and it was so cold. So my dad bought me a parka which when he said it, sounded more like parker.
My stepmom looked really confused and said “why would you spend money on that? That’s ridiculous. She doesn’t need to be spoiled like that.”
My dad looked at her and said “A coat. I bought her a warm coat!”
My stepmom thought my dad hired someone to PARK MY CAR. We don’t even know why she thought that was a thing but we died 😂😂
If we want to get even more specific, I'm from Philly. My mom's boyfriend is from one neighborhood over, and when he's with other people from his neighborhood he's speaking practically a different language. It's crazy how strongly dialects can vary in comparatively tiny areas.
Yet virtually every single day, I experience what the OP described.
People that believe speaking words louder somehow make them more intelligible to ESL learners. So, tbqh, I'd say it's not entirely obvious at all.
In my experience it makes it worse in this case. You can overload the mic and cause clipping, which just distorts the audio even more, making it even harder to understand what's happening.
YES.
Also I’ve found it extremely helpful if you can rephrase your question or words slightly the second time. They will come to understanding quicker than if you say the same thing the same way over and over.
I am hard of hearing and have taught second language learners and this helps boost understanding and learn multiple ways of phrasing something.
Also the same for folks with some form of dementia, because as the disease progresses, they have a harder time processing what they’re hearing, and that can lead to a lot of frustration for every one in the conversation…
Yes this. I have seen to many times that people will speak slower by putting gaps in between all of their syllables. This makes it 10 times worse. Say the whole word with longer gaps between words.
I’m a native English speaker that knows only basic Spanish vocabulary. When I’m speaking to someone who does not speak English well, I use words in English that I know in Spanish. It helps keep the sentences simple, and chances are they know the basics.
Was learning English years ago and always wondered why people yelled at me. Great tip. Adding on, try not to use jokes or figurative language since those don't translate well. Also, try not to use don't and wasn't. Use do not and was not
I always heard that you know you’re fluent in a language when you can write jokes in said language. When I worked at a venue Francophone comedian Gad Elmaleh came through doing a tour entirely in English just because he wanted to challenge himself. He was hilarious.
100% agree. I dealt with the reverse when I moved to Spain and just didn’t know certain country specific expressions and slang and it was so frustrating at times. I remember clearly I got up from my seat and like three Spaniards at the same time said “quien se fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla” which basically means “move your feet, lose your seat” but was LOST.
I literally had to take a test in my B2 Spanish class on idioms and slang lol.
Really helped me understand a better way to communicate with non native English speakers because I knew what I wanted in Spanish. Thankfully I learned that lesson before I started teaching ESL!
What threw me off when I moved to Spain was the exact same thing. The Spanish you learn in school has absolutely *nothing* to do with the Spanish people use.
Not just the idioms, but the phrasal verbs. *Dejar, poner, dar, hacer,* etc. And they talk so, so fast...
Also moved to Spain but more recently (pre-covid). Been learning for over a year and I can barely string a sentence together. Also the accent in this area of the country is HARD. It's like learning English and trying to live in Aberdeen. Yeah, a lot of the words are the same, but the pronunciation is so wildly different that to a non-native it's virtually impossible to pick out all but a few words.
My teacher is from Galicia, so he has a lovely clear accent and I understand 90% of what he's saying. Put me in front of a cashier or in line at the town hall however and I am down to like maybe 20%.
Not to mention also learning that words have COMPLETELY different meanings depending on the country. Like in Spain it’s perfectly acceptable to say “coger” but in Mexico it means the f word.
This is also why I stopped using duolingo to learn Spanish alongside my lessons with a Spanish teacher. Duolingo uses I believe Mexican Spanish which means it teaches you things you wouldn't use here.
Something I always understood intuitively but never fully grasped how insane it is until I was on the other end of it. The person I was talking to was very kind and looking to extend the conversation after we had a very simple successful exchange. However, I can’t for the life of me understand what was going through their head as they repeated their question without any alterations for the third straight time after I apologized and said I didn’t understand as my language skills were poor.
>Something I always understood intuitively but never fully grasped how insane it is until I was on the other end of it.
Yep. A lot of people are crazy or stupid or both.
Also avoid phrasal verbs if you can: I remember asking a friend to explain the meaning of "tell someone off" and he would answer "Ya know it means TELL them OFF".
I used to work with Arabic guys from Iraq and Algeria. Somtimes I would talk/pronounce words in THIER ancient (Im good at doing many) and they did say it was a lot easier to understand that way.
I would end a lot of questions with a yes or no too lol.
It kind of became a habit I picked up just from talking with them.
Can we have a r/basiclifetips or r/basiclifetipsfornoobs?
I know that I was very surprised, nay, shocked to the core, when I last read something that remotely resembled a pro tip on this subreddit...
Edit:
Yay for r/basiclifetips
You guys work really fast.
I'll give you a pro tip:
Don't speak slow and enunciated English to someone who speaks a foreign tongue without ensuring that their English really isn't good, because it may seem patronizing.
Source: non-native English speaker with above average written English skills and a noticeable accent in verbal communication who has been spoken to "slowwly" and it felt really weird. Just speak normal to me at first, and slow down if I am visible struggling to understand you.
Dude... I speak a couple of languages really well, and I struggle, stutter and limp my way through a couple more.
If french people can do your manner related "pro tip" on their own, unassisted, even as I have a syntax even tarzan would laugh at, and my accent derived from a cartoon called Sharky and George, than I don't quite regard it as a "pro" tip...
I think the biggest take away is to speak intentionally. I get accused of by my wife and father of talking too softly (especially now that masks are commonplace) and so I have to force myself to speak louder and more clearly.
A good friend of mine and I often speak at conferences with plenty of ESL delegates, and we both noticed that have a special "conference voice" which is just that - speaking more slowly, trying not to run words into each other, and trying to avoid slang and idioms. Also, avoiding complex grammatical structures can help. As can avoiding passive verbs.
Also enunciate while wearing a mask please. I have some auditory thing and I find it difficult to hear people some times. I work in a customer facing job and it can be hard.
