# How Do People in Your Culture Correct Language Mistakes?



## palomnik

This is a topic that I find curious, not least of all because it comes up constantly when you're learning a foreign language.

In some cultures, it is unusual to constantly interrupt a foreigner who is making mistakes in speaking; in general, Anglo-Saxon cultures tend to be like this, and the general attitude is that over-correcting during a conversation is counterproductive to communication, as well frustrating to the speaker and downright rude. Hispanics, in my experience, are somewhat similar, not normally interrupting unless they see you're not making any sense.

Among Russians, on the other hand, it is normal to correct pretty nearly any mistake as soon as it comes up, it being assumed that you're interested in learning correct usage, aren't you? Germans, in my experience, tend to be somewhat similar to Russians (unless they just answer you in English, which I find frustrating). French tend to take more of a middle ground, apparently feeling that there is a limit dictated by good taste to interrupting the conversation.

As for most non-European languages, the shock value of meeting a European who speaks the language usually trumps any tendency to correct, unless you're talking with a pedant, although I've met Arabs who will correct - usually in terms of vocabulary, though, not grammar, for some reason.

What are your impressions? What's it like where you live? Do you like to be corrected, or do you resent it?


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## divisortheory

Japanese never correct you *ever*, for fear of embarassing you, even if you ask to be corrected.


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## Flaminius

I have been criticised for not correcting but I'd expect anyone to feel quite embarrassed if he is corrected for 10 or so mistakes in a sentence.  If his vocabulary selection happens to be alright, one or two postpositions are wrong.  If not, modal particles are wrong.  If not, honorific expression are.  If not, he uses too many subjects.   If not, there is simply no such expression in Japanese.

Many of the mistakes I notice are as grave or trivial as the next one, so if I am to correct, I'd have to correct everything.  I am glad to do so in written communication but it is simply impossible in oral communication.  Then, I start wondering if the language is better off to be liberated from those minute rules that no-one seems to enjoy following.


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## alexacohen

Spanish don't usually correct language mistakes when in conversation, with two exceptions:
- when the person says inadvertently something really rude
- when the person is a friend (Matthew! you're a man, stop saying "estoy cansada", it's "cansado" with an "o")


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## ireney

In general only major mistakes that alter the meaning are corrected (although I am obviously speaking about only the majority of the Greeks here, not all) and others, major or not are left uncorrected. Something that I do myself and have noticed many also doing when it comes to major mistakes that we don't want to correct right away is find a plausible reason to use the same expression ourselves correctly (Think for example of someone saying " Je pensez X blah blah blah" and the other one replying "Moi, je pense Y"). Not very subtle in my example and quite often in real life but not as direct as correcting on the spot as it were.


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## palomnik

Hmm...kind of what I suspected.

What made me interested in this is that my wife is Russian...and she insists that whenever she makes a mistake in English, that I correct her immediately and in no uncertain terms.

At first I thought this was just an eccentricity on her part, based on an admirable desire to learn things properly.  But I gradually noticed that she would do the same with me when I spoke Russian, regardless of whether we're alone or in a room full of (Russian speaking) strangers.  When I told her that I found this embarrassing, and I wished that she would save her corrections for later unless I said something really stupid or unintelligible, she accused me of being too thin-skinned and not really interested in improving my speaking ability.

After a while I realized that she was not eccentric; most Russians I've met actually feel the same way she does, and they don't see anything embarrassing in providing constant correction.


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## JamesM

This is just my impression, but I think that English speakers here who speak another language do not correct someone in conversation as much as monolingual people, and I think people who live in an urban environment are more accepting of however the sentence comes out than those who live in isolated or rural settings. In other words, the urbanites and multi-linguals seem to have more tolerance for mistakes if the communication is still fairly clear. 

In Los Angeles, we are likely to hear many languages and many accents in the course of a day. I work with people from Cambodia, The Philippines, Thailand, China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Lebanon, Iran, Mexico, Guatemala, Armenia, India, Russia, and Columbia, and this is just in my particular office setting. I don't even work with the general public. Anyone expecting that everyone speak "without an accent" or in perfectly formed English would be asking for a lot of daily frustration. 

People who have had little or no exposure to other languages don't seem to have a lot of tolerance for either grammatical errors or thick accents. Unfortunately, some of the corrections they provide are not very good English, either. However, if you follow them you will sound more like a "local". 

If we are asked to correct someone's English, I think we tend to wait until they're done and then offer suggestions.


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## kirsitn

To me it seems like a weird idea to not correct someone who wants to be corrected. The only way to learn to speak a foreign language properly is by getting feedback when you make mistakes.


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## ayupshiplad

JamesM said:


> This is just my impression, but I think that English speakers here who speak another language do not correct someone in conversation as much as monolingual people


 
How well put 

Normally, if I'm friends with a foreigner learning English, I'll ask if they want to be corrected, and if they do, what they want to be corrected on (if nothing makes sense, a repeated error, or every single mistake). The more languages you speak, the more accutely aware you are of how embarrassing it can be to constantly be corrected, especially in public. 

In my experience, German's correct everything. It can be quiet frustrating. Italians and the Portuguese on the other hand tend to be so utterly delighted that you can speak even a little bit of their language that they go into overdrive and begin to natter away to you as if you're going to understand everything, and all you can do is just nod along! It's nice though, at least they don't patronise you like a lot of German's do by just answering you in English.


