how to deal with language battles

[calibre2001]

On language exchange partners, it can be a hit or miss. So, as a safety measure, the first few exchanges should be done online (Skype, QQ, Wechat etc) to gauge whether it's a go or no go. If it ends up in all a English, at least there's some damage control.

[imron]

and it seems like a good idea.

I did something similar many years back and while it's a good idea in principle, in China you'll find that it gets old pretty fast and pretty soon you'll stop wearing it due to all the random heckles and laughs you get.  As an aside, on Benny's t-shirt, the Chinese phrase uses a mismash of different fonts - not sure why he thought that was a good idea.

[grawrt]

Thanks! I'll try and remember to avoid offers for language exchange on campus. On the other hand last week I met with a guy for a language exchange (we had met at a language exchange event) and he was really nice, this was after my first language-exchange fail so I wasn't really looking forward to it but was pleasantly surprised. I remember reading somewhere that if your language skills are better than theirs the language usually reverts to that. So when we first met I told him we can start with english for about thirty minutes, then switch to chinese okay? I did this because I kind of wanted to model for him how I wanted the language exchange to go (pointing out mistakes, offering advice, helping with mispronounced words, offering an explanation if I can, etc.). He respected this and actually told me when it was time to switch without me having to insist. We spent the better part of the time speaking chinese so I guess every language exchange partner is different. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was older than the normal age range, or that he was an engineering major?

 

Honestly, I don't think language exchange will teach me anything but I just want to practice my spoken speech since I haven't had much of a chance to do that apart from talking to the people in shops and stuff.

 

I'll try and update how everything goes ^_^ I'm 100% new to this

[simplet]

I always feel strange about this topic because my own experience is usually the complete opposite of that of everyone else. I'm studying chinese-french interpreting at the university here (and they recently cleared me to participate in their "elite" chinese-english interpretation classes, I'll write a post about the whole experience in the "to be or not to be a chinese translator" thread soon), and I find that everyone is pretty much talking to me in chinese 24/7. To the point where I'm trying to think up ways of making them talk to me in english or french because it feels too selfish to talk in chinese all the time : remember those are all interpreting students!

 

On the other hand, I sometimes have the hardest time getting random chinese people in the street, especially people working in service positions to speak chinese with me. By that I mean speak chinese "naturally" : a lot of them can't speak english anyway but the look of mild panic and annoyance on their face before I even start to talk is really grating, and we usually have some really stilted and short interactions afterwards. Some of them just refuse to switch from their terrible english and don't even seem to aknowledge that I'm reponding to them in chinese (at the beginning, because I usually give up on those people pretty quickly...)

 

It feels to me that the better they think your chinese is, the easier it is to talk with them : if they assume your chinese is bad they'll just close up and start mumbling to themselves instead of trying to be clear. At that point I usually get somewhat nervous too and start to stumble...

 

edit : ha literally an hour after this post I went to eat at the blcu cafeteria, and a girl asked to sit in front of me (she didn't even have a plate or anything so I knew right away what she was up to); contrary to you grawrt she started talking to me in english from the start though. After a bit of small talk she asked me where I was from, I said France, and her very next question was "So do you speak english all the time?" I became a bit dismissive after that...

 

edit 2 @ grawrt : By the way what type of language exchange event did you go to, is it only for language exchanges between chinese students and foreigners? I'd like to find some partners to study spanish, german or russian....

[Lu]

I guess every language exchange partner is different. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was older than the normal age range, or that he was an engineering major?

That's mainly the thing. I don't think it has much to do with age, sex or major. It can help to find a language partner whose English (or whatever exchange language) is worse than your Chinese, then Chinese becomes the default. Or to find someone who actually isn't that interested in language and doesn't mind chatting in Chinese and basically being friends. But while looking for language exchange, basically as you noticed it's best to know what you want, tell the other person upfront, and then be strict about it.

[hedwards]

@imron, I think that depends where you're located. For a bit in Hainan I had an English school shirt that they wanted me to wear and in retrospect that was rather humiliating. Not because of the shirt, but because they had me wear it after they'd told the recruiter they were firing me.

 

As far as wearing it goes, I don't think that one would need to wear it for very long to get the full use out of it. It's pretty much just for the early bit to prevent a new learner from pretending like they don't know any Chinese. Once one has had a few encounters, and probably a few where it doesn't go well, the shirt becomes unnecessary.