The above guest was me.
How can I disguise my native language?
But in order to do that you have to be fluent in German. Or could you convince them that you were perhaps Danish or something?
"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?"
First, I'll give you my suggestion: Try "Ultimate Italian ADVANCED" by Living Language. I'll try to find the link where you can listen to three or four minutes of it for free. I borrowed it at my library. There is nothing wimpy about it even if the sample they share may seem easy at first.
Living Language Ultimate ADVANCED is a good brush-up for other languages too. I think it's much better than their regular beginner courses which have been around for years. LOL, my brother gave me the old RECORD courses. I guess a library had a sale.
Recently I was able to borrow a copy of their ultimate beginner-intermediate Arabic. I'm not in love with Arabic, but I'm tired of people asking me if I know it or plan to study it. This course looks IMPRESSIVE, so impressive, I may actual LEARN the language instead of playing with it.
About Italian: I speak French and Spanish at an advanced level, but my Italian is so-so. I have heard it passively for years, and studied it somewhat. When I lived in Japan, I knew an opera singer who only knew Italian and Japanese, so those were our languages of communication.
First, I'll give you my suggestion: Try "Ultimate Italian ADVANCED" by Living Language. I'll try to find the link where you can listen to three or four minutes of it for free. I borrowed it at my library. There is nothing wimpy about it even if the sample they share may seem easy at first.
Living Language Ultimate ADVANCED is a good brush-up for other languages too. I think it's much better than their regular beginner courses which have been around for years. LOL, my brother gave me the old RECORD courses. I guess a library had a sale.
Recently I was able to borrow a copy of their ultimate beginner-intermediate Arabic. I'm not in love with Arabic, but I'm tired of people asking me if I know it or plan to study it. This course looks IMPRESSIVE, so impressive, I may actual LEARN the language instead of playing with it.
About Italian: I speak French and Spanish at an advanced level, but my Italian is so-so. I have heard it passively for years, and studied it somewhat. When I lived in Japan, I knew an opera singer who only knew Italian and Japanese, so those were our languages of communication.
http://www.randomhouse.com/livinglanguage/display.pperl?isbn=9781400020669
This is the link for the Ultimate Italian Advanced-just the description.
For some reason, they are offering free downloads of their beginner courses in several languages, not the link to the advanced.
They have a forum too.
This is the link for the Ultimate Italian Advanced-just the description.
For some reason, they are offering free downloads of their beginner courses in several languages, not the link to the advanced.
They have a forum too.
"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."
The trouble is that many other things will "give" people away-not just their accents. I don't mean to be gross, but one's scent may do it, or one's nonverbal communication, plus that English language guidebook that just fell out of your pocket with your odwalla nutrition bar, or your clothing will tell others than I am an English speaker.
You don't have to be deceptive in order to be effective in getting in a little speaking practice.
It's a dang lot of trouble to learn tricks to fool the locals who won't be pleased unless they have a good sense of humour.
Being sincere, polite and INSISTING politely is another technique you can try. Be courteous, help someone if you can. Heck, you may get invited to dinner or coffee. Usually I only get coffee or a phone number. I guess I am not as charming as Barry Farber, lol.
The trouble is that many other things will "give" people away-not just their accents. I don't mean to be gross, but one's scent may do it, or one's nonverbal communication, plus that English language guidebook that just fell out of your pocket with your odwalla nutrition bar, or your clothing will tell others than I am an English speaker.
You don't have to be deceptive in order to be effective in getting in a little speaking practice.
It's a dang lot of trouble to learn tricks to fool the locals who won't be pleased unless they have a good sense of humour.
Being sincere, polite and INSISTING politely is another technique you can try. Be courteous, help someone if you can. Heck, you may get invited to dinner or coffee. Usually I only get coffee or a phone number. I guess I am not as charming as Barry Farber, lol.
Don't worry I'm an expert at the art of deception, so that's not my worry. The worry is the practical side - no matter how good my con-artistry and acting skills, if I can't overcome the accent side it's pointless. Besides, I'm never honest regardless of the language...
"if I can't overcome the accent side it's pointless."
You don't have to overcome the accent unless you are trying to "pass" for a native. You just have to be understood.
