Non-native English speakers act like we natives are stupid!

"I think that most British people would be totally amazed if they were approached by foreign visitors who proceeeded to speak in thei own native Language."

In my experience, living in a tourist hot-spot, this isn't the case at all. You'd be surprised how often people try their native language before giving their English a try, people react as they should; with a confused but polite look on their faces followed by a broadly Cumbrian "Y'what?" Hehe.

"In order to vote, you have to be a US citizen, and in order to become a US citizen, you have to know English...,"


In order to be an US citizen you do not need to know English. In fact Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before it was an US state and when it became an US state , people already living there which didn't speak English (all them) were allowed to be US citizens while they were not required to learn English. Of course the US Government encouraged learning English, but no law enforced it. Supose generation after generation they didn't learn English untill nowadays. They are perfect US citizens by law. Probably migrants are required to know English in order to BECOME citizens of US, but your sentence is not true becose the aforementioned Spanish speakers living in New Mexico who are not migrants.

If their English is not fluent, it's easy to trick them to think their English is bad. Pretend their English is so bad it's difficult to understand. Lean close and look strained, and ask to repeat.

Adolfo, that's exactly why I wrote BECOME, in order to BECOME a US citizen, you must know English.

Just to present the other side of the story:

I've met many non-English speakers who were VERY happy to speak their own language with me. This happened often in Europe, where my two years of high school French got me through not only France and Belgium, but with appreciate French speakers elsewhere. (They were used to Germans, Dutch, etc., foisting English on them.) And that goes even more so in Quebec, where outside of Montreal I usually had to use French; even in Montreal they tolerated my French until I began to stumble badly. Likewise, there were Chinese who were insistent that I use Chinese, Germans who insisted I practice German, etc.

And many non-natives in the States have been quite willing to converse with me in their language, even though their English was often much better than my French, Spanish, Hebrew, etc.

"I know that the Germans have the reputation of trying to "show off" their English. "

Wasn't there a thread recently where a German insisted that he spoke "better" English than the English themselves and claimed to had actually been "helping" them with their grammar?

I wonder where they get this idea from?

I don't know about Germans helping English people to speak English "better", but I know for a fact that there are Polish people now employed as teachers, or at least classroom assistants, in England, who are teaching English to English kids. :-) Ha! I have not heard of anything similar happening back home in Scotland without confirmation. It doesn't surprise me at all - these Polish people can then start teaching correct English grammar to some BBC staff.....

Maybe these Poles are doing good missionary work in Boston, Lincolnshire, in Eastern England - there was a BBC TV documentary about immigration to the UK and it featured the thousands of Polish people who have now settled in and around Boston and now form about 30% of the overall population of the town and surrounds, and many have no intention of returning to Poland. The majority of them are very highly qualified educationally, including a high proportion of graduates now taking jobs from local Bostonians because of their superior work ethic and general attitude. Judging by the standard of spoken English displayed by some of the disgruntled Boston guys interviewed on the program, these Poles can earn extra dosh on the side giving lessons in the correct use of English to the Boston natives. :-)

As I've said before, not only are many of these Poles speaking very good English but they are mega dishy as well.....yummy. I'm sorely tempted to try their jars of pickled gherkins or whatever they are. They now have their own food shops all over the UK but I don't really like the look of their bread though....

<I wonder where they get this idea from? >

It happens.

I think Germans and other non-native speakers get that idea, because they are taught to believe that the English they learn in school is superior to the "slang" spoken by Americans and other non RP speakers. When they are then confronted with real native speakers they then incorrectly assume that anything that doesn't fit into the tight little rules they have learned must be incorrect. English is far more complex than many non-natives (especially beginners) are willing to admit.

All my posts are generally very much done from a British perspective, and with regard to the speaking of "proper" English - ie text book type Language which non-native speakers / learners of English follow to the letter more or less - it must come as a bit of a shock when they find themselves conversing with native speakers and what they hear is not much like what they have been taught pretty much. That's the case with all Languages no doubt. In time the learners will soon downgrade their spoken English and it won't be long before they are adopting all the bad habits and shortcuts and colloquialisms and local dialectal speech as we do.

That's what learning a living, ever changing Language is all about.

The situation in Britain is probably especially noticeable in this respect considering our very wide range of accents and local dialects, more so than in any other English speaking country I would guess.

If any native born Brit started to speak "perfect" text-book style English (irrespective of accent) s/he would be regarded as some kind of weirdo in no time at all, and rightly so! :-)

<<ncorrectly assume that anything that doesn't fit into the tight little rules they have learned must be incorrect<<

And Germans are particularly keen on everithing concerning rules. They loove rules.

I think the best hedge against having the natives answer you in English is to have a native-sounding accent.

Think about it. When a non-native speaker of English starts speaking to you, aren't you wondering about his or her accent?

It really ISN'T enough to learn the grammar. It isn't enough to think, "oh, I sound GOOD enough..." You have to record your accent, you have to listen and ask for help and correct those sounds that make listening to you more difficult than you can imagine.

I think the general feeling is that English speakers' accent is terrible in any other language than their own; maybe movies are to be blamed for this, I don't know.

But anyway, if someone asks you something with a bad pronounce, you start thinking they don't really know that much about the language and feel tempted to answer in their own language, if you know it, to be helpful and to save time. It's not a matter of thinking someone is stupid or not; if you are visiting, you are not expected to speak the language. This goes for English, French, Chinese, whatever.

Actually, I think most people appreciate the effort if you try, but it has to be a good effort with an understandable pronounce. Many people learn from books only...

I'm sure most English speakers would react the same way if they were put in the same situation.. Remember those people with a bad English accent??

This is why exposing yourself to a situation of bullying for a while is good when you're learning the language, because you get instant feedback (in the form of a fist).

**pronunciation..........