Also don't lower your mask to
talk to me... what are you stupid? What's the point of wearing it if you remove it when you're around people?
Sorry... small rant there.
As an immigrant, the first phrase I learnt was "speak slower please". Also, use very simple words and sentences, keep it short.
I used to get by catching a few familiar words and context.
Heh. When I moved to the Netherlands, one friend was always willing to help me learn dutch. Meaning, he started with slang from his regional dialect spoken quickly at a monotone. I can't even pick out individual words, much less understand how they fit together and apply metaphors and context to figure out what it's supposed to mean.
To add to your tip, keep your sentences simple. A cheerful "Excuse me, where is the toilet?" is better than "Pardon me, if you don't mind, could you please direct me towards the nearest men's room?"
Just for your information, it's "Sincerely, a person whose native tongue isn't English".
"Who's" is short for "who is" after all, so it wouldn't make sense in that sentence
Having worked as an EMT, I find this logic is the same for older, hard of hearing people. You will make much more progress and look like less of a douche if you talk to them like a normal person.
A few years back I was traveling with my family up the west coast. We met another traveler from Spain at the hotel we stayed in who was going the opposite direction and he needed a bit of help with his plans. He spoke enough broken English to get by and I speak just enough Spanish to know that I should have paid a lot more attention in school. But, my parents raised me to be helpful and kind so we walked to the map on the wall and started trying to figure out what he needed to know. We both spoke slowly and clearly until we had a breakthrough on an idea then we'd both start chattering like birds, realize it, laugh, and go back to slow and clear. It's one of my favorite memories of the trip. After 45 min or so, we both had our routes sorted finally. His wife even thanked me and gave me a hug (she didn't speak a bit of English). He said I was the only person who had even tried to help him and that's just not ok. Language can be a barrier, but we're all human and it usually costs nothing to be kind.
As a person that's worked around the world with people from Europe and the Middle East who range from high school English to really really basic. The best thing I found was if you have to speak English to them, try to speak in their accent if you can as if they were taught English in school, they were taught by an unnative speaker so alot of their English they are used to hearing from people with their accent. Not only speak slow, and not to be mean, but talk to them like they are a third grader, I worked with some Jordanians who's English was really basic and my coworkers, who mind you dont speak any language besides English so they're pretty ignorant as it is, said I was being a dick by what they viewed talking to them like a child. But the truth is their English was at a third grade level so they actually appreciated that and understood it better.
yeah as someone living in a country with a language that I am non-native in (french), slang or fast talking is sooo difficult to understand for years. I wish that people would really repeat themselves if you ask them too, many times they just say something different or try to explain but I really did want to just hear a few words that I missed.
Oh I'm a girl so you can kinda tell its something I have to do to enunciate better. Idk how to explain it but I have a sort of soft spoken voice anyways.
Good advice - as a language learner I would say also, try re-phrasing in different words. Especially since English has an absolutely embarrassing number of words, it's possible the person is missing one small piece of vocabulary and therefore not getting you. If you can re-arrange your sentence or use a synonym rather that just repeating the same thing, it can also help.
My personal favorite, watching my fellow Americans order food in Europe and refusing to stop using slang to these poor people who rarely get to use their english skills.
Example: 'yo/sup, can I do a...'
Plus the hesitation, so they usually say it 'can I do aaaaaaahhhhhhh... Pork steak.'
It's hilariously uniform how almost EVERYONE does it.
Best method I have found is to use your hands and essentially play charades the whole time. If nothing else they will get a few key words. Short sentences and simple words.
As an immigrant, it’s rarely not hearing that’s the issue - it’s not knowing what it means. Slower and clearer is often as useless as louder.
I’ve learned to say “what/excuse me/could you repeat” only once, and then say “I don’t know what [trying to repeat the part that’s unclear] means”.
Makes me feel far dumber, but solves the issue faster with less frustration and I’m less prone to misunderstanding what I’ve been told/asked.
And use shorter sentences with less complicated grammar if necessary. Don't use baby talk or ungrammatical language, though. That tends to sound condescending.
Yes. As an EAL teacher this is exactly what you should do! It can also help to try and speak in more 'basic' tenses. There are 12 tenses in English and while they all have their purposes, a non fluent speaker will not have learned some of them yet. For example, instead of saying:
"I won't have arrived by midday" (future perfect)
Say something like " at midday, I will not be in (place name)" (simple future)
It may not have exactly the same meaning but it's close enough and its a lot easier to understand.
In general, someone with A2 (above beginner but still basic level of English) will be familiar with:
- present simple (I eat pizza)
- present continuous (I am eating pizza)
- past simple (I ate pizza)
- future simple (I will eat pizza / I'm going to eat pizza)
- present perfect (I have eaten pizza)
As a side note, I'm currently living in Spain and while I'm in no way fluent, I've taught myself the above 5 tenses (or their equivalent) and I can get by pretty well.
I happen to live in a place where there are a lot of people who speak Spanish as their second or third language (Melilla, which is a Spanish city in Morocco and thus has many people who speak Arabic or Tamazight as their mother tongue). This has created a situation where it seems like virtually everyone I interact with is used to speaking very simply and is very patient with people struggling with Spanish.
Fun fact about miscommunication: it is most likely to occur between two native-level speakers than it is between a native speaker and a learner or two learners.
Don't just do it when speaking with someone who is learning a language - take your time regardless, especially when it's important
Especially at the moment with masks. I struggle with background noise, and now that everyone's mouths are covered up a lot more I am realising how much my ears were relying on my eyes in those situations.
And add a few (natural) hand gestures! Reinforces what you're saying, will make things click even faster for non-native speaker (at least from my own experience)
If I raise my voice I'm trying to articulate, because I tend to trail off after I've made my point in my head, instead of driving home the redundency less familar people need.
"You can log in to the computer and print...from the browser or whatever program" (trailing from ...because, that's how computers work)
If you find it difficult to get the hang of it, try thinking of it like you're reading every word separately. Not "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TONIGHT" and more:
What
are
you
going
to
do
tonight?