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## LaReinita

I think that many English speakers are so used to foreigners speaking English, but not perfectly that we won't correct unless they are not understandable or they insist on being corrected.



alexacohen said:


> Spanish don't usually correct language mistakes when in conversation, with two exceptions:
> - when the person says inadvertently something really rude
> - when the person is a friend (Matthew! you're a man, stop saying "estoy cansada", it's "cansado" with an "o")


 
Yes, this is a very good basis for correction, Alexa. 

In languages with gender based adjectives . . corrections MUST be made!!!

Oh . .and of course if someone is unintentionally saying something rude!!!


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## Paulfromitaly

I think that correcting a foreigner is not only a matter of national disposition, but also of personal attitude, therefore I can tell you what Paul usually does, not what Italians usually do, although I'm a quite typical Italian in this regard.
Since I'm conscious that speaking Italian is not easy and Italian is unlikely to be the language foreigners studied at school like we do with English, I tend not to correct the person I'm talking to unless they are mates who expressly asked me to do so.
If their Italian is so poor that it's hardly possible to have a proper conversation, I reply in English: that means "no more Italian, please!".


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## Tajabone

The French way can be harsh to foreigners.

I was once a witness to a curious scene in Paris where a baker (a 40/50 years lady) rudely corrected a young Italian woman for mixing up an expression: couper/découper le pain (two variations for _slicing the bread_).

I have both seen that with caretakers and "cultural agents" (working in Art galleries, etc.)

An up-to-the-minute news: French TV administration (a governmental institution called *CSA*) is discussing how to pronounce the month "Août" (August). Actually, there are four different ways but the state is  now taking it seriously


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## karuna

I think it is *rude not *to correct people when they make mistakes. Latvians are more reserved than Russians by mostly we follow the same principle. Of course, it is not much use to correct a speaker who is obviously a beginner and makes 10 mistakes in each sentence. But otherwise if a person is able to hold a decent conversation and makes a mistake here and there, it should be immediately corrected. Why? Because it shows that I care about my interlocutor. He may not realize he is making a funny mistake and if he is not corrected and continues to speak like that, other people may not be so gentle and will not respect him or even laugh at him. 

It doesn't apply only to foreigners but to natives as well. Some people may have come from another region and speak a dialect or simply may not be aware that a certain situation requires different register, so they are corrected in the same way. It is completely normal for subordinates to correct even their bosses at public meetings.

Does the constant correcting disturbs the conversation? Maybe a little. But it can be a very natural part of the conversation. It is practically the same thing if you are speaking with someone and you make a mistake in pronouncing a personal name or some fact or number. Naturally you would be glad if you were corrected. 

Also correcting others can be necessary in order not to fall under the influence of bad speakers. It is natural that after some time you start imitate speech patterns of your interlocutor even if you know that they are not correct. The only way to avoid this is to take an active role and correct them for the benefit of both speakers. 

This difference in mentality also influences language learning patterns. Russian is difficult at start but once you get to the colloquial level you can easily progress to advanced level as the environment becomes your classroom. In English it is the opposite – you can easily go up to the basic level but then going forward will be difficult because only rare person tries to correct you.


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## Solbrillante

This obviously is a very culturally sensitive subject.  I agree with some of the previous comments made regarding those of us from the USA.  We hear our language spoken with so many different dialects here, within our own country, not only because we are a mosaic of so many cultures, but also just due to our vast, geographical settings.  When I moved simply 220 miles north from Illinois to Wisconsin, you would have thought I came from another planet.  Not only my accent but my choice of words were many the topic of conversation.  i just think that we accept the language spoken all kinds of different ways and not everyone is looking for an English lesson.  I guess I feel bad enough that more than half the world speaks my language...I surely could not expect them to speak it perfectly.


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## MAVERIK

I guess that correcting someone who is talking to you or to someone else using a foreign language is not completely  correct  but is not incorrect  either unless the conversation can't make any sense . I know  well that  Italian , for example , is not studied all over the world , and it is difficult to try speaking with all grammar rules we have and our so many   accents. I personally prefer someone to correct me when I speak English but we are not the same at all .


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## estrellafugaz

I first studied Spanish in Mexico and was almost a little irritated when I found that my Mexican friends wouldn't correct me ever. I asked them to, but the way I see it now, people from Latinamerica and Spain focus more on what you're saying than how you're saying it - as long as they get what you're trying to say, they won't fuss about mistakes.

I am exactly like the Germans some of you have mentioned, and I know that it is impolite, but everytime somebody would say something incorrect it just draws my attention to it... every little thing that is wrong... it's like a bright light popping up in my head at every false word or expression. I am more fussy about language mistakes than my fellow Austrians, though - and I also correct them all the time when they say or write something wrong in German (or sometimes even in English). It's actually a little funny because I have been studying foreign languages for some years now and should know that it is frustrating and impolite to correct them all the time. I am making an effort, trying not to correct all the time and to be patient with non-native speakers - but even if I don't correct all the time, the light in my head still pops up! 

I consider it okay to point a mistake that is made frequently out to my friends who are learning German, otherwise they will never improve. Often, people just use wrong expressions and since nobody tells them they use them all the time, embarrassing themselves _a little_ (really depends on how sensitive the person they are speaking to is about language mistakes!) and never getting it right. I was so glad when one of my friends in Mexico eventually told me that I had been saying something specific wrong all the time. It's not much use to point out every tiny mistake but speaking to somebody for some time you notice mistakes they make frequently and, yes, I think it's good to point those out.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

In Spain we don't correct foreigners unless they are family or very close friends and even in these cases it is considered rude  to do it in public. I don't suppose my wife correcting me anywhere but I would appreciate it if she does it at home but not constantly interrupting the conversation.
We expect that foreigners don't speak a good Spanish, so in general terms we make a big effort to understand them or at least bigger than in other countries according to my own experience and as estrellafugaz pointed , what is important for us is what people say not how they say it.
You can say "¿qué hora salir tren por madrid?" and people will not correct you but they will help you with the information you need.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Tajabone said:


> The French way can be harsh to foreigners.
> 
> I was once a witness to a curious scene in Paris where a baker (a 40/50 years lady) rudely corrected a young Italian woman for mixing up an expression: couper/découper le pain (two variations for _slicing the bread_). [...]


