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Importance of frequent vs rarer words? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6387 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes  4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 73 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
Have you tried simply saying "ja, ja, tre øl. takk!"? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4080 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 74 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
This was just a shortened version. You would have to repeat when the server comes back to take order for food and whatever else. Maybe if it is not crowded, a short conversation. In a long term case, like making friends, there are techniques like not showing passports, saying that you are from another country, which I talked about in my log. Of course it reuuires a poker face, but the main thing is that if you want to avoid switching at all costs you have to lie. Some people after telling them that you want practise might just say, "Ah, well who cares, everyone speaks English, you are an Anglophone, and Anglophones speak English". Pretending to know 0 English puts the onus on them because speaking a language of which an interlocutor knows 0 words is just going to be waste energy on their part, in addition to them risking looking insulting. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4080 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 75 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
You could, but then by saying "ja", it implies that you understood what the server said in English. By continuing on in another L2, you can give the impression that you have no idea what the server said and only can communicate either in your other L2 and this target language. Maybe overanalysing a bit, but I spent a lot of time on trying to make strategies. Something that carries over from chess I guess :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6387 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 76 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Honestly I doubt anyone believes that you literally don't understand even simple things like "three beers". You can also skip the "ja" and simply repeat what you said. And maybe prepare stock phrases like "oh, no need to speak English, I speak _____" (preferably colloquial).
In short exchanges, the problem can be simply that it sounds like "tre øl takk" is your limit. Have you explored the cultural differences/expectations? Honestly in Finland and Scandinavia I would definitely say hello first, and if I wanted to start a conversation I'd ask which beer they recommend or something. Or even simply order a specific brand of beer. Edited by Serpent on 13 June 2015 at 9:35pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4920 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 77 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
We're from two different generations (if you were to believe Cavesa, my generation is not good at languages), but that has never been my experience. I have the best language experiences when I'm respectful and honest in my intentions. I've never had to lie. But I always make an attempt to go in prepared for what might be discussed. If that means spending a half hour beforehand poring over either a dictionary or phrasebook for things I might need to say or understand, then so be it. But having to lie never turns out well, especially if there's a friendship involved. If it's just about ordering food/drink, well, like I said, different battles for different folk. I'm not going to really get bothered by the service industry using English. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 14 June 2015 at 3:29am 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6387 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 78 of 81 13 June 2015 at 9:40pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Ironically it's probably harder to convince someone that you literally don't speak any English than that your L2 is good enough. Nobody is secretly plotting to deprive you of language practice. They're just trying to be helpful.
4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4497 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 79 of 81 14 June 2015 at 12:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
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@Cavesa: have you tried asking? A lot of people want to make friends with foreigners just
for free English practice. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6493 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 80 of 81 15 June 2015 at 9:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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Or drop those beers. If the waiter wants a power struggle on top of fleecing you (beers in Norway are horrendously expensive!) then let him find a more submissive victim. Edited by Iversen on 18 June 2015 at 3:09pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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