Hi, can anyone offer advice on how to disguise the fact that English is my native language? It's really hard to get some people to speak their native language when they all speak English pretty much fluently and it's really quite infuriating... Do you think it would be feasible to pass myself off as a speaker of another language, and use the excuse that my English is bad as a way of getting them to speak their language? What would I need to do to ensure that... I do actually speak another language fairly fluently, but the accent is where I'm worried... Is it possible to disguise an accent by changing your speech patterns?
How can I disguise my native language?
I wonder whether people switch to English regardless of what they think your native language is, reasoning that everyone speaks English and you certainly will if you have learnt their language (i.e. if you were French, you would be unlikely to have learnt German but not English). This always happened to me when I was in Germany, I would ask something in German and they would answer in English. I don't look English, and I wondered whether they picked up on my accent or simply that German was not my native language.
Look into the "Pronounce it Perfectly" (Barron's, I believe) and the "How to Pronounce" series by Passport books. I would check "Amazon" as I am not sure if the latter series is still in print.
Languages available:
PIP: I've seen Russian, French, English, and Spanish (at least) and possibly Japanese.
HTP: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Both series feature recordings.
I would not try the "fake" speaker ruse advocated by a certain Swiss polyglot.
Keep trying to speak the language you are trying to improve.
Languages available:
PIP: I've seen Russian, French, English, and Spanish (at least) and possibly Japanese.
HTP: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, and Hebrew.
Both series feature recordings.
I would not try the "fake" speaker ruse advocated by a certain Swiss polyglot.
Keep trying to speak the language you are trying to improve.
Well, you can pretend that you are a native speaker of the language, but speak a different dialect--that's similar enough to be understandable, but still sound substantially different from their own dialect. And if they try to switch to English, say that you cannot speak English. That seemed to work for me in Germany. The reason this works is that if you try to speak their dialect but mess up on a few things, it is quite noticeable, but if you speak a different dialect, they won't hear the mistakes you make as clearly. I've met people from the Netherlands and Scandinavia, who I mistook for native English speakers (from England). My friend from England, said, no they most definately were not from England. If they had learned North American English, I would probably have been able to detect that they were foreigners right away.
So, for instance, if you want to speak German, do the following:
this dialect is a blend of mostly High German with some influences of Yiddish, Luxembourgish, Frisian, Dutch, Swiss German, English, and French
First make sure that you can do the umlauted vowels very well.
An easy way to do long Ü is to say "ee" /i/ and round your lips. Short Ü is like /I/ with rounded lips.
Learn to trill your r's. Trill them at the beginning of words. At the end of words, don't pronounce them at all, but lengthen the vowel preceding it.
Practice the [o] sound. Make sure that you don't do it like the English /o/: [oU] in most North American dialects; /@U/ in Received Pronunciation. Try to get a pure [o] sound. Round your lips tightly, and make sure there is no hint of a "w" sound at the end.
Practice the /e/ sound. Purse your lips, and try to avoid adding an [i] sound to the end of it.
Make sure you can get the "ch" sounds right.
Pronounce the vowels as shown in the second set of brackets. The first set of brackets shows the Anglo-German way of pronouncing them.
short i: "mit" [mIt] [mit]
long i:
long u: gut [gut] [gu@t]
short o: "komme" [k_hAm@] [k_hQm]
ur: "nur" [nr\=] [nu:A]
er: "sehr" [zEr\] [ze:@]
ir: "ihr" [Ir\] [i:@]
ei: "ein" [aIn] [en], but sometimes ei-> [i]
au: "kaufen" [k_haUf@n] [k_hoIp@], but sometimes au-> [o] or [u]
Final -en -> -e
Final -e at the end of verbs and adjectives becomes silent after nasals.
Always pronounce "d" as [D] (as in "the") rather than [d]:
Always pronounce "a" as [O] (like in "caught"), except for before "l" where it becomes [A].
Always pronounce "k" at the beginning of words as if it were spelt "ch": kalt-> [xAlt] ("cold")
Put a glottal stop at the beginning of words that begin with a vowel.