You met an uneducated and rude person at the bakery. I'm afraid the world is full of them, everywhere... 
I, and most of my French friends always want to be corrected when we speak (or write!) English, and we are somehow disappointed when they don't even think of correcting us (even if we ask them)... The point is I tend to believe I just said something in a perfect English if they don't say anything. But it's rarely the case.


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## samanthalee

In Singapore, we never correct foreigners because we have an inferior complex when it comes to languages. We know we'll never be as good in Mandarin as the native Chinese speakers from China and we'll never be as good in English as the native English speakers from America, UK, Australia...


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## Chaska Ñawi

Here it depends on the proficiency of the learner and the main purpose of the conversation.  If communication of an idea is important, corrections only will be offered to further the communication .... for example, "Oh, now I understand!  The word you want is "peanuts", not "penis".

If the conversation is more open, or is to help the learner master oral English, more corrections will be offered.

In Bolivia only good friends corrected my Spanish.  My Quechua is so primitive that people would occasionally correct my nouns but not even bother with my syntax.


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## karuna

Actually it is interesting to learn that in many countries foreigners are expected to speak imperfect language and, to close the cycle, it is made sure that will continue speaking with mistakes by not correcting them. 

At some point when at your present level you are able to communicate easily in all practical situation, the motivation, to spend more time in classroom to further improve your language, disappears. Then you can learn most effectively through interaction with native speakers but if they never ever correct your mistakes, how can you improve? Or at least the progress will be rather slow. I think now I know where the preconception that you can never speak like a native comes (accent aside). I personally feel much more embarrassed to discover at the end of the day that I have been speaking some words or phrases incorrectly all the time than when I am corrected directly. Of course, I can't demand from people to correct me if they are unwilling to do it but those who correct me will be respected. 

I wish you all to try to learn Russian and experience this spirit of camaraderie in your language studies that seems to be nonexistent in other cultures.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

I think one of the reasons why we don't use to correct foreigners in Spain is because Spaniards as a whole have a poor command of foreign languages (with exceptions, of course) and many of us are satisfied with a little knowledge of, say English, so we expect the same from foreign people with our language.
Apart from this reason I'd also say that aside from family and very close friends it's considered rude to correct others in our own language so we do the same with foreign speakers.


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## estrellafugaz

Seriously karuna, I think you're being too harsh here. It has nothing to do with _"making sure that they will continue speaking with mistakes by not correcting them"_! I find the idea of focusing way more on what is said than the way it is said refreshing, even though I myself am unable to do it so far.

Personally, sometimes oral corrections don't even help me improve a lot. I am very much a ... actually, I have no idea how you say this in English  but I am an "visual" type, not an "acoustic" and by that I mean that if you tell me a word I didn't know, you can tell me about 4 or 5 times until I will actually memorize it and to do that I'll need for you to say it very slowly and tell me the spelling so I can visualize it. However, if you e-mail me the word I was looking for or write it down I'll probably remember it after the first time.

All that just to say that I don't think oral corrections are always a way of improving people. I myself can focus pretty well on how native speakers say things so I just pick up the expressions they use and notice at times that they say things differently than how I would have said them, so I question them about the way I would have said it or just pick up their way of saying it.

I know I'm contradicting myself a little here, but I hope you still understand what I mean.


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## TraductoraPobleSec

PABLO DE SOTO said:


> I think one of the reasons why we don't use to correct foreigners in Spain is because Spaniards as a whole have a poor command of foreign languages (with exceptions, of course) and many of us are satisfied with a little knowledge of, say English, so we expect the same from foreign people with our language.
> Apart from this reason I'd also say that aside from family and very close friends it's considered rude to correct others in our own language so we do the same with foreign speakers.


 
I don't agree with you, dear Pablo (for one in my life!): I believe people do not get offended if you correct them as long as you do it politely and with a smile... Positive feedback is also very helpful; that is, to say things such as "you're doing great" or "you're really improving" when you see that that person is making his or her best effort.

Best regards to Andalusia


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## tradict

Hi:
I believe that if you do it politelly, it is o.k. to correct someone. It might help them to learn the other language better and faster. I do it with my friends and family who don´t speak English very well and they always thank me.
I would like someone correcting my mistakes!


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## Outsider

karuna said:


> Actually it is interesting to learn that in many countries foreigners are expected to speak imperfect language and, to close the cycle, it is made sure that will continue speaking with mistakes by not correcting them.


You speak as though that were intentional. It isn't. Some people simply think it's rude to interrupt others to correct their grammar. Especially if you do it all the time. It's a question of politeness.


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## karuna

Outsider said:


> You speak as though that were intentional. It isn't. Some people simply think it's rude to interrupt others to correct their grammar. Especially if you do it all the time. It's a question of politeness.



I don't mean that it is intentional. It is just the consequences of the different cultural understanding what it means to be polite in linguistic matters. In this case I see that  it stands in the way of the language learning of foreigners and reinforces the idea of 'us' versus 'them'. Besides if people are so polite that they even think that correcting someone's incorrect grammar is not acceptable why then we hear so many complaints about the same foreigners who behave inappropriately in their country and about immigrants who do not wish to learn the local language? 

