Ok,I must confess that I do feel intimidated by people who speak a certain language better than me(whether that's their 1st language or not).So...this is how I came up with this topic.Hopefully,they're not gonna delete this one too,as they did with some others that I attempted to create.Anyway...the question is:how do you feel when you speak a foreign language in a country where it's official?
Intimidated when speaking a foreign language?
Sono d'accordo! (I agree). I think it's quite natural, but you must get over your inhibitions if you really want to learn. I can only speak for Italy, but people there (I was in Tuscany) are very welcoming of anyone trying to learn the language and they seem very patient about it.
Le plus dur c'est pas tant la timidité que la certitude de s'exprimer avec des possibilités réduites et donc avec un impact fort limité. Ça demande pas mal d'humilité et de sérénité.
Even though I'm aware of the fact that my English is not perfect, I don't really feel intimidated when I speak it, especially with other non-native speakers, because we all know it's not my native language and as long as we understand each other everything is OK. Maybe that's also because many people in my country still don't speak English, so I'm proud of the fact that I can speak it, even though I make mistakes occasionally.
I used to feel intimidated when I first started chatting with native English speakers, because I assumed that their English skills are perfect, but later I realised that even native speakers make a lot of mistakes in their language (although not the same type of mistakes that foreigners make), so I learnt to accept that we're all human and can make mistakes and that's not a big deal. Besides, I'm sure most people are glad to see that someone can speak their language, and native speakers don't expect a foreigner to be perfect at it. Of course, if I needed to use English for some formal purposes, I would make sure that everything is 100% correct and I would ask a professional to check it for me.
I used to feel intimidated when I first started chatting with native English speakers, because I assumed that their English skills are perfect, but later I realised that even native speakers make a lot of mistakes in their language (although not the same type of mistakes that foreigners make), so I learnt to accept that we're all human and can make mistakes and that's not a big deal. Besides, I'm sure most people are glad to see that someone can speak their language, and native speakers don't expect a foreigner to be perfect at it. Of course, if I needed to use English for some formal purposes, I would make sure that everything is 100% correct and I would ask a professional to check it for me.
Hey dragonfly ! (libelula in Romanian)
Sunt de acord cu tine ! Multe persoane simt la fel. Timid sau nu... nivelul de cultura, fluenta verbala ori metoda de exprimare nativa , au un rol foarte important in procesul de invatare al unei limbi straine. Personalitatea omului conteaza enorm !
Eu cunosc multe persoane care nu vorbesc nici o limba straina din inhibitie, nu din ignoranta sau mediocritate.
Doar sociabilitatea, caracterul comunicativ, extrovertirea pot inlatura inhibitia (teama de ridicol). In orice domeniu.
Sunt de acord cu tine ! Multe persoane simt la fel. Timid sau nu... nivelul de cultura, fluenta verbala ori metoda de exprimare nativa , au un rol foarte important in procesul de invatare al unei limbi straine. Personalitatea omului conteaza enorm !
Eu cunosc multe persoane care nu vorbesc nici o limba straina din inhibitie, nu din ignoranta sau mediocritate.
Doar sociabilitatea, caracterul comunicativ, extrovertirea pot inlatura inhibitia (teama de ridicol). In orice domeniu.
I've learnt French, and I'm currently learning Japanese and Italian. I've spoken to many native speakers of these languages, and they all seemed happy to explain and pleased that someone's learning their language ^.~
All friendly.
All friendly.