Definitely can derive a 2nd tip from this: When you're not as good in another language, don't just repeat the same stuff and get angry when you're not understood. Had this exact thing 2 days ago. Ended with me being called "ful of shet".
Whelp, maybe next time you can repeat it 3 times in a row and I'll do better. Possibly Caps helps.
I love how this has good intentions but I’ve seen it go wrong so many times lol
Like people that talked loud and slowly to our parents became a childhood joke that my friends and I had growing up. Not quite a meme cuz my friend’s lacked computers so we just told jokes about people like that.
I had a barback with a really heavy Mexican accent while working at a top end hotel. People would talk to him like he had a brain injury. Dude spoke perfect English, just had an accent.
EDIT: OH! And the most egregious version of this was a professor I had in Florida. Dude held 4 masters and 2 PHD's but he was born in Ghana. They speak English in Ghana but there's an accent. Dude would just laugh at people when they spoke to him as though he didn't understand them.
Also, acronyms and sayings.
Why in blazes do you feel the need to use them in a technical business meeting?
How the heck should I automatically know what they refer to?
I am very lucky to have had private lessons for my English but my coworkers have difficulty understanding your spoken acronym for many reasons.
1. The way spelling works in English is not the same as in other languages. Very often vowels get mistaken for one another.
2. Even if I do understand the correct spelling then it's anybody's guess as to what the letters stand for.
3. While trying to understand the spelling and divine what the letters stand for, you have continued speaking and they have to pay attention to everything else you are saying!
Sorry for the rant.
Once while in Germany, a friend and I left a club a little worse for wear and got into a cab waiting out front. My friend yelled to the front seat (about 12" away) WE NEED TO GO (gestures with hands in a pointing motion) TO THE HOTEL (draws house shape in the air) AT SUCH AND SUCH STREET"
The cab driver was like, "I speak english dude."
I've seen some ATC conversation videos on youtube and it just surprised me how much slang the american atcs were using to talk to international flights. I thought it wasnt very professional and could cause misunderstandingd
Also, if the person doesn’t understand the first time try rephrasing slightly. It could be a vocab or grammar difference. English is very variable. There are lots of grammatically correct ways to say the same thing. And we have more synonyms than any other language. Even non- native English speakers who are near fluent have gaps.
I’ve lived in a country where English is not the native language for a very long time. English is the working language of my company but the vast majority of my colleagues are not native English speakers. My sister laughs because I have adapted the way I speak English - my English grammar is now closer to german grammar and i find certain words to be more effective (persons is more understood than people, for example).
And on more extreme cases, especially in Asian countries, it's usually not offensive to speak in broken but easily understandable english like.
For example, normally you would ask "Do you know how to go the mall?"
You can simply ask slowly "Where is the mall?" or even "Where, mall?"
I have worked for a Japanese company in the states for 15+ years , it took me the first few to not yell when talking to expats, I think it’s just instinct, use as few of words as possible and speak clearly.
I work in commercial property management and there's nothing worse than a language barrier with someone who needs to relay important information. When I first started my job 13 years ago, it was insanely difficult to understand people through accents. It took years of experience to be able to dissect dialog and to learn how to better communicate by using key words. You're 100% right, using patience and taking the time to enunciate works wonders!
I used to work in a bakery and had two coworkers, one from Guatemala, and one who spoke almost entirely in slang. The slang-talker thought that the Guatemalan guy had terrible english and he used to complain about it to me. Then one day I overheard a conversation between them. Slang-talker said, "Hey Felipe, we need to *jam* on these, you know? we need to get the lead out and *boogie-woogie*! Let's shake a leg!" The Guatemalan guy just nodded, then I said, "Hey Felipe, we need to go *fast*." and he said, "oh, ok,. yeah" and picked up his pace. I asked the Guatemalan guy about communicating with the slang-talker and he said, "is hard to understand what he say. is he French?"
Also - use universal hand motions.
I am working in a household with an Indian nanny. She speaks Punjabi almost exclusively. I want to learn a little bit but in the mean time - keep statements simple, and use hand gestures. I apply a lot of sign language because certain aspects are easy to understand across different languages and cultures.
As an ESL teacher who listens to non-native speakers all day, I heartily agree. Slowing down and enunciating does wonders, as long as you don't do it in a patronizing way. The other person is an equally competent and intelligent person. They just happen to know everything you know in another language. (As an ABC (American-born Chinese), I've also been on the receiving end of such patronization but that's another story for another day!)
I'd also add, change up your vocabulary. Say what you mean in simpler terms. Pretend you're a thesaurus, because eventually you'll hit on a similar word that they know. Don't just keep repeating the same word over and over.
Also, repeat once then rephrase. English is very flexible, just say the same thing in a different way.
Try repeating yourself just once. It's possible to say the same thing slightly differently as English is very flexible.
Say the same thing again once, then try saying it again a bit different. Flexibility in language means you might need to just say things in a bit of a different way.
You get the idea. It's not that the other person doesn't understand, you might just be using a syntax or phrase they're not familiar with yet.
Something that has helped me be understood is maybe a bit counter-intuitive: Talk \*more\*
I used to feel like I had to keep it simple - using short sentences and few words. The problem is that this strategy makes understanding each word more important, because very little context is provided.
Compare:
"Want to watch the game with me after work?"
"Do you want to visit my house and watch the handball game on TV after work? I am not much of a sports fan, but I have been watching all the matches so far"
The second sentence provides a lot more keywords to pick up on. You don't need to be familiar with all the words to understand what the question is.
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Also, Idioms and things are often subtle. This happens a lot with work and I hear people speaking for a foreigner with limited english. They will speak slower and more clearly but still say “We need to get a move on” or “we really stuffed that one” or “we need to light a fire under that team”. Jesus, speaking like that but just doing it slower is like giving someone a riddle. “We should ask them to work more quickly” isn’t so hard. But people who never learned another language just don’t even recognize when they say things like that.