From the Russian point of view, these immigrants never have a chance because even though the locals are polite with them, they never consider them good enough to establish close friendship. And in the true friendship all the linguistic details and nuances count. If you are unable to tell the joke with the same effectiveness in the company, then the spirit of your conversation will always be lacking. I not blaming anyone, just exploring how different cultural mentalities impact linguistic proficiency of non-native speakers.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

TraductoraPobleSec said:


> I don't agree with you, dear Pablo (for one in my life!): I believe people do not get offended if you correct them as long as you do it politely and with a smile... Positive feedback is also very helpful; that is, to say things such as "you're doing great" or "you're really improving" when you see that that person is making his or her best effort.
> 
> Best regards to Andalusia


 
Maybe there is a difference between Catalans and the rest of us.
You are in a bilingual environment and this can have an influence on this matter, because you are more concerned about good use of languages.
Of course doing it politely is much better.


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## Outsider

karuna said:


> Besides if people are so polite that they even think that correcting someone's incorrect grammar is not acceptable why then we hear so many complaints about the same foreigners who behave inappropriately in their country and about immigrants who do not wish to learn the local language?


Those are three different things, aren't they?


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## palomnik

Karuna, I particularly appreciate your comments on this, despite the criticism you've had to take from certain quarters.

Personally, I think this particular phenomenon is a symptom of deeper cultural preoccupations about what is considered proper behavior around strangers, although there are some other factors involved, such as the cachet attached to "proper" speech in some cultures and the way that self esteem comes into play regarding correcting other people - and being corrected by other people - in a given culture.


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## TraductoraPobleSec

PABLO DE SOTO said:


> Maybe there is a difference between catalans and the rest of us.
> You are in a bilingual environment and this can have an influence on this matter, because you are more concerned about good use of languages.
> Of course doing it politely is much better.


 
Maybe you're right; I never thought this could be just in Catalonia. To tell you the truth, we Catalans keep on correcting each other all the time, but, as I said, using good manners most of the time ("de buen rollo", as we say in Spain!)


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## Solbrillante

palomnik said:


> Karuna, I particularly appreciate your comments on this, despite the criticism you've had to take from certain quarters.
> 
> Personally, I think this particular phenomenon is a symptom of deeper cultural preoccupations about what is considered proper behavior around strangers,
> 
> Unfortunately in my particular case, this is not an accurate statement.  I have a very close friend who is Korean, I, unfortunately, do not speak Korean.  When I first met her, she had lived in the US for 10 years, her spoken English was minimal at best.  In the 6 years that I have known her and become close to her, she has improved 10 fold.  To this very day, I do not correct her on little mistakes made during the course of normal day to day conversation.  If she would happen to say something that could be misconstrued or taken out of context, then I would step in.  The only exception would be if we were with a group of people who she is not very comfortable with, only then do I become her language coach.


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## DrWatson

Obviously I can't speak for the entire Finnish population, but I'll share my experiences with you. I'd be simply astonished if I met a person from abroad who spoke Finnish with no mistakes. In my opinion Finns are aware that our language is difficult to learn and master, so some errors in speech wouldn't matter, as long as the person was comprehensible.

I just met an Australian girl sometime ago, and to my astonishment she spoke Finnish. Her accent sounded English, of course, and she made some mistakes in her speech, but I was mainly surprised. I didn't feel the need to start correcting her.

I think that the level, on which one would start correcting another, depends on the closeness of the relationship. One of my teachers was Algerian, and I noticed I was correcting his mistakes quite frequently. Not so much, however, that I'd have interrupted him all the time. And it's partly because he said he wanted his mistakes to be corrected, since he was studying Finnish. I wouldn't correct strangers, except in a case of a really serious error, because I wouldn't know how much the person had studied Finnish and... well, it feels kind of rude to interrupt people. But that's just me.


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## ayupshiplad

estrellafugaz said:


> Personally, sometimes oral corrections don't even help me improve a lot. I am very much a ... actually, I have no idea how you say this in English  but I am an "visual" type, not an "acoustic" and by that I mean that if you tell me a word I didn't know, you can tell me about 4 or 5 times until I will actually memorize it and to do that I'll need for you to say it very slowly and tell me the spelling so I can visualize it. However, if you e-mail me the word I was looking for or write it down I'll probably remember it after the first time.


 
That is exactly how I feel! I was staying with an Austrian friend last summer and she'd tell me a word in German but until she wrote it down I wouldn't remember it unless she told me about 5 times. I'm glad someone else is the same!


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## charlerina ballerina

My boyfriend is of Peruvian decent, in Spain. He never EVER corrects me which is infuriating... the closest he comes  to it is to mumble a re-arranged sentence under his breath as his brain computes my intended meaning!!! I desperately want to be corrected, so I can eventually communicate with Spaniards other than him!!! He has frustratingly learned to understand my 'espanglish' perfectly. I am thinking of suggesting a 'game' called 'correct every thing I say in the next 30 mins'... maybe this would help! 

I would like to add that my boyfriend (who never corrects me) would have a slightly different agenda with regard to conversation; he solely aspires to communicate with me, to understand for that moment, what it is I am saying. I, on the other hand need to learn and wish to be corrected. An interesting point on a similar topic is that he knows a few words in English (mainly nouns) and he ALWAYS uses the English, thinking he is helping. But actually it took me 3 months to learn the Spanish for knife and fork!