"Besides, I'm never honest regardless of the language..."
I'm not a priest, but that is probably honest.
You don't have to overcome the accent unless you are trying to "pass" for a native. You just have to be understood.
"Besides, I'm never honest regardless of the language..."
I'm not a priest, but that is probably honest.
>> But in order to do that you have to be fluent in German. Or could you convince them that you were perhaps Danish or something? <<
Well, yeah, you'd have to be fluent or at least able to carry a conversation in German for it to work--but the benefit of this method is that you will sound like a native speaker of German with minimal effort, and your English accent will be completely masked. As long as you can make those simple changes that I posted above and can pronounce the letter "r" correctly, as well as the umlauted vowels, then you will be able to easily pass as German, rather than an English speaker that is trying to speak German. And as an added bonus, you can claim to be completely ignorant of English, since you will have a native-sounding accent rather than an English accent on your German.
>> The worry is the practical side - no matter how good my con-artistry and acting skills, if I can't overcome the accent side it's pointless. <<
Have you tried making the pronunciation changes that I posted above? You also may need to work on the correct pronunciation of the letter "r", as that can be a giveaway for an English speaker. Also, you might need to learn how to speak at a faster tempo, as a giveaway for foreigners is that they speak rather slowly.
>> You don't have to overcome the accent unless you are trying to "pass" for a native. You just have to be understood. <<
But it is best to pass as a native. Otherwise they might think that you are an English speaker and switch to English.
>> The trouble is that many other things will "give" people away-not just their accents. I don't mean to be gross, but one's scent may do it, or one's nonverbal communication, plus that English language guidebook that just fell out of your pocket with your odwalla nutrition bar, or your clothing will tell others than I am an English speaker. <<
Well, that's easy to fix. I don't know about scent, but of course it is best to not bring an English language guidebook, or English brands such as an Odwalla nutrition bar or English clothing with you. You can simply buy new stuff on arrival in Germany.
Well, yeah, you'd have to be fluent or at least able to carry a conversation in German for it to work--but the benefit of this method is that you will sound like a native speaker of German with minimal effort, and your English accent will be completely masked. As long as you can make those simple changes that I posted above and can pronounce the letter "r" correctly, as well as the umlauted vowels, then you will be able to easily pass as German, rather than an English speaker that is trying to speak German. And as an added bonus, you can claim to be completely ignorant of English, since you will have a native-sounding accent rather than an English accent on your German.
>> The worry is the practical side - no matter how good my con-artistry and acting skills, if I can't overcome the accent side it's pointless. <<
Have you tried making the pronunciation changes that I posted above? You also may need to work on the correct pronunciation of the letter "r", as that can be a giveaway for an English speaker. Also, you might need to learn how to speak at a faster tempo, as a giveaway for foreigners is that they speak rather slowly.
>> You don't have to overcome the accent unless you are trying to "pass" for a native. You just have to be understood. <<
But it is best to pass as a native. Otherwise they might think that you are an English speaker and switch to English.
>> The trouble is that many other things will "give" people away-not just their accents. I don't mean to be gross, but one's scent may do it, or one's nonverbal communication, plus that English language guidebook that just fell out of your pocket with your odwalla nutrition bar, or your clothing will tell others than I am an English speaker. <<
Well, that's easy to fix. I don't know about scent, but of course it is best to not bring an English language guidebook, or English brands such as an Odwalla nutrition bar or English clothing with you. You can simply buy new stuff on arrival in Germany.
"And as an added bonus, you can claim to be completely ignorant of English, since you will have a native-sounding accent rather than an English accent on your German."-Star
Most Germans (at least young people) know some English. If you manage to "fool" them and they ask you where you come from, what would be your next step? Please don't tell me a sudden asthma attack and a quick exit.
"But it is best to pass as a native. Otherwise they might think that you are an English speaker and switch to English."-Star
Why does this remind me of the language scene in "The Great Escape" where even having "excellent" skills cannot save the English escapee?