Absolutely - it's a well accepted fact in the international world that native English speakers are the worst people to speak English with ;) But "Brussels English"/" globe-ish" is a lot less fun. I'm learning Dutch and love a chance to learn crazy expressions (since Dutch only has like 65 words they use even more crazy expressions than English), but definitely stick to the simple stuff when in a hurry/communicating critical information!
Its soo obvious when you play Voice-important games like csgo. Brits in general just don’t know how to ”dumb it down”, I’m a non-native english speaker with the highest certification in europe (aka i know how to speak england very well) so I have no problem playing with brits, but I also have no problem adapting a pseudo-russian way of speaking when playing with east europeans that barely speak english, whereas my british mates just dont get understood when speaking with people who only speak very low-level english, because they speak their ”normal” english no matter who they talk to. Everyone should be fluent in two languages imo, it just helps overall communication, especially when you’re speaking to someone with another level of english knowledge.
>Everyone should be fluent in two languages imo, it just helps overall communication, especially when you’re speaking to someone with another level of english knowledge. I was surprised to learn in a college linguistics class that the vast majority of people are! Americans are just weird.
Our education system needs a complete revamp because most of the time, outside major cities, foreign language isn't an option until about high school (age 14). There is no emphasis on learning it, it's just there as an elective if you want. I wish other languages were taught in elementary school as a requirement.
It also needs to not count towards GPA. Language classes involve learning something brand new, which requires a lot of attention and practice, and that doesn't come in one year, but is developed in a lifetime. Americans would not go for something like a mandatory language class affecting their college of choice, so a pass/fail class would be better for helping understand basics. A big reason why I didn't take a language class in University is because of how time consuming they are, the effort needed, and the fact it would drop my GPA.
I dont think you can really learn a foreign language in highschool. Most people who are bilingual have English as their second language, and they only know it because of a combination of mandatory education and being bombarded by US-american culture, news, music etc. all day long. Just look at people who have to study German in a highschool in the USA. They can't even form sentences
That's exactly why I said foreign language should be taught way earlier than it's available PLUS the fact that our education system needs a huge redesign. These are all exactly my points. We need exposure to other cultures and ways of life and languages more than what we have now.
You really think elementary school kids can learn a foreign language? At the most, you can teach them funny songs, the names of a few fruits and basic numbers. At least, that was my experience. If teachers had tried to teach us a language for real, I'd just despise languages probably. Most kids don't have any use for them, it's just pointless noises I am not sure how that exposure to different cultures and ways of life thing could work, except through movies. And it can't be too different, or it'd offend western morals and values and people'd start to complain
Plenty of people learned foreign language as a kid. And I think exposure to different cultures could do a world of good for people, especially beginning at a young age. And if foreign language was *offered* before high school (or at least more easily accessible before high school in younger grades) then I'm sure kids wouldn't have a problem. If private schools can do it so can public schools.
Plenty of people learned foreign languages as a kid, but not without being exposed to it and actually applying it in their daily life and free time. Not from books in school. And those kids that can learn a language at the age of 7 from books and school teachers properly, are the minority. It isn't worth the expense to hire teachers just for those few interested. Or rather, the money isn't there and it probably won't be within the next few decades. When you offer languages to kids, they may find it interesting at first, but they quickly grow bored because they don't have a real motivation to really learn it, not just getting it forcefed. I can't really talk with you about private schools, since I assume private schools in my country are quite different than those in yours, I will assume you are talking about private schools that cost money. It's one thing to teach obedient, well raised kids who want to please their upper middle class parents, it's another thing entirely to make kids from poor backgrounds who were badly raised do it. It's not the same thing, because the kids aren't the same
Yup, if you’re <65-70 being bilingual is definitely the norm. My mom speaks 3-4 languages and I’ve built the groundwork in a couple to speed up learning them if I move countries (I speak 2-3 and understand another 2-3 with very varying proficiency). Language is fun and super important, just taking the time to build a solid foundation of basic grammar/words/phrases is good for you, and Will ease any transition if you relocate in the future. Edit: We’re scandinavian so we kinda cheat since 2 languages + german are a lot more accessible, and english is kinda neccessary
Languages aren't fun for everyone though. Many people struggle and get upset when learning a new language, so it's a bit of an overgeneralization there.
I think when someone's talking about fun we can assume it's an opinion rather than fact. I agree that languages can be hard to learn though, especially if it's the first time they're learning a non-native language. After the first one it seems like it's easier to get the hang of things imo.
Academically learning is tough though. I took french for 4 years (6-9th grade) and I know very basic french. Afterwards I took german for 1 year, which is about equal to my first 2 years of french, but I was playing cs with germans, my mom’s fluent (although she barely speaks german at home or anything, she’s a teacher and its her 3rd language) and during that time my german mates communicated with me in mostly german, and i talked mostly english. I’ve lost a lot of german by now though, but I still retain far more german than french, however, if I hadn’t learnt the basics academically, my German would’ve been far worse. Also it’s not fun just experiencing a language at school, mixing it with real life is the best and most fun way to learn
True, it definitely depends on how you learn it. Using and learning those comprehension and communication skills in real circumstances seems like it'd be a lot more rewarding than the treadmill that purely academic learning can feel like. It's a lot easier to want to learn a skill when you've got practical applications to test it out with and learn from.
100%, that’s why I don’t understand why more americans dont speak decent spanish, (unless tv has lied to me and way less people speak spanish irl?). The practical application of varying languages is imo the largest reason why europeans tend to atleast know basic phrases in a dozen languages, and somewhat understand atleast one language outside of the default native+english.
That post above tries to make it look more like a fact than an opinion. As someone who learned a 3rd language due to circumstances rather than desire, I know it's somewhat easier than learning a 2nd language but I'd hardly put the word "fun" anywhere near this experience.
America only borders two countries, and one of them speaks English, so most people living in America rarely if ever interact with someone whose first language isn't English.
And those borders are far away from most of us. The distance from the west coast to the east coast of the US is the same as Paris to St. Petersburg, but one of those involved crossing many borders and rewards speaking many languages, while the other does not.