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## karuna

So that some foreros don't get the wrong idea I think I should add that by correcting language mistakes I don't mean that other people should become your teachers and teach you how to speak the language. This would be definitely too much bother and the native speakers are not always the best teachers either. But once you have struggled on your own and can speak the language quite well and you know practically everything about the grammar and vocabulary, there is a point when the input from the native speakers becomes invaluable. By continuing to use the wrong form again and again, it only becomes harder to learn the correct way. Bad habits are hard to get rid of, so it is really important to correct them as soon as possible. 

For example, once I tried to say in Russian "утро вечера мудрее" (morning is wiser than evening). I was immediately corrected, "утро вечера мудр*енн*ее". My first version was technically correct but did not have the necessary impact because that's not how Russians say it. And despite that sometimes it is hard to remember things when you are engaged in the conversation, they tend to stick to you after some time. Just swallow your pride and go on even if you make the same mistake the next moment (I usually do). Later you will surely remember these details and think that "утро вечера мудрее" indeed doesn't sound right and you have always wanted to say "утро вечера мудреннее".


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## Solbrillante

Hello, Karuna, I agree with you that "input from the native speakers becomes invaluable" I, myself, love the input of native Spanish speakers. I guess it's just hard to get past the feeling that it is rude to correct someone during conversation. It's just that  the fear of offending someone is greater than the desire to correct them.  If I were to correct someone on their language errors during conversation (no matter how intimate of a relationship I might have with them) it would leave me feeling bad about myself, like I was trying to show that I was superior to them.  Maybe this is just me, and not my culture speaking.


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## ayupshiplad

Solbrillante said:


> If I were to correct someone on their language errors during conversation (no matter how intimate of a relationship I might have with them) it would leave me feeling bad about myself, like I was trying to show that I was superior to them. Maybe this is just me, and not my culture speaking.


 
I'm exactly the same...I always say 'sorry!' after I correct someone.

Coincidentally, one of the guys at work today said "You never correct me even though I have a very wrong English. Thank you." So maybe not everyone wants to be corrected!


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## Macunaíma

I wouldn't correct anybody's mistakes unless they had asked me to. Sometimes it can be more of a nuisance than a help. I think commenting on somebody's every other sentence will only make them feel less confident and enthusiastic. For me, language is all about communication and I tend not to care about minor mistakes. I would be a terrible teacher for an eager Portuguese learner, but a supportive friend, I guess, that would never let them give up.


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## Macunaíma

ayupshiplad said:


> Coincidentally, one of the guys at work today said "You never correct me even though I have a very wrong English. Thank you." So maybe not everyone wants to be corrected!


 
Probably he was thanking you for concentrating on _what _he was saying rather than _how _he was saying it. It should be quite annoying being corrected all the time. Having a break while talking to you should have been a relief to him.


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## heidita

I thought it rather interesting to find a post like this the other day:



> I am so sorry if you got hard time reading and understanding the meaning
> but, may be it is because you don't know enough English because when
> I speak with the people in the streets they understand me perfectly well.


 
A newcomer took a correction not too well. 

But is this his fault? His English is no proficient by far but he thinks it is. Why shouldn't he, really, if you think about it. As , as he very well claims, listen, everybody _understands_ me pretty well, so if _you_ have difficulty understanding, it must be _your_ fault!

Should the people correct this person more? I find that people do not take corrections very well in general and that's why people do not correct them. We can even see this on this board. So, then, how can a person improve his language knowledge if he is not corrected?


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## tpettit

Here in France, I think people have quite a rude way of correcting you, or not correcting you at all. Which proves the "arrogant Frenchman" stereotype to be quite true. But I've only witnessed that behavior when French people are in groups. I don't make any mistakes myself, being French, but when a foreigner does, nobody corrects him: they just turn to each other and *smile to each other*, leaving the french learner knowing he made a mistake and feeling retarded.
In the United States, people won't correct you, they'll just look at you with a confused look until you somehow figure out what mistake(s) you did. Or they'll just repeat the question they asked you.
Spaniards will correct you right away when you try to speak Spanish.


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## KaRiNe_Fr

tpettit said:


> Here in France, I think people have quite a rude way of correcting you, or not correcting you at all. Which proves the "arrogant Frenchman" stereotype to be quite true. But I've only witnessed that behavior when French people are in groups. I don't make any mistakes myself, being French, but when a foreigner does, nobody corrects him: they just turn to each other and *smile to each other*, leaving the french learner knowing he made a mistake and feeling retarded. [...]


This proves, rather than the "arrogant Frenchman stereotype" you participate to propagate, that we don't associate with the same groups. I tend to correct every big mistakes and explain why to everyone who asks (or seems to ask) me so.


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## Jocaste

tpettit said:


> Here in France, I think people have quite a rude way of correcting you, or not correcting you at all. Which proves the "arrogant Frenchman" stereotype to be quite true. But I've only witnessed that behavior when French people are in groups. I don't make any mistakes myself, being French, but when a foreigner does, nobody corrects him: they just turn to each other and *smile to each other*, leaving the french learner knowing he made a mistake and feeling retarded.


I don't know where you live in France tpettit, but it seems to be an unhospitable place. I find you very harsh with French people.
I live in the south of France, and here when a foreigner makes a mistake, we do not keep silence and then smile in a mocking face. To the contrary ! This attitude you're discribing is very impolite and nasty, and not really representative of the majority of the French. Just a little part of guys who are glad to show themself superior because of their knowledge of their mother-tongue. Funny, isn't it ?
So, it really depends on which region of France you're talking about.


