Language Trainers Blog

We’ve all read those few phrases in phrasebooks where we think ‘When would I ever use that?’ For me, it’s mostly the pick-up line section, but I guess I’m not the kind of person who will go home with someone I can’t communicate with at all.

After writing about how I didn’t think it was funny to purposely give people the wrong translation for something, I was linked to the Zompist phrasebook by reader Adrian. I hadn’t heard of the site before and so wasn’t really sure what I was expecting. I clicked the link and up came a categorised list of phrases, which appear to be translated correctly from English into French, Spanish, and German (the list is also available in Russian, Italian, Danish, Dutch, and Chinese). It’s not the translations that are funny (although there are a couple of trick ones in there!), but the content of the original phrases. Some of them immediately bring to mind the most awful kind of tourist, but perhaps those tourists might find this list valuable.

Here are some examples:

It’s better in the States.
C’est mieux aux Etats-Unis.
Es mejor en los Estados Unidos.
In den Staaten ist es besser.

How much is that in real money?
C’est combien en monnaie réelle ?
¿Cuánto es en moneda estable?
Wieviel ist das in richtigem Geld?

The bellboy won’t score me any coke.
Le groom refuse de me procurer un petit peu de came.
El mozo se niega a venderme cocaína.
Der Page will mir kein Koks bringen.

Don’t “imperialist pig” me, my good man.
Fichez-moi la paix avec votre “cochon impérialiste”, mon petit bonhomme.
¡Váyase usted al cuerno con su “cerdo imperialista”, hombre!
Nenn du mich nicht “imperialistisches Schwein”, mein Lieber.

My wife fell overboard about ten miles back.
Ma femme est tombée par-dessus bord, il y a quinze kilomètres.
Mi esposa se cayó al agua unos quince kilómetros atrás.
Meine Frau ist vor ungefähr fünfzehn Kilometern über Bord gefallen.

I know I’m naked, could you just tell me how to get back to the hotel?
Je le sais bien que je suis à poil; je veux simplement savoir comment rentrer à l’hôtel.
Ya se que estoy calato; sólo quiero saber cómo volver al hotel.
Ich weiß, dass ich nackt bin; könnten sie mir vielleicht einfach sagen, wie ich wieder zurück zum Hotel komme?

http://www.zompist.com/phrases.html!

Google+ is the latest offering from Google – a social networking tool which may yet rival Facebook (although it’s in its early days). For many people, this development may seem like just another version of Facebook (without the ads and the silly games), but there is one big difference: Hangouts. A Hangout is basically a video chat room that anyone can start, and anyone with the invite link can join. It allows up to 10 people to all see each other, share links, talk, text chat, and watch videos together. This is a great social tool, but also has the potential to be a great learning tool.

If you are learning a language, you could create a ‘circle’ of others who are learning or teaching that language. You could then start a Hangout just with those people, and whoever is online can join you for a chat or discussion about a particular lesson or topic. Language tutors could host small group classes, or just be available at certain times for students to log in and ask questions.

In the past, video conferencing has been a little more difficult to access, with all participants needing the same software and often needing to know each other’s contact details. With Google+, it would be possible to tweet or otherwise share your Hangout address, and whoever in the world was interested could join in and start chatting.

I can’t wait to see what new developments Google comes up with, and how people will use them. For a list of a few more uses for Hangouts, see The 9 Creative Uses for Google+ Hangouts You Didn’t Think Of.

In my last post I talked about couples communicating in other languages, and wondered how successful it can be. I’ve also talked about what is sometimes called getting a black-haired dictionary (learning a language from a paramour, in this case a Chinese girlfriend to teach you Chinese). If you have a partner who speaks a different language from you, will it always help you learn that language? Not necessarily.

Depending on your situation, having your partner available to you may be very successful, or not really help you with your language progress at all. Obviously, one of the big factors is the personalities of the people involved. Not everyone is a good teacher, and not everyone is a good student. Some students don’t like being corrected (and some people can’t help correcting others – I’m one of them!), and some teachers find it too frustrating to repeatedly go over the same point. If the teacher already has a good grasp of the student’s native language, it may just seem easier to use that language for communication, and forget about the student learning more.

I know a couple where the husband speaks very little English (but he is currently learning), and the wife speaks very good Chinese. The husband says that his wife is a really bad teacher. I think she may just get frustrated easily and prefers communication to be fast and easy.

Have you been in a relationship where you have been the student or the teacher? How has it worked out?

