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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 49 of 81 10 June 2015 at 5:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
But the fun is just beginning. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4323 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 50 of 81 10 June 2015 at 7:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
The conversation was definitely getting more interesting... 1 person has 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 51 of 81 11 June 2015 at 3:52am | IP Logged | |||||
This doesn't always work. It may work if you're around students, but here in China... that is bloody impossible because No One Speaks English at all. The second thing you need to know is to do it in such a way that it isn't obvious to your interlocutor that you are doing it. There are plenty of things I can't say perfectly in Russian, French or Swedish, but no one will figure it out because I can circumlocute quickly enough that they don't notice the big breaks. That being said you should still study up in advance, but there will always be things you forget. You can't prepare for everything and that's part of the fun. At some point you have to say good enough is good enough and then you dive in. And in some faraway places, people don't switch to English because they quite frankly can't. And even if they can, they don't always feel comfortable doing so. I have never had this problem with natives switching to English - I've only had that problem when I spoke in English first. Just get them used to the fact that you speak their language. And I'm not just talking about Germany or France - I am talking about Norway and Sweden. Edited by tarvos on 11 June 2015 at 3:53am 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4799 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 52 of 81 11 June 2015 at 4:35am | IP Logged | |||||
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Of course I cannot get prepared for everything, I just try to get as prepared as possible. Some of the unexpected situations are fun, true. But some are just frustrating. For example when I was the only half-able person to "solve" a huge misunderstanding between a group of international students and that of Spanish students. I wish I had been better prepared vocabulary and grammar- wise by then (or this one time, I would have gladly switched to English, it was that unpleasant of a moment). No fun included, just a lot of stress, hurt feelings on all sides, and certainly no time to search a dictionary. Really, not all the situations a learner can face are relaxed.
Who switches more and who switches less is something we've discussed as well and the experience tends to be more or less consistent, including the usual variables in the will/won't switch algorhytm. I am always having extremely hard time with French natives who switch at first sign of weakness or even before. And even in my other languages, the young and educated people (which are those I am the most interested in speaking with) tend to switch much more often than the rest of the population. 1 person has 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 53 of 81 11 June 2015 at 5:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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I've never had a problem with the French either. Either my French sucked, and we didn't
end up with much of a conversation, or we spoke French. The English variant has rarely occurred to me. Even with younger people. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4997 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 54 of 81 11 June 2015 at 10:39am | IP Logged | |||||
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Switching has been discussed a lot and it seems like there are far more important factors than vocabulary: confidence, accent, location, situation. Some posters like Cavesa, Elenia and me have always had a hard time with French speakers, while others like tarvos and emk have much more positive experiences. I'm not sure what the key factor is, too many variables, but I'm quite sure it's not vocabulary or grammar or level in general.
That said, throwing in some fancy vocabulary can be a cheap but sometimes effective last-resort tactic to avoid or combat a switch by showing that you're serious and know more than just the basics. Some native speakers are more impressed by an unusual word than by a good grasp on basic grammar and vocabulary. Still, this is just treating the symptom; if switching is a consistent problem then there are probably more important things to address than vocabulary. 3 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 55 of 81 12 June 2015 at 4:56am | IP Logged | |||||
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It's confidence. If you look like you're going through the bowels of hell, people are
sympathetic and will try to help you. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4799 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 56 of 81 12 June 2015 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
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That is easy to say but I don't think it is simply so. I highly doubt I look much more confident speaking my neanderthal German that speaking my C2 French. Yet, Germans don't switch unless it's necessary, the French switch just because they see me with other foreigners. And the extreme was a group of French native group speaking French with me except for one guy who used English all the time despite seeing me having no trouble and hearing me answer in French.
3 persons have voted this message useful |
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