If it is NOT wartime, and they switch to English, you can say, "Your English is great! I'm in your country, though, so I should speak your language. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Well, that's easy to fix. I don't know about scent, but of course it is best to not bring an English language guidebook, or English brands such as an Odwalla nutrition bar or English clothing with you. You can simply buy new stuff on arrival in Germany."-Star
I was kidding, well, I was trying to make the truth a little bit funny. Yes, scent does give some people away, but everyone does not have time to go out and buy German clothing so they can fit in as well as Clark Griswold; however, I can see that you are convinced of your technique, so have you tried this?
Most Germans (at least young people) know some English. If you manage to "fool" them and they ask you where you come from, what would be your next step? Please don't tell me a sudden asthma attack and a quick exit.
"But it is best to pass as a native. Otherwise they might think that you are an English speaker and switch to English."-Star
Why does this remind me of the language scene in "The Great Escape" where even having "excellent" skills cannot save the English escapee?
If it is NOT wartime, and they switch to English, you can say, "Your English is great! I'm in your country, though, so I should speak your language. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Well, that's easy to fix. I don't know about scent, but of course it is best to not bring an English language guidebook, or English brands such as an Odwalla nutrition bar or English clothing with you. You can simply buy new stuff on arrival in Germany."-Star
I was kidding, well, I was trying to make the truth a little bit funny. Yes, scent does give some people away, but everyone does not have time to go out and buy German clothing so they can fit in as well as Clark Griswold; however, I can see that you are convinced of your technique, so have you tried this?
For J. C. san,
I see that LL does not ship overseas, but I think Amazon carries the ADVANCED Italian.
I see that LL does not ship overseas, but I think Amazon carries the ADVANCED Italian.
K.T.,
I think the guy wanted to know how to do it, not whether it was moral or not. YOU might find it to be immoral but then again we are not all uber-PC saints like you.
I think the guy wanted to know how to do it, not whether it was moral or not. YOU might find it to be immoral but then again we are not all uber-PC saints like you.
>> If you manage to "fool" them and they ask you where you come from, what would be your next step? Please don't tell me a sudden asthma attack and a quick exit.
<<
You could ask them to guess where they thought that you were from, and then agree with whatever they say. If they ask you more details about the place, if you are unfamiliar about it, just make general noncomital statements and then quikly change the subject.
>> If it is NOT wartime, and they switch to English, you can say, "Your English is great! I'm in your country, though, so I should speak your language. Wouldn't you agree?"
<<
No, it is better to say [?i fe:@StQnt DO? niS min eNliS iS ze:@ Slect] ("I do not understand that. My English is very bad"). Then quote "Dick and Jane" to underscore the point. Then they will realize that speaking English to you will be quite futile, and continue the conversation in German.
>> however, I can see that you are convinced of your technique, so have you tried this? <<
Oh yes, it works terrifically. I highly recommend it.
<<
You could ask them to guess where they thought that you were from, and then agree with whatever they say. If they ask you more details about the place, if you are unfamiliar about it, just make general noncomital statements and then quikly change the subject.
>> If it is NOT wartime, and they switch to English, you can say, "Your English is great! I'm in your country, though, so I should speak your language. Wouldn't you agree?"
<<
No, it is better to say [?i fe:@StQnt DO? niS min eNliS iS ze:@ Slect] ("I do not understand that. My English is very bad"). Then quote "Dick and Jane" to underscore the point. Then they will realize that speaking English to you will be quite futile, and continue the conversation in German.
>> however, I can see that you are convinced of your technique, so have you tried this? <<
Oh yes, it works terrifically. I highly recommend it.
>> Or, you could just say you were French. <<
But then what would happen if they happened to know French, and you didn't? And then you'd have to be fluent or near-fluent in French as well, and be able to use a repronunciation scheme for French (like star posted for German) to sound like a Frenchman. Btw, greg, do you know of any repronunciation tips for Anglophones so that they can sound like native speakers of a non-Parisian French dialect that is still comprehensible to speakers of standard French?
But then what would happen if they happened to know French, and you didn't? And then you'd have to be fluent or near-fluent in French as well, and be able to use a repronunciation scheme for French (like star posted for German) to sound like a Frenchman. Btw, greg, do you know of any repronunciation tips for Anglophones so that they can sound like native speakers of a non-Parisian French dialect that is still comprehensible to speakers of standard French?