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## ayupshiplad

I don't particularly like speaking French with French people unless they are my friends, as from a lot of my experiences, you are regarded as a cretin if you make even a difficult mistake.*

That said, I had dinner at with a French family last summer, and at one point I remember saying something like: "Je veux parler courament le français avant que j'aille à la fac". Even though now I know I should have said "avant d'aller à la fac", my host congratulated me on my knowledge of the subjunctive! 

*I'm not sure if this is a universal phenomonon, but with all my foreign languages, I'm fine having a conversation with people about proper things, but when it comes to going into a shop and asking for something, I'm not rubbish, but I'm hardly competant. Maybe this is why I feel the French rudely correct me, as I mostly just speak to French people in shops who'll think I'm just another silly tourist!


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## LaurentK

I wanted to react to tepettit comments, which leave me flabbergasted, but I let it by. Long live to the CD forum. PMs are welcome.

I love my English to be corrected and I always ask for more, but I almost never get any help. My English-speaking friends probably think that it would be impolite or patronizing.

If it not asked before, I never correct anybody except my children and my Irish wife who actually doesn't want me to .


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## notdominique

karuna said:


> Of course, it is not much use to correct a speaker who is obviously a beginner and makes 10 mistakes in each sentence. But otherwise if a person is able to hold a decent conversation and makes a mistake here and there, it should be immediately corrected. Why? Because it shows that I care about my interlocutor.


 
Hello,

It's a pity I am not learning Russian ! My English speaking friends disappoint me a great deal, as they would not correct me though I beg them. I feel that they don't care (as Karuna puts it) about my wish, which is not only to make myself understood but to improve my English. I am aware it's a delicate matter, as a sentence may sound very clumsy, even without being positively incorrect.

Of course, there are other ways to learn : listening to what other people say, reading books, visiting WR forums...

By the way, it strikes me that corrections are very seldom offered in the forums - almost never-, though some people ask. I wonder why. Is it against the rules ? Do we fear to appear prig or tactless ? Of course it should not be private tuition. But _some _corrections could help a lot. 

Well, if anyone is in a correcting mood today, please do not refrain !


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## Etcetera

palomnik said:


> Among Russians, on the other hand, it is normal to correct pretty nearly any mistake as soon as it comes up, it being assumed that you're interested in learning correct usage, aren't you?


My experience is that people in my country generally don't haste to correct a foreigner - unless the foreigner has asked them to do it. I, for one, will never correct a foreigner unless I have their permission to correct them. 

As for correcting your own compatriots when they make mistakes - it really depends on the situation and your relationships with the person. I never mind friends and relatives correcting my stresses, for example.


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## eujin

I'd like to ask the forum users what their experiences and thoughts are regarding how native speakers treat people who speak foreign languages and their varying attempts or non-attempts to speak the native language.

In Denmark (in Copenhagen) I have often experienced random people in the street coming up to me and asking me questions in English. Not just tourists asking for help, but for very "native" things like fill in a petition, interview for a radio programme, would you like to buy such and such or some such similar. Most Danish people must not mind this otherwise these people wouldn't do it so unashamedly.

I once tried checking in to a Youth Hostel in Copenhagen in English but got in to some trouble when I put my nationality down as Danish (I am Danish). So maybe it is OK to speak English if you're not Danish and can't speak Danish but not OK to speak English if you are Danish and can speak Danish. (I guess my perverse sense of humour was not appreciated - fair enough.)

In countries like the Netherlands if you try to speak Dutch to someone (badly) they will often reply in English. But I have never experienced anyone in France try to speak English to me if I try to speak French to them (ha, its because I'm so good at French)

In English speaking countries I've often seen native speakers getting very angry with non-native speakers who cannot speak fluent English. It's often people like bus drivers who have this problem. Once in New Zealand, I was participating in a disaster relief exercise and we ran an imaginary scenario where an imaginary Japanese woman needed help but spoke no English. One of the participants in the exercise launched into a tirade against people who come to a country and do not try to learn any of the native language. I was quite cross with him and asked him how much Japanese he spoke, to which he replied "I've never been to Japan". I was amazed at how angry he got about an imaginary person that we were supposed to be trying to help.

In Korea, people will come up to me and start a conversation with me in English just because I am European. They assume that because I'm European, I must speak English. Fortunately I do, but there must be Europeans in Korea who speak little English and this must cause lots of confusion on both sides.


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## eujin

the best thing I ever experienced was a take-away restaurant in Cairo which was run by deaf people. No need to speak Arabic, no need to speak English, just point to the menu for what you want.

I guess I could've tried to sign .


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## patman0623

I think it depends on the country and a whole factor of things. How proud is the country of their heritage? France is very proud, and especially unhappy about American influence, so them not speaking English is unsurprising. In the United States, who are also quite proud, you may or may not get the same attitude if trying in Spanish, depending on the part of the country and who you ask.

Other countries strive to learn English because it's the lingua-franca of the world. Korea is an interesting example, because the hunger in Korea to learn English is insatiable (in fact, they've run out of teachers). Similar things can be found in China.

In the Dutch-German speaking countries, they're happy to speak to you in English _because they already speak English anyway_; they learn it early in school. I would be willing to bet Spanish and Portuguese countries would be pretty luke-warm either way to a reception of a foreign speaker.


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## Drechuin

patman0623 said:


> I think it depends on the country and a whole factor of things. How proud is the country of their heritage? France is very proud, and especially unhappy about American influence, so them not speaking English is unsurprising. In the United States, who are also quite proud, you may or may not get the same attitude if trying in Spanish, depending on the part of the country and who you ask.



For France (and it may be applied to English-speaking countries), it's not only a question of pride. 
Everything is translated in French, the movies and TV series are almost all dubbed, so we have very few contacts with English except in school and with real foreigners. In countries like Denmark, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that subbed movies/series are more common, so English will be more familiar.

