Practice is important, but what if people keep switching back to your own language? Will you ever be able to speak to anyone if they don't even want to speak back to you?
This week on the podcast, I have got a packed episode full of tips to help you stay in control.
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The native speaker is often considered an absolute holy grail of language learning: They naturally know how language is used, they speak it perfectly and of course you will be immersed in your target language if you speak to one. But today, I'm writing to make you re-think your dependence!
Have you ever found one of the following problems when practicing with a native speaker:
What if you have NO native speaker to talk to? Does that mean you will stop learning a language?
In this blog, I'm not advocating that you avoid native level input and natural sources of your target language. They are what makes it come alive! By all means, make full use of Italki, social media and your own network to find a good language buddy, but please note the following:
You don't actually need a native speaker to practice with. This is so important to understand. You just need someone who's good enough or a little better than you. Sometimes it even helps not to have the native speaker, because a non-native speaker has learnt your target language too and can explain grammar and other problems more easily. Natives often don't even know which bits are hard for non-native speakers.
In addition to this point, some people just don't connect so well with the Skype or phone communication method. As an online language tutor, I work on Skype all the time, and it's a different to meeting in person - some of my students love it, some find it odd at the start. For some, I can just tell that it's not the right medium. So if you're In fact, the teenager who will practice his school French with you might actually be a better option than the French native speaker that you meet online.
Moral of the story: Make your own rules for what works for you.
My advice would be to try a tutor, and that's just because:
Personally I learnt English before the internet was everywhere and still got from "pretty good" to "pretty fluent", through being taught by German natives and spending a lot of spare time listening to Pulp all the time and talking to myself. But I cannot imagine having done it without teachers. When your target language is German,
I think it's even more important that you find native speakers who understand your needs. German is that much easier to learn when you can make sense of the rules - and our spoken language is different from the grammar books. Trust yourself most of all, but if you have no native speaker around you please remember: It's not going to stop you.
Of course, working without a native person to learn a language does not mean it would be wise to cut out all native-language content. When learning a language, it's important to know how it's spoken and to get a sense of the place where it's spoken.
You want to hear the sounds, the idioms, you want to know that there is a point to what you're doing here. In all learning, it's boring when it's just theory.
To get native-level practice into your studies before you go hunting for speakers all over town, try bringing in audio resources or even TV. It's easy to watch television in other languages or use cool software like Yabla.
And if you have regular access to native speakers, don't avoid them. Go out of your way to say even small things like good morning, and ask them "How do I say this in your language?" You'll soon find that every one of them is a small ambassador for their own language, just like you are for your own. And what's better than sharing?
Has it ever held you back that you can't find the native speaker? Or has shyness stopped you from talking to natives?
Leave your comment below to tell me more!
One of the most common questions I hear from you guys is how to deal when other people refuse to practice your target language with you. I'm excited to present some awesome advice from Anja at The Germanz in Australia.
Matching this awesome topic, I've created the new guide Make Your German Sound Amazing, featuring 26 Key Phrases For Conversations with German Speakers. Pop your details into the form below to join my email list and get the guide immediately!
When you get lost in Australia, the States or the UK and ask for directions, people will most likely answer in English. When you get lost in Germany, people will most likely answer in English too.
Studies suggest that (only) 62% of the German population is actually able to hold a conversation in English and most movies and TV shows are still dubbed into German. In fact, most German customers still prefer things the German way and speaking German is still a necessity no matter where you live in Germany (with the exception of Berlin).
So why is it that German learners complain that Germans respond to them in English?
What if I told you that you don’t just have to take it? No doubt, you can help Germans stay on track and chat away in German for ages.
I’m German myself and I’m going to tell you about a few easy things you can do.
Germans switch to English for three reasons.
Sometimes they want to help you
Sometimes they want to help themselves
Sometimes they just prey on the vulnerable and make you the practice tool
But most of the time, they just don’t know any better.
Sometimes Germans simply think it’s being polite. They want to help you communicate more efficiently.
When you ask them, “How goes you? I not finds the station train”, they will most likely help you out in English without speaking a word of German. ‘Oh, that’s cool, they tried in German. They’ll probably understand better when I tell them where to go in English!’, the efficient mind will think.
Germans love speaking English, even when speaking German. Even though many Germans learn at least one foreign language in school, some of them fail to remember that only practice makes perfect.
Additionally, some seem to forget that the comprehension skills of a learner usually outweigh their speaking abilities.
The innocently English speaking German simply doesn’t get that you may understand, that it would be polite and helpful to respond in German. It’s like they buried their teenage memories somewhere in the deepness of their minds, along with that sneaky first kiss behind the school building.
Germans will think you just want to break the ice by saying a few words in German. They will return that favour and will try to make the conversation as unconditionally comfortable as possible for you. In English.
But Germans are not always driven by lovely innocence. Some Germans are simply not patient enough: ‘It will be quicker and easier if I just tell them in English. I’m almost late already!’
If their guesstimate places your German skills below their own English proficiency, they might respond in English.
For Germans, it’s all about communicating efficiently. No overexcited small talk, no politely beating about the actual topic, no exchange of unnecessary information, but rather direct communication, cutting to the chase and getting this question answered as accurately and quickly as possible. In English.
Of course, let’s face it, a few Germans simply want to practise their English on you because they know how awesome it feels to finally speak in your language of choice.
Moreover, they want to show off how good their English is to impress you (and others). They are going to take advantage of you.
Imagine how convenient, they don’t even have to leave their country to get what they crave. Speaking English. ‘Perfect! This guy from England gets to speak German every day; doesn’t he live here in Germany?’
They quickly forget that a lot of others see their opportunity as well, and this poor guy from England and his German skills fall by the wayside.
Here’s what you should do, as well as what you should avoid, to keep up the conversation in German.