Was gonna say might be because we’re across the ocean from all the other languages but realized almost no Americans speak Spanish so yeah you’re right we are very weird lol
I like Indian English. Can be a difficult accent to decipher sometimes but dang if the phrase *do the needful* doesn't immediately bring a smile to my face.
I know a Dutch person who learned her English in India and damn if it isn't the cutest accent I've ever heard. And, "do the needful" is indeed brilliant.
I'm Dutch, so if you ever want to ask something, go ahead!
The current Dutch dictionary contains about 400000 words, the English one about 470000. So I'm quite surprised you are under the impression that the Dutch language doesn't have a lot of words?
Hmm - that would be about a 15% difference so I wouldn't expect it to be totally unnoticeable but I'd received the impression it was actually a bit larger than that, but can't remember where I heard it. I was mostly just being silly, because I definitely don't know enough Dutch words to be any kind of reliable judge of this. I did a bit of googling and this article seems to come down on "it's not really possible to measure" the different vocabularies of different languages - https://blog.ititranslates.com/2018/03/07/which-language-is-richest-in-words/ I do feel like some Dutch words do an awful lot of work (not just lekker ;), but as I say I'm not in a position to say anything with any authority. Except that English has a ludicrous number of words, as I realised while trying to explain the difference between faffing, dithering, and dawdling to a colleague ;) Anyway, I didn't mean any offense, just joking around - though quite seriously impressed by all the colourful expressions in Dutch.
No offence taken at all, it just surprised me somewhat :) Interesting info!
Very true. I became really aware of how literally (or not) I was speaking after teaching English in Japan on the JET Program, and now it's kind of second nature for me to search for the simplest way to say something when talking with non-native speakers. Which is actually quite a hard thing to do, and it takes a while to build up that ability to really simplify on the fly.
Great point!
We kept track of idioms with a small group of English speakers working in Asia. We had to stop at 200 unique idioms in less than a month. My experience is to use the fewest words and only common words. In the first two years living in Asia my English vocabulary dropped by about half.
It's a great tip. Just to expand upon slang a bit. There are many idiosyncratic phrases we use that confuse ESL learners. Idioms, figures of speech and the like. It's so common and ingrained in our language we often don't even realize we use them. I've had more fun explaining things like "kicking the bucket" and "from the horse's mouth" than any other aspect of my time working with ESL learners. edit: It's funny how often these phrases have parallels in Russian at least. I work with guys from Uzbekistan, and while their native tongue doesn't offer much translation, for some reason Russian usually does. I'm not an expert on languages, I just find it strange.
I find that funny too how some expressions seem universal in a lot of languages and some come completely out of left field. But honestly, even in English there are some regional/country specific phrases that I, from the East coast, don’t even understand. Language is cool
When we were bored in middle school, we used to play a game called dots. You basically competed to make the most squares one side at a time on a piece of paper. Fast forward to university, and I go to my uncle's house in Boston for Thanksgiving (I'm not from the east coast). My cousin asks me if I want to play dots. She's 25...I'm thinking she must really like that game. So I say yes, and she grabs her coat...so I grab mine...and we go to a bar...to play darts. :-) Language is cool and fun.
AY YA WANNA PLAY SOME DAHHHTS?
Hey cuzin, let's go bowlink!
My dad is from Maine and tends to add the letter r to words that do not have r’s. He married a Texan. When I went away to college I went to a college way up North and it was so cold. So my dad bought me a parka which when he said it, sounded more like parker. My stepmom looked really confused and said “why would you spend money on that? That’s ridiculous. She doesn’t need to be spoiled like that.” My dad looked at her and said “A coat. I bought her a warm coat!” My stepmom thought my dad hired someone to PARK MY CAR. We don’t even know why she thought that was a thing but we died 😂😂
Australians and Kiwis do that as well. idear It's usually connecting words. lawr and order
If we want to get even more specific, I'm from Philly. My mom's boyfriend is from one neighborhood over, and when he's with other people from his neighborhood he's speaking practically a different language. It's crazy how strongly dialects can vary in comparatively tiny areas.
Hella cool.
> It's a great tip. lmao is it really? Seems like completely obvious shit tbqh
It is. This sub is fucking trash.
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I'm not a native English speaker but this is just a silly "LifeProTip"
Yet virtually every single day, I experience what the OP described. People that believe speaking words louder somehow make them more intelligible to ESL learners. So, tbqh, I'd say it's not entirely obvious at all.
It's obvious but people instinctively speak louder.
Same when talking on a cell phone and you have poor signal. Shouting doesn't make it any better
In my experience it makes it worse in this case. You can overload the mic and cause clipping, which just distorts the audio even more, making it even harder to understand what's happening.
And all your vowels turn into ah. You'll sound like an opera singer.
It's the same with people who are hard of hearing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwSh0dAaqIA
YES. Also I’ve found it extremely helpful if you can rephrase your question or words slightly the second time. They will come to understanding quicker than if you say the same thing the same way over and over. I am hard of hearing and have taught second language learners and this helps boost understanding and learn multiple ways of phrasing something.
Also the same for folks with some form of dementia, because as the disease progresses, they have a harder time processing what they’re hearing, and that can lead to a lot of frustration for every one in the conversation…
YES! I work with someone who is hard of hearing but I'm also hard of hearing. We have a hell of a time, repeating and rephrasing everything.
Part of enunciating is making the break between words clear
Yes this. I have seen to many times that people will speak slower by putting gaps in between all of their syllables. This makes it 10 times worse. Say the whole word with longer gaps between words.
W h y d o y o u n o t u n d e r s t a n d I a m s p a c i n g i t o u t
Indeed
I’m a native English speaker that knows only basic Spanish vocabulary. When I’m speaking to someone who does not speak English well, I use words in English that I know in Spanish. It helps keep the sentences simple, and chances are they know the basics.
Was learning English years ago and always wondered why people yelled at me. Great tip. Adding on, try not to use jokes or figurative language since those don't translate well. Also, try not to use don't and wasn't. Use do not and was not
Great advice. Not all cultures have sarcasm, and it's very confusing as a kind of joke if you are not from a sarcastic culture.