Of course, you can argue that the fact the movies are dubbed is caused by the pride of the language. I won't argue with you.


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## PABLO DE SOTO

I think in Spain, unless very touristic areas or places where tourists are usual as hotels or restaurants, people do not feel very happy if you start a conversation in English or any other language.
It is not expected that every Spaniard can understand or speak English as you can expect in other countries like Sweden or Holland, where you can address in English to someone in the street  and you will be understood.


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## Kangy

PABLO DE SOTO said:


> I think in Spain, unless very touristic areas or places where tourists are usual as hotels or restaurants, people do not feel very happy if you start a conversation in English or any other language.
> It is not expected that every Spaniard can understand or speak English as you can expect in other countries like Sweden or Holland, where you can address in English to someone in the street  and you will be understood.



It's quite the same in Argentina, really.


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## ivanovic77

I guess it depends on how large a particular country is, and on the amount of speakers its official language has. French and Spanish speakers are not as prone to addressing a foreigner in English as Dutch or Danish people, since French and Spanish languages are widely spoken all over the world. However, Holland and Denmark are actually small countries whose languages are much less spoken, and people in there are deeply concerned about the extreme importance of learning foreign languages in order to communicate properly with people from outside.

The same happens in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. People who want to learn Catalan have serious problems when trying to put into practice their Catalan skills in the street, since Catalan-speakers automatically address them in Spanish as soon as they realize that they are not native speakers.

It seems that when your language is less spoken, you are more prone to giving it up when talking to a foreigner. Which is sad.


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## Lingvisten

It's not the amount of speakers of the language that makes the difference, but rather the attitude towards ones own language. My Wife once worked at a gas station in Denmark, and several times she had customers, who where french speaking tourists, and who was stunned that she couldn't speak french. It seems to me, that this attitude towards languages is most common in the old powefull states in europe, such as: England, France, Spain and Germany (some more, some less). England is of course in the position, that their language is considered the lingua-franca of the world, and Germans, more often than French and Spaniards, tend to speak English. 
If you look at India, China and Japan (contries with alot more inhabitants than France), most of the population wants to speak english, rather than their one language (even though many of them aren't capable of that) when speaking to foreigners.

Danes (as I) are equally bad, but in the sense, that they expect everybody outside of Denmark, to speak English. I was flying home from Krakow the other day, with my mother-in-law. The plane was moved to an airport in Katowice, and we where transfered with bus. everything went pretty smoothly, but my mother-in-law was furious, that she didn't get any proper information in English (and she doesn't even speak it).


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## ivanovic77

Lingvisten said:


> It's not the amount of speakers of the language that makes the difference, but rather the attitude towards ones own language.


 
The attitude towards your own language is strongly determined by the history of your country and the number of speakers your language has. Obviously, countries with a colonial past which were once a powerful empire tend to be more self-important and proud of their language and culture. But national pride, amount of speakers and a past of imperial splendor are factors closely related, and perhaps different sides of the same coin. Your language is widely spoken in the world because your nation was once a powerful empire and vice versa.



> If you look at India, China and Japan (contries with alot more inhabitants than France), most of the population wants to speak english, rather than their one language (even though many of them aren't capable of that) when speaking to foreigners.


 
I'm not sure about China and Japan, but India is not a good example. In India, English has the status of a subsidiary official language and it is extensively used in business and administration. It is in fact a linguistic tool for the administrative cohesion of the country.


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## yannalan

When in another country, for tourism, I try to learn language basis. That helps. In Flanders and the Netherlands, I try to speak dutch, and most of people answer in dutch(if they try english, I tell them I don't speak english, quite simple !")
In Denmark, I went twice to a bank office in a littel town : first time, I spoke german , I got my money at once. Second time, I was able to ask in danish, the lady checked my passport for half an hour....
In some countries, it helps speak a bit of the language if you travel outside of big towns. And generally people are pleased.
Here, in Brittany,France, there is a lot of english people buying houses and living here. With them :
--if they try to say some words in french, after one or two minutes, I answer in english
-- If they come to me directly in english, I "do'nt understand anything"
You can't live in a country without learning a bit of the language.


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## Grosvenor1

In Turkey, there is relatively poor knowledge of foreign languages, even English. It is sometimes possible to pick up a xenophobic vibe, people being expected to know at least some Turkish and ignored if they don't. This sometimes mixes into a thinly-concealed resentment of foreign tourists on the part of some Turks. A rather shrill chauvinism current at the moment in the country also does not help.

Having said that, people want to learn English - some are clearly more successful than others, or are better taught.


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## eujin

Your story from Denmark is interesting yannalan. I sometimes wonder if people aren't better off speaking no Danish at all in Denmark than speaking some Danish. Most Danes probably like to show off how well they speak English or German and people who speak more than just a couple of words of Danish tend not to be tourists.

I've heard of people being lambasted for speaking English in the French part of Switzerland, but I've never heard of the same thing happening in the German speaking part. Based on this anecdotal evidence I would argue that attitudes are more a function of language than nationality. New Zealand can hardly be said to have a glorious history but Kiwis can be quite rough on non-native speakers. I wonder if a similar thing occurs in Wallonia?