Now for some word changes:
ist -> isch [iS] ("is")
bisschen -> bitscheli [bitSEli] ("a little")
nicht -> nisch [niS] ("not")
grüss dich -> grüetzi [gryEtsi] ("greeting")
-chen -> li [li] ("diminunative")
mein -> mien [min] ("my")
Sie -> see [ze] ("ye")
Now some of the consonants change. We want to partially revert the second sound shift, but we'll leave some things like the "ch".
ss in the middle of words -> t : Wasser -> Water [vOt@]
s in the middle and ends of words -> t : das -> Dat [DO?]
f in the middle of words -> p:
The verb to have: "habe"
1 i hab [i hOp] wir habe [vi:@ hOb@]
2 du hest [du hEst] ihr habe [i:@ hOb@]
3 er hat [e:@ hO?] see habe [ze hOb@]
The verb to be: "seen"
1 i bün [i bYn]
2 du bist [du bist]
3 er isch [e:@ iS]
etc.
Examples:
Greetings, my name is Paul. Grüetzi min Nam isch Pol. [gryetsi min nOm iS Pol]
I come from Berlin. I komm uut Berlin [i k_hQm ?u? be:@lin]
Where do you come from? Woher komme Se? [vohe:@ k_hQm@ ze]
What is that? Wat isch Dat? [vOt iS DO?]
What do you do for a living? Wat sind Se von Berop [vO? zInt ze fQn berop]
So, for instance, if you want to speak German, do the following:
this dialect is a blend of mostly High German with some influences of Yiddish, Luxembourgish, Frisian, Dutch, Swiss German, English, and French
First make sure that you can do the umlauted vowels very well.
An easy way to do long Ü is to say "ee" /i/ and round your lips. Short Ü is like /I/ with rounded lips.
Learn to trill your r's. Trill them at the beginning of words. At the end of words, don't pronounce them at all, but lengthen the vowel preceding it.
Practice the [o] sound. Make sure that you don't do it like the English /o/: [oU] in most North American dialects; /@U/ in Received Pronunciation. Try to get a pure [o] sound. Round your lips tightly, and make sure there is no hint of a "w" sound at the end.
Practice the /e/ sound. Purse your lips, and try to avoid adding an [i] sound to the end of it.
Make sure you can get the "ch" sounds right.
Pronounce the vowels as shown in the second set of brackets. The first set of brackets shows the Anglo-German way of pronouncing them.
short i: "mit" [mIt] [mit]
long i:
long u: gut [gut] [gu@t]
short o: "komme" [k_hAm@] [k_hQm]
ur: "nur" [nr\=] [nu:A]
er: "sehr" [zEr\] [ze:@]
ir: "ihr" [Ir\] [i:@]
ei: "ein" [aIn] [en], but sometimes ei-> [i]
au: "kaufen" [k_haUf@n] [k_hoIp@], but sometimes au-> [o] or [u]
Final -en -> -e
Final -e at the end of verbs and adjectives becomes silent after nasals.
Always pronounce "d" as [D] (as in "the") rather than [d]:
Always pronounce "a" as [O] (like in "caught"), except for before "l" where it becomes [A].
Always pronounce "k" at the beginning of words as if it were spelt "ch": kalt-> [xAlt] ("cold")
Put a glottal stop at the beginning of words that begin with a vowel.
Now for some word changes:
ist -> isch [iS] ("is")
bisschen -> bitscheli [bitSEli] ("a little")
nicht -> nisch [niS] ("not")
grüss dich -> grüetzi [gryEtsi] ("greeting")
-chen -> li [li] ("diminunative")
mein -> mien [min] ("my")
Sie -> see [ze] ("ye")
Now some of the consonants change. We want to partially revert the second sound shift, but we'll leave some things like the "ch".
ss in the middle of words -> t : Wasser -> Water [vOt@]
s in the middle and ends of words -> t : das -> Dat [DO?]
f in the middle of words -> p:
The verb to have: "habe"
1 i hab [i hOp] wir habe [vi:@ hOb@]
2 du hest [du hEst] ihr habe [i:@ hOb@]
3 er hat [e:@ hO?] see habe [ze hOb@]
The verb to be: "seen"
1 i bün [i bYn]
2 du bist [du bist]
3 er isch [e:@ iS]
etc.
Examples:
Greetings, my name is Paul. Grüetzi min Nam isch Pol. [gryetsi min nOm iS Pol]
I come from Berlin. I komm uut Berlin [i k_hQm ?u? be:@lin]
Where do you come from? Woher komme Se? [vohe:@ k_hQm@ ze]
What is that? Wat isch Dat? [vOt iS DO?]
