How to survive the worst moments of learning a language From talking on the phone for the first time to using local slang and being faced with a wall of laughter, Erica Buist on how to get over some of the most painful language mistakes When a group conversation moves faster than your brain You understand what’s being said, and you want to join in – but by the time you formulate a sentence that’s fit for native ears, the conversation has moved on. How to get past it: interject with a question instead. This shows you’re following the conversation and signifies that you can be included. Keep speaking up. When the day comes that you’re able to make that intelligent and grammatically complex point, you’ll find the best part is that no one applauds you. Because it’s normal. Talking on the phone for the first time Only 10% of communication is verbal, so when you talk on the phone you lose a startling amount of your language-learning arsenal. My first phone conversation in Spanish was pretty embarrassing. I lost the thread halfway through so I just said, “sí … sí … sí” until he hung up. How to get past it: Just say “sí … sí … sí” until they hang up. Only kidding. A lot of it is just nerves, so ease yourself in with questions you know the answer to, like “Nos vemos esta noche, verdad?” which means “We’re seeing each other tonight, right?”. Remember, you’re not as vulnerable to looking stupid as you think: because of noise and patchy reception, asking someone to repeat themselves seems totally natural on the phone. Click the link for more advice. theguardian/education/2014/dec/17/mistakes-while-learning-languages-spanish
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:17:44 +0000
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