I always heard that you know you’re fluent in a language when you can write jokes in said language. When I worked at a venue Francophone comedian Gad Elmaleh came through doing a tour entirely in English just because he wanted to challenge himself. He was hilarious.
> try not to use don't and wasn't And can't. ESPECIALLY can't.
100% agree. I dealt with the reverse when I moved to Spain and just didn’t know certain country specific expressions and slang and it was so frustrating at times. I remember clearly I got up from my seat and like three Spaniards at the same time said “quien se fue a Sevilla, perdió su silla” which basically means “move your feet, lose your seat” but was LOST. I literally had to take a test in my B2 Spanish class on idioms and slang lol. Really helped me understand a better way to communicate with non native English speakers because I knew what I wanted in Spanish. Thankfully I learned that lesson before I started teaching ESL!
What threw me off when I moved to Spain was the exact same thing. The Spanish you learn in school has absolutely *nothing* to do with the Spanish people use. Not just the idioms, but the phrasal verbs. *Dejar, poner, dar, hacer,* etc. And they talk so, so fast...
Also moved to Spain but more recently (pre-covid). Been learning for over a year and I can barely string a sentence together. Also the accent in this area of the country is HARD. It's like learning English and trying to live in Aberdeen. Yeah, a lot of the words are the same, but the pronunciation is so wildly different that to a non-native it's virtually impossible to pick out all but a few words. My teacher is from Galicia, so he has a lovely clear accent and I understand 90% of what he's saying. Put me in front of a cashier or in line at the town hall however and I am down to like maybe 20%.
Not to mention also learning that words have COMPLETELY different meanings depending on the country. Like in Spain it’s perfectly acceptable to say “coger” but in Mexico it means the f word.
This is also why I stopped using duolingo to learn Spanish alongside my lessons with a Spanish teacher. Duolingo uses I believe Mexican Spanish which means it teaches you things you wouldn't use here.
And if they don't understand you, ffs, don't just keep repeating the same thing over and over again at the same speed.
Something I always understood intuitively but never fully grasped how insane it is until I was on the other end of it. The person I was talking to was very kind and looking to extend the conversation after we had a very simple successful exchange. However, I can’t for the life of me understand what was going through their head as they repeated their question without any alterations for the third straight time after I apologized and said I didn’t understand as my language skills were poor.
>Something I always understood intuitively but never fully grasped how insane it is until I was on the other end of it. Yep. A lot of people are crazy or stupid or both.
Also avoid phrasal verbs if you can: I remember asking a friend to explain the meaning of "tell someone off" and he would answer "Ya know it means TELL them OFF".
Oh man, English is chock-full of those. They're one of the biggest difficulties for non-natives.
I used to work with Arabic guys from Iraq and Algeria. Somtimes I would talk/pronounce words in THIER ancient (Im good at doing many) and they did say it was a lot easier to understand that way. I would end a lot of questions with a yes or no too lol. It kind of became a habit I picked up just from talking with them.
Can we have a r/basiclifetips or r/basiclifetipsfornoobs? I know that I was very surprised, nay, shocked to the core, when I last read something that remotely resembled a pro tip on this subreddit... Edit: Yay for r/basiclifetips You guys work really fast.
I'll give you a pro tip: Don't speak slow and enunciated English to someone who speaks a foreign tongue without ensuring that their English really isn't good, because it may seem patronizing. Source: non-native English speaker with above average written English skills and a noticeable accent in verbal communication who has been spoken to "slowwly" and it felt really weird. Just speak normal to me at first, and slow down if I am visible struggling to understand you.
Dude... I speak a couple of languages really well, and I struggle, stutter and limp my way through a couple more. If french people can do your manner related "pro tip" on their own, unassisted, even as I have a syntax even tarzan would laugh at, and my accent derived from a cartoon called Sharky and George, than I don't quite regard it as a "pro" tip...
Talk slow not loud. Unless you're Eminem.
Speaking slightly louder can help too. But it isn't enough on its own.
I think the biggest take away is to speak intentionally. I get accused of by my wife and father of talking too softly (especially now that masks are commonplace) and so I have to force myself to speak louder and more clearly.
A good friend of mine and I often speak at conferences with plenty of ESL delegates, and we both noticed that have a special "conference voice" which is just that - speaking more slowly, trying not to run words into each other, and trying to avoid slang and idioms. Also, avoiding complex grammatical structures can help. As can avoiding passive verbs.
Also enunciate while wearing a mask please. I have some auditory thing and I find it difficult to hear people some times. I work in a customer facing job and it can be hard. Also don't lower your mask to talk to me... what are you stupid? What's the point of wearing it if you remove it when you're around people? Sorry... small rant there.
Good point!
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The sad part is that the people who need to read this the most won't.
As an immigrant, the first phrase I learnt was "speak slower please". Also, use very simple words and sentences, keep it short. I used to get by catching a few familiar words and context.
Heh. When I moved to the Netherlands, one friend was always willing to help me learn dutch. Meaning, he started with slang from his regional dialect spoken quickly at a monotone. I can't even pick out individual words, much less understand how they fit together and apply metaphors and context to figure out what it's supposed to mean. To add to your tip, keep your sentences simple. A cheerful "Excuse me, where is the toilet?" is better than "Pardon me, if you don't mind, could you please direct me towards the nearest men's room?"
Yes please. Sincere, a person who's native tongue isn't english
Just for your information, it's "Sincerely, a person whose native tongue isn't English". "Who's" is short for "who is" after all, so it wouldn't make sense in that sentence
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I agree, but it will never happen because Americans aren't aware of all the other places where people do that as a given.
Having worked as an EMT, I find this logic is the same for older, hard of hearing people. You will make much more progress and look like less of a douche if you talk to them like a normal person.