What do you do for a living? Wat sind Se von Berop [vO? zInt ze fQn berop]
It's easier to try the "third lanaguage" technique in a place like the Far East, where anyone remotely European looking can be addressed in English. An American I met, who was fluent in Mandarin, was tired of being treated as a walking English dictionary in Taiwan. He said the next time he went he would answer in Italian, which they would almost certainly not know. (The same can't be said for French, Spanish, or German--often studied at universities.) The less likely the language is spoken in a region, the more you can get away with it.
Having said that, they still might assume you know English, as Guest pointed out. So my strategy is a little different. If you're in their country, and you try to speak their language, and they address you in English, be super complimentary. In their language, you can say something like "Oh, your English is wonderful! But I'm really trying hard to learn your beautiful language, and I came all the way here to learn. Do you mind helping me out by talking a little to me in your language?" They'd have to be pretty cold (or hell-bent on learning English) to keep on in English.
If it's an with an immigrant or tourist in an English-speaking country, I'd also try to be super polite, and request if it's okay to speak their language. Most immigrants and tourists are pleased (and often impressed) that an Anglophone went out of his or her way to learn their language. But if they prefer English, don't insist--they're the ones in the learning situation now.
Having said that, they still might assume you know English, as Guest pointed out. So my strategy is a little different. If you're in their country, and you try to speak their language, and they address you in English, be super complimentary. In their language, you can say something like "Oh, your English is wonderful! But I'm really trying hard to learn your beautiful language, and I came all the way here to learn. Do you mind helping me out by talking a little to me in your language?" They'd have to be pretty cold (or hell-bent on learning English) to keep on in English.
If it's an with an immigrant or tourist in an English-speaking country, I'd also try to be super polite, and request if it's okay to speak their language. Most immigrants and tourists are pleased (and often impressed) that an Anglophone went out of his or her way to learn their language. But if they prefer English, don't insist--they're the ones in the learning situation now.
"Oh, your English is wonderful! But I'm really trying hard to learn your beautiful language, and I came all the way here to learn. Do you mind helping me out by talking a little to me in your language?"
Believe me I tried that before, but you have to say it again with each person you meet and to be honest it makes you feel like a bit of a pushy c*nt.
I think that is a good idea to try to pretend to speak English badly, I am good at faking my English to make it sound foreign, and I could easily make people think English was not my native language, but the problem is that I could only do it whilst speaking English. I think my accent would give me away when speaking their language.
Believe me I tried that before, but you have to say it again with each person you meet and to be honest it makes you feel like a bit of a pushy c*nt.
I think that is a good idea to try to pretend to speak English badly, I am good at faking my English to make it sound foreign, and I could easily make people think English was not my native language, but the problem is that I could only do it whilst speaking English. I think my accent would give me away when speaking their language.
""Oh, your English is wonderful! But I'm really trying hard to learn your beautiful language, and I came all the way here to learn. Do you mind helping me out by talking a little to me in your language?" They'd have to be pretty cold (or hell-bent on learning English) to keep on in English."
guest2
This a good technique and doesn't put you in the situation where you lie and the lie comes back to bite you, lol.
guest2
This a good technique and doesn't put you in the situation where you lie and the lie comes back to bite you, lol.
If you really don't want to speak in English you'd better say it CLEARLY. In Japan all foreigners are considered to be "Americans" and therefore an opportunity to practice English. Since I am Brazilian it is easier to say I don't want(Or don't speak English in the meaning that I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK IN ENGLISH) to speak English because it's not my native language. But even when the person is stubborn and wants JUST PRACTICE I just keep on speaking in his/her language, which is what I did in Korea, China, Taiwan (Even though I'm not totally fluent in Chinese/Korean). If the person I'm talking to is a Japanese, German,Spanish or French speaker I'll NEVER use English!!!
Last week I made an employee of Subway angry when he insisted on talking to me in English just to hear "I don't speak English" after hearing me talk to my coworkers...I just told him I SPEAK English but don't use it outside my workplace...
Anyway, if you don't want to be used as an "English speaking machine" just let your listener know that...It's better to be honest than having to get angry and not improve in the language you're studying!!