How can you fulfil your dreams and get those Germans to speak in German to you? Embrace these two rules that everything boils down to:
1. Speak no English to Germans
And
2. Make your German sound better than it is.
These two rules are the magic tricks that will lead to a happy life in Germany.
Let’s have a look at how to put them into practice with concrete examples and workarounds.
To really cash in and get the Germans speak German, you want to stay away from English as much as possible.
Certainly, it will take some courage especially when you think your German is not good enough. But you know what? The Germans will work it out. If they don’t get what you mean, they will ask (in English or German, it doesn’t really matter).
But if you’re asked, you’ll get a second chance to say it. You may even get some valuable feedback.
More importantly, when someone starts speaking English to you, just keep responding in German.
If your German is already good enough, try to translate the English response into German and say it back to them in German. Be patient and stick to German to get them back on track, no matter what.
If you don’t understand, ask them what it means, in German
Once more, under no circumstances switch to English.
If you can’t remember the word and you really need to know it, do the following:
Was heißt nochmal das eine Pedal im Auto? -Nein, das andere. Ach, ja, das Gaspedal. - What would you call that one pedal in the car? -No, the other one. Ah yes, the gas pedal.) or
Ask them for the translation in German.
Wie heißt nochmal ‘dog’ auf Deutsch? - What’s the word for ‘dog’ in German again?
As Germans like to switch when they think that communicating with you might not go too smoothly, how about you make your language skills less of a problem?
If Germans think that you’re comfortable speaking in German, they are less likely to switch.
One way of making your German sound better than it is, is to be amazing at pronouncing things. Just practice the proper pronunciation and know how the intonation pattern of a sentence works.
You could also use phrases and conversation fillers to make your responses sound more natural.
The idea is again that we want to make our German sound better than it is. It’s like saying, “Keep going, nothing to see here”.
To keep up the flow when speaking, it’s a great idea to have handy the vocabulary you will need. But also don’t forget that natives use clichés and filler words, and they say ‘uhmm’ a lot.
Here are some examples:
Ach wirklich/Echt? - Ah really?
Cool!
Macht nichts!/Kein Problem. - That’s alright!/No problem.
Hört sich gut an. - Sounds good.
Ach so. - Ah yea.
Stimmt!/Genau - I agree./Yeah, that’s right.
Na ja, vielleicht. - Yeah, maybe.
Let’s face it, sometimes there’s no way that subtle hints will get them back on track.
Please don’t take it personally, they might not even notice. The only thing that will help here is to be very clear about your goals, about genuinely wanting to learn proper German.
Apart from saying “Bitte nur in Deutsch”, you can decide to blitzkrieg and offer a language tandem. Your compromise could be
One hour speaking in German, another hour speaking in English.
If you see them every day, you could agree to speak English from Monday to Wednesday and German from Thursday to Sunday.
If the two of you agree to correct each other properly and also provide alternatives for certain sentences and phrases, you could both benefit from the language tandem quite a bit.
As your language skills progress, you’ll be able to chat away on more and more topics. You will be developing your ‘German You.’ It may be the same as — or completely different from — the English-speaking you.
With your ever-improving skills, making new German friends will become a lot easier.
If you have moved to a German-speaking country, you’ll hit the jackpot by joining a club (der Verein) in the German countryside, but clubs can be found anywhere across Germany, even in the big cities. Similarly, you want to get involved and lend a hand at the local Tatort night, the German-speaking weekly handcraft meeting or the local climbing hall.
Try to maintain a healthy ratio of English-speaking and only-German-speaking friends. You have a choice among about 100 million German native speakers in the European Union alone.
Don’t forget, the more you get to speak German, the easier it gets. Just let Germans know you’re up for a challenge. They will be up for it as well.
In summary, please don’t get turned off by responses in English, keep learning German and remember these two fundamental rules:
Don’t speak English to Germans.
Make your German sound better than it is.
On a concrete note, you could:
Always reply in German.
Ask for missing words and explanations in German.
Improve your pronunciation.
Use conversation fillers and ‘uhm’ a lot.
Compromise by offering language tandems.
Move to the German country.
Make (new) German speaking friends.
You’ll find more nifty tricks on learning and speaking German on my German language blog.
Don’t forget to tell me in the comments about your favourite strategy in dealing with English speaking Germans.
This article was written by Anja. Anja lives in Melbourne, Australia, is originally from Germany and writes about the German language and culture on her blog when she is not busy teaching German language classes. Hang out and have a chat with her on Google+ or Twitter.
Welcome to Episode 28, a fun collection of language learning news. Lindsay and I shared our progress in Japanese and Welsh, read out wonderful listener feedback, and moved on to 3 big news items.
This episode is brought to you with support from HelloTalk, the world's largest language exchange app.
The episode features an interview with J from Compassionate Language Learner who identifies as gender-neutral and has some fabulous things to say about the topic.
An emoji is ‘word of the year’, but is it even a word? Is this good? * Emoji word of the year
The East African Council has just switched its lead language from English to Kiswahili.
Lindsay’s tip is using the Interlinear books method of learning a language.
Only two tips in this episode: 1) Make weekly commitment meet-ups such as going to exercise classes with a language buddy 2) Discover Binaural songs and Interlinear Books
Welcome to our first ever LIVE episode of the Creative Language Learning Podcast! In episode 24, we treat you to a piece of the European Day of Languages broadcast which was the first time ever that Lindsay and I tried something like this.
There was so much going on:
Instead of the Creative Language Learning Podcast tips, this episode featured a collection of as many European artists and European language songs as we could find. Here is our Spotify playlist for hours of Euro music fun.
You can also read the list and find out more about genre and languages on our huge Evernote list.
Did you enjoy the live episode? Were you there? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!