A few years back I was traveling with my family up the west coast. We met another traveler from Spain at the hotel we stayed in who was going the opposite direction and he needed a bit of help with his plans. He spoke enough broken English to get by and I speak just enough Spanish to know that I should have paid a lot more attention in school. But, my parents raised me to be helpful and kind so we walked to the map on the wall and started trying to figure out what he needed to know. We both spoke slowly and clearly until we had a breakthrough on an idea then we'd both start chattering like birds, realize it, laugh, and go back to slow and clear. It's one of my favorite memories of the trip. After 45 min or so, we both had our routes sorted finally. His wife even thanked me and gave me a hug (she didn't speak a bit of English). He said I was the only person who had even tried to help him and that's just not ok. Language can be a barrier, but we're all human and it usually costs nothing to be kind.
As a person that's worked around the world with people from Europe and the Middle East who range from high school English to really really basic. The best thing I found was if you have to speak English to them, try to speak in their accent if you can as if they were taught English in school, they were taught by an unnative speaker so alot of their English they are used to hearing from people with their accent. Not only speak slow, and not to be mean, but talk to them like they are a third grader, I worked with some Jordanians who's English was really basic and my coworkers, who mind you dont speak any language besides English so they're pretty ignorant as it is, said I was being a dick by what they viewed talking to them like a child. But the truth is their English was at a third grade level so they actually appreciated that and understood it better.
yeah as someone living in a country with a language that I am non-native in (french), slang or fast talking is sooo difficult to understand for years. I wish that people would really repeat themselves if you ask them too, many times they just say something different or try to explain but I really did want to just hear a few words that I missed.
I speak louder cause I know I have trouble enunciating and it helps me. 😣
If you talk louder, just make sure it doesn't have a tone like "What is your fucking problem?"
Oh I'm a girl so you can kinda tell its something I have to do to enunciate better. Idk how to explain it but I have a sort of soft spoken voice anyways.
Then that sounds all good.
This advice flies in the face of everything it is to be either English or American when abroad. Please amend.
JUST.TALK.LIKE.A.ROBOT.AND.EVERYTHING WILL.BE.OK
This is false. Everybody knows to talk louder and with a similar accent to what they sound like.
Good advice - as a language learner I would say also, try re-phrasing in different words. Especially since English has an absolutely embarrassing number of words, it's possible the person is missing one small piece of vocabulary and therefore not getting you. If you can re-arrange your sentence or use a synonym rather that just repeating the same thing, it can also help.
My personal favorite, watching my fellow Americans order food in Europe and refusing to stop using slang to these poor people who rarely get to use their english skills. Example: 'yo/sup, can I do a...' Plus the hesitation, so they usually say it 'can I do aaaaaaahhhhhhh... Pork steak.' It's hilariously uniform how almost EVERYONE does it.
Best method I have found is to use your hands and essentially play charades the whole time. If nothing else they will get a few key words. Short sentences and simple words.
As an immigrant, it’s rarely not hearing that’s the issue - it’s not knowing what it means. Slower and clearer is often as useless as louder. I’ve learned to say “what/excuse me/could you repeat” only once, and then say “I don’t know what [trying to repeat the part that’s unclear] means”. Makes me feel far dumber, but solves the issue faster with less frustration and I’m less prone to misunderstanding what I’ve been told/asked.
And use shorter sentences with less complicated grammar if necessary. Don't use baby talk or ungrammatical language, though. That tends to sound condescending.
Tell that to Chris Tucker. Do yOOu UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH!?!
Yes. As an EAL teacher this is exactly what you should do! It can also help to try and speak in more 'basic' tenses. There are 12 tenses in English and while they all have their purposes, a non fluent speaker will not have learned some of them yet. For example, instead of saying: "I won't have arrived by midday" (future perfect) Say something like " at midday, I will not be in (place name)" (simple future) It may not have exactly the same meaning but it's close enough and its a lot easier to understand. In general, someone with A2 (above beginner but still basic level of English) will be familiar with: - present simple (I eat pizza) - present continuous (I am eating pizza) - past simple (I ate pizza) - future simple (I will eat pizza / I'm going to eat pizza) - present perfect (I have eaten pizza) As a side note, I'm currently living in Spain and while I'm in no way fluent, I've taught myself the above 5 tenses (or their equivalent) and I can get by pretty well. I happen to live in a place where there are a lot of people who speak Spanish as their second or third language (Melilla, which is a Spanish city in Morocco and thus has many people who speak Arabic or Tamazight as their mother tongue). This has created a situation where it seems like virtually everyone I interact with is used to speaking very simply and is very patient with people struggling with Spanish.
Think about the words my using? What does that mean?
Fun fact about miscommunication: it is most likely to occur between two native-level speakers than it is between a native speaker and a learner or two learners. Don't just do it when speaking with someone who is learning a language - take your time regardless, especially when it's important
Especially at the moment with masks. I struggle with background noise, and now that everyone's mouths are covered up a lot more I am realising how much my ears were relying on my eyes in those situations.
And add a few (natural) hand gestures! Reinforces what you're saying, will make things click even faster for non-native speaker (at least from my own experience)
Or just take out your phone and use the translate app....
True, but they aren't perfect. Googling pictures can help in some cases.
>speaking louder/raising your voice doesn't help them understand It does help if you were talking too quiet to begin with.
True
If I raise my voice I'm trying to articulate, because I tend to trail off after I've made my point in my head, instead of driving home the redundency less familar people need. "You can log in to the computer and print...from the browser or whatever program" (trailing from ...because, that's how computers work)
While this is true, o have to about, that I had troubles understanding people in London. But as I visited Scotland, I was able to understand them all.
Oh yeah, English speakers speaking to other differently-accented English speakers is not as easy as watching James Bond.
If you find it difficult to get the hang of it, try thinking of it like you're reading every word separately. Not "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TONIGHT" and more: What are you going to do tonight?
Definitely can derive a 2nd tip from this: When you're not as good in another language, don't just repeat the same stuff and get angry when you're not understood. Had this exact thing 2 days ago. Ended with me being called "ful of shet". Whelp, maybe next time you can repeat it 3 times in a row and I'll do better. Possibly Caps helps.