CHeers!!
Last week I made an employee of Subway angry when he insisted on talking to me in English just to hear "I don't speak English" after hearing me talk to my coworkers...I just told him I SPEAK English but don't use it outside my workplace...
Anyway, if you don't want to be used as an "English speaking machine" just let your listener know that...It's better to be honest than having to get angry and not improve in the language you're studying!!
CHeers!!
>>Anyway, if you don't want to be used as an "English speaking machine" just let your listener know that...It's better to be honest than having to get angry and not improve in the language you're studying!!<<
What's the point of using non-native English speakers just to practise on? You might as well insist on speaking English to your fellow countrymen...
What's the point of using non-native English speakers just to practise on? You might as well insist on speaking English to your fellow countrymen...
People use non-native speakers in Japan because they'll "do" and that may be all they have for practice. I imagine that J. C. probably has a good accent and he would seem like a near-ideal candidate for "practice". English is "international" anyway.
When I lived in Japan people would speak to me in Italian, Spanish and French even though I am not a native speaker of these languages. Sometimes it was just to practice, sometimes it was because the Japanese person was a good speaker of these languages and wanted to practice. I never even thought about it much, never thought about "polyglots" (didn't even know the word), it's about communication.
When I lived in Japan people would speak to me in Italian, Spanish and French even though I am not a native speaker of these languages. Sometimes it was just to practice, sometimes it was because the Japanese person was a good speaker of these languages and wanted to practice. I never even thought about it much, never thought about "polyglots" (didn't even know the word), it's about communication.
If you are serious about learning a language, you should probably go with a little give-and-take. I don't like Brazilians in the US to use English with me because they have plenty of practice with other English speakers.
If you know someone has been through the process of learning another language to fluency, why not remind them of it and ask them to use the language with you.
Before you go to the country where your target language is spoken, why not stop in a store where the language is spoken, purchase something and get the conversation going?
I know that you may not be able to find people for all languages, but even in my city (not NYC), there are plenty of ethnic grocery stores.
If you know someone has been through the process of learning another language to fluency, why not remind them of it and ask them to use the language with you.
Before you go to the country where your target language is spoken, why not stop in a store where the language is spoken, purchase something and get the conversation going?
I know that you may not be able to find people for all languages, but even in my city (not NYC), there are plenty of ethnic grocery stores.
"What's the point of using non-native English speakers just to practise on?"
Well, English has become an international language and it is no longer an exclusive property of "English speakers", who might not be able to grasp all the difficulties that non-native speakers face. Personally I work in an office where English is the lingua franca and the only non-native English speakers are me and a guy from Estonia. The others are from Australia, US and Canada.
To be honest I have learned more expressions and words from the Estonian guy than the "native speakers" (I've learned some aussie expressions from my mate from Melbourne, though.lol). Of course I'm not trying to "practice" my English with my coworker but one just learns new stuff when conversing.
"When I lived in Japan people would speak to me in Italian, Spanish and French"
K.T-さん:Interesting experience!!I also had some Japanese friends talking to me in French and Spanish and have spoken French at church with some brothers from Ivory Coast. Man, where did you learn Italian? I studied for 1 year in Japan with a TV course from NHK but haven't used it since...Any suggestions for brushing it up?
Ciao!!
Well, English has become an international language and it is no longer an exclusive property of "English speakers", who might not be able to grasp all the difficulties that non-native speakers face. Personally I work in an office where English is the lingua franca and the only non-native English speakers are me and a guy from Estonia. The others are from Australia, US and Canada.
To be honest I have learned more expressions and words from the Estonian guy than the "native speakers" (I've learned some aussie expressions from my mate from Melbourne, though.lol). Of course I'm not trying to "practice" my English with my coworker but one just learns new stuff when conversing.
"When I lived in Japan people would speak to me in Italian, Spanish and French"
K.T-さん:Interesting experience!!I also had some Japanese friends talking to me in French and Spanish and have spoken French at church with some brothers from Ivory Coast. Man, where did you learn Italian? I studied for 1 year in Japan with a TV course from NHK but haven't used it since...Any suggestions for brushing it up?
Ciao!!
The way of speaking German I mentioned above will so completely disguise an English accent, that you could claim to be from just about anywhere (from Germany or just about any other country), and pretend that you do not speak English at all.