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## panjabigator

yannalan said:


> When in another country, for tourism, I try to learn language basis. That helps. In Flanders and the Netherlands, I try to speak dutch, and most of people answer in dutch(if they try english, I tell them I don't speak english, quite simple !")
> In Denmark, I went twice to a bank office in a littel town : first time, I spoke german , I got my money at once. Second time, I was able to ask in danish, the lady checked my passport for half an hour....
> In some countries, it helps speak a bit of the language if you travel outside of big towns. And generally people are pleased.
> Here, in Brittany,France, there is a lot of english people buying houses and living here. With them :
> --if they try to say some words in french, after one or two minutes, I answer in english
> -- If they come to me directly in english, I "do'nt understand anything"
> You can't live in a country without learning a bit of the language.



And what about Breton?


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## yannalan

Breton has been half deleted by french : no schools, not any possibility of speaking breton to government officers, almost no radio or tv,....
Now many people want to learn again, but oldies who learnt at home as children don't dare to speak breton to people they don't know. So, if you don't know somebody patient and willing to help, it is very difficult to find speakers when you are learning .
Now there are some schools, but not a lot yet and the government is not willing to help very much.


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## Baunilha

In Holland it looks like they don't care about mistakes. The more, the merrier. They hardly do anything to prevent these mistakes.

That's why Dutch people tend to ignore the existence of phenomenons as compounds,...  When it comes to orthography: the dutch do as they please.

Example:
there are many compounds in Dutch, but the elements of the words (or lexical morfemes) are separated by the users. 

Huiskamer => huis kamer

the orthography:

if the the Dutch have to write down the word 'seks,' they always write 'sex'.

The situation is horrible!


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## avok

Grosvenor1 said:


> In Turkey, there is relatively poor knowledge of foreign languages, even English. It is sometimes possible to pick up a xenophobic vibe, people being expected to know at least some Turkish and ignored if they don't. This sometimes mixes into a thinly-concealed resentment of foreign tourists on the part of some Turks. A rather shrill chauvinism current at the moment in the country also does not help.
> 
> Having said that, people want to learn English - some are clearly more successful than others, or are better taught.


 
Here in Turkey, noone expects a foreigner to speak Turkish. We know that Turkish is not a popular language for foreigners. I really wonder where you, as a resident in England, got this "xenophobic" vibe. Or is it just a second hand info? Well if "I" had to happen to choose a country where someone can get a "xenophobic" vibe just because they don't speak the local language, believe me it would not be Turkey.

As I already said, as Turkish language is not a popular language, people shall not correct anyone when they try to speak Turkish but feel delighted.

But of course if someone has lived here for more than 10 years and still does not know how to say "How are you?" in Turkish, then people would feel the speaker wants to live in an isolated, turco-muslim-free island. Therefore people would not trust their sincerity and assume they never want to mix with the locals. People shall finally ignore them. You get what you give.


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## Mahaodeh

I agree with cute angel, actually, people put up with a lot of mistakes; I have heard gramar so mixed up that I have to re-arrange the words in my mind to understand, but I never correct gramar unless the speaker specifically asks me to.

If you are a native english speaker (as well as much of other european languages) you will probably find it really hard to pronounce some letters, plus, you will find a hard time pronouncing the vowels when they are omitted (like in Hebrew); not to mention the gramar.  The words corrected are probably where you pronounced so wrong it became a totally differnt word with a different meaning.  If someone corrects you he is probably trying to help you.  He also probably only correct the really wrong one; leaving everything else as is.

I'm working in an office where another 25 people work, none of which is Arab.  A new employee, who was Arab, was hired and they told me what his name is; several people pronounced it in different ways that I got so confused I could not tell what his name was until he started work and he told me what his name is.  His name was Fathi - you should prnounce each letter including the t and the h (which is by the way a different letter but the closest in English is h).  The name I got was fathi with the th pronounced as in _theme_, fathi with the th prnounced as in _that_, fati, fadi and fari (where the r came from I will never know).  Three of the above 6 (including the original) are similar to real given names in Arabic, in cases like this you _have to_ correct or others will be as confused as you are.

I also agree with cute angel about the timing of correction; I have never corrected anyone during speach, always when it's my turn to speak.


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## sokol

palomnik said:


> In some cultures, it is unusual to constantly interrupt a foreigner who is making mistakes in speaking; in general, Anglo-Saxon cultures tend to be like this, and the general attitude is that over-correcting during a conversation is counterproductive to communication, as well frustrating to the speaker and downright rude.
> (...)
> Among Russians, on the other hand, it is normal to correct pretty nearly any mistake as soon as it comes up, it being assumed that you're interested in learning correct usage, aren't you? Germans, in my experience, tend to be somewhat similar to Russians (unless they just answer you in English, which I find frustrating).



I have experience of my own country - Austria (German speaking, but rather _different _from Germany, in many ways - and certainly considering this particular topic) - and of Slovenia.

In Austria, a foreigner most likely would not be corrected as long as you understand him at all - if you don't understand him, one would switch to English (only those speaking English, of course, which is not as common here as in Scandinavia, for example). We Austrians mostly do not care too much if a foreigner makes mistakes.
On the other hand, if migrants after living years here in Austria still do speak German with a heavy accent or hardly at all it may well happen that quite a number of Austrians is not very friendly if spoken to, so they more likely would ignore these migrants or answer them rudely rather than correct their speech. Not very nice, but that's reality.

As for Slovenia, if you go there as a stranger and you speak Slovene (or try to), the Slovenes always are delighted that someone takes the pains to learn their language, but they also will correct you even if you do make minor faults only. Of course this should help (and is meant as help) to learn the language better, it might make conversation a little bit more difficult.
As for migrants living years already in Slovenia (there is a great Serbo-Croatian community living in Slovenia), many Slovenes do not like if they don't bother learning Slovene properly; I do not know if Serbs or Croats would be