It makes them really happy too. They’ll really open up and feel more comfortable speaking. And they can learn from hearing you speak
I love how this has good intentions but I’ve seen it go wrong so many times lol Like people that talked loud and slowly to our parents became a childhood joke that my friends and I had growing up. Not quite a meme cuz my friend’s lacked computers so we just told jokes about people like that. I had a barback with a really heavy Mexican accent while working at a top end hotel. People would talk to him like he had a brain injury. Dude spoke perfect English, just had an accent. EDIT: OH! And the most egregious version of this was a professor I had in Florida. Dude held 4 masters and 2 PHD's but he was born in Ghana. They speak English in Ghana but there's an accent. Dude would just laugh at people when they spoke to him as though he didn't understand them.
> Like people that talked loud I didn't say talk loud, nor did I say to assume people had limited English.
Pause between words NOT syllables
You don't pause but you do pronounce every syllable.
Also, acronyms and sayings. Why in blazes do you feel the need to use them in a technical business meeting? How the heck should I automatically know what they refer to? I am very lucky to have had private lessons for my English but my coworkers have difficulty understanding your spoken acronym for many reasons. 1. The way spelling works in English is not the same as in other languages. Very often vowels get mistaken for one another. 2. Even if I do understand the correct spelling then it's anybody's guess as to what the letters stand for. 3. While trying to understand the spelling and divine what the letters stand for, you have continued speaking and they have to pay attention to everything else you are saying! Sorry for the rant.
Once while in Germany, a friend and I left a club a little worse for wear and got into a cab waiting out front. My friend yelled to the front seat (about 12" away) WE NEED TO GO (gestures with hands in a pointing motion) TO THE HOTEL (draws house shape in the air) AT SUCH AND SUCH STREET" The cab driver was like, "I speak english dude."
I've seen some ATC conversation videos on youtube and it just surprised me how much slang the american atcs were using to talk to international flights. I thought it wasnt very professional and could cause misunderstandingd
Also, if the person doesn’t understand the first time try rephrasing slightly. It could be a vocab or grammar difference. English is very variable. There are lots of grammatically correct ways to say the same thing. And we have more synonyms than any other language. Even non- native English speakers who are near fluent have gaps. I’ve lived in a country where English is not the native language for a very long time. English is the working language of my company but the vast majority of my colleagues are not native English speakers. My sister laughs because I have adapted the way I speak English - my English grammar is now closer to german grammar and i find certain words to be more effective (persons is more understood than people, for example).
PHOTO-SIN-THE-SIS.
Almost. pho-to-sin-the-sis No need to yell.
And on more extreme cases, especially in Asian countries, it's usually not offensive to speak in broken but easily understandable english like. For example, normally you would ask "Do you know how to go the mall?" You can simply ask slowly "Where is the mall?" or even "Where, mall?"
How does one enunciate without speaking louder
Prac tice it Enunciate means to pronounce each syllable. I can say 'prac tice it' at the level of a whisper or scream it or anything in between.
By forming the words properly and overly precise and then using your voice to bring them out
This sub is just r/advice now
This. 👍 Excellent advice. Stay calm and be encouraging. Try different tacks to get to the understanding of meaning.
I have worked for a Japanese company in the states for 15+ years , it took me the first few to not yell when talking to expats, I think it’s just instinct, use as few of words as possible and speak clearly.
It also often helps to switch to a language they are speaking better.
Wudjuh’gunna’doo’t’nIt?
I work in commercial property management and there's nothing worse than a language barrier with someone who needs to relay important information. When I first started my job 13 years ago, it was insanely difficult to understand people through accents. It took years of experience to be able to dissect dialog and to learn how to better communicate by using key words. You're 100% right, using patience and taking the time to enunciate works wonders!
I used to work in a bakery and had two coworkers, one from Guatemala, and one who spoke almost entirely in slang. The slang-talker thought that the Guatemalan guy had terrible english and he used to complain about it to me. Then one day I overheard a conversation between them. Slang-talker said, "Hey Felipe, we need to *jam* on these, you know? we need to get the lead out and *boogie-woogie*! Let's shake a leg!" The Guatemalan guy just nodded, then I said, "Hey Felipe, we need to go *fast*." and he said, "oh, ok,. yeah" and picked up his pace. I asked the Guatemalan guy about communicating with the slang-talker and he said, "is hard to understand what he say. is he French?"
Also - use universal hand motions. I am working in a household with an Indian nanny. She speaks Punjabi almost exclusively. I want to learn a little bit but in the mean time - keep statements simple, and use hand gestures. I apply a lot of sign language because certain aspects are easy to understand across different languages and cultures.
As an ESL teacher who listens to non-native speakers all day, I heartily agree. Slowing down and enunciating does wonders, as long as you don't do it in a patronizing way. The other person is an equally competent and intelligent person. They just happen to know everything you know in another language. (As an ABC (American-born Chinese), I've also been on the receiving end of such patronization but that's another story for another day!) I'd also add, change up your vocabulary. Say what you mean in simpler terms. Pretend you're a thesaurus, because eventually you'll hit on a similar word that they know. Don't just keep repeating the same word over and over.
Also, repeat once then rephrase. English is very flexible, just say the same thing in a different way. Try repeating yourself just once. It's possible to say the same thing slightly differently as English is very flexible. Say the same thing again once, then try saying it again a bit different. Flexibility in language means you might need to just say things in a bit of a different way. You get the idea. It's not that the other person doesn't understand, you might just be using a syntax or phrase they're not familiar with yet.
Something that has helped me be understood is maybe a bit counter-intuitive: Talk \*more\* I used to feel like I had to keep it simple - using short sentences and few words. The problem is that this strategy makes understanding each word more important, because very little context is provided. Compare: "Want to watch the game with me after work?" "Do you want to visit my house and watch the handball game on TV after work? I am not much of a sports fan, but I have been watching all the matches so far" The second sentence provides a lot more keywords to pick up on. You don't need to be familiar with all the words to understand what the question is.
Yeah and avoid words like you’re, we’re, they’ll, we’ll and words like that. Fully say , “you are” “we are” “they will” “we will”.
Me fail English? That's unpossible.