I was reading a really interesting blog post on Speaking of China, a blog by a western woman who is married to a Chinese man. The post was all about love and language, and people who communicate with their loved one/s in a language that is not native to one or both parties. She was asked whether she had a better relationship with her husband in Chinese or in English. She said that it fluctuated between the two (and may be slightly better in English because of her husband’s studies in the US), but that they have some kind of hybrid Mandarin-English language that they communicate in.

Her English-speaking friend then said that she communicates best with her Chinese husband in a third party language – Japanese. They had met and come to know each other in Japanese, and they both had to try hard to be understood (and understand each other) in that language. I think it says a lot that both people have to compromise and put effort into communicating with each other (instead of it being easy for one person and difficult for another, or frustrating to everyone involved!).

I often wonder how close relationships can be if the language used is a non-native one. On one hand, if you can only say certain things,  you might avoid getting into in depth arguments, but on the other, how can you really get to know each other? I’ve seen plenty of couples where speaking is not necessarily the main goal (if you know what I mean!), but if you want a deep relationship, how good do the language skills have to be?

I watched an old episode of the sitcom Frasier the other day. In it, Frasier wants to give a speech to his son in Hebrew, but doesn’t know how to because he isn’t Jewish. He enlists a coworker to translate and help him with pronunciation. Later on, the coworker feels slighted, so instead of Hebrew, he translates the speech into Klingon (a fictional alien language from the Star Trek TV show, in case you somehow didn’t know). It all worked out well in the end, but it made me think about similar language tricks.

I’ve met plenty of people who have, as part of their kind language guidance to friends, tried to convince those friends that swear words and insults are merely everyday greetings or useful sentences (“No really, if you say this to that hot girl, they will totally go out with you!”). I’ve never been a fan of this behaviour, but perhaps I’m too sensitive? I don’t think people should be discouraged from learning languages by embarrassing experiences.

What do you think? Have you ever been in one of these situations, either as the trickster or the duped? Is it just a bit of harmless fun, or should people be wholeheartedly supported in their language efforts?

I have been in situations before where two speakers have a reasonable knowledge of each other’s languages, but perhaps are not confident enough to speak them. In some of these cases, both speakers carry out their half of the dialogue in their own language, with a fair amount of success. Sometimes I find it too difficult to explain something in another language, but I know the listener will be able to understand me if I speak English.

While this can be considered a form of listening practice, and successful communication is fantastic, it obviously lacks the speaking element. Conversely, if you may find yourself in the opposite situation, where both speakers are speaking the other’s language.

The latter situation seems to be more beneficial, but it may also restrict understanding, depending on the language skill levels of the speakers.

So, is it better to carry out the dialogue in one language only? Or to speak opposite languages? I guess it all depends on the speakers, but I tend to like the situation where people are speaking each other’s languages. That way they might be as likely to mess up as I am!

Everybody has different aims to consider when learning languages. One of them is whether to focus on written or conversational language. Of course, you don’t have to focus entirely on one (and I wouldn’t recommend you to), but it will affect things like the type of texts or materials you study from.

At the moment, I’m studying a reading textbook, which has short essays followed by comprehension questions. My teacher is careful to point out which things are only suitable for written texts (and so I should avoid saying things that way). There are also discussion questions so I can get my fill of speaking practice. This method suits me right now as I am using language mainly for work, where I am communicating a lot by email.

My friend is using a textbook that is made up of conversations about various topics. It includes follow up questions and audio as well. This method is great for beginners and people who need language for everyday situations.

Which method do you prefer? Do you think a distinction needs to be made?

When you learn a language, do you choose your accent, or does your accent choose you? Perhaps you are learning in a rural place and get used to the local accents because you talk to the locals. In this case, do you insist on training yourself to use a ‘standard’ form of speech? Obviously, regional words and phrases may make you easier to understand for locals and more difficult for others, but if you were as comprehensible as other regional speakers, would you mind having an accent?

When learning Chinese, would you go with southern pronunciation, or the Beijing accent which has pronounced arrrrs, like a pirate? For Spanish, would you learn Mexican Spanish or Catalan? For English, American or British? And would you specify even further?

One of my favourite waiters is a Chinese guy who speaks in a faux Cockney accent. He not only puts on the strong accent, but uses a lot of slang, too. He is very proud of the fact that he has English friends and has a believable accent. He gets better every time I see him, and there’s nothing like having a Chinese guy call you geezer and tell you that the nosh is pukka!

Do you worry about your accent, or do you just focus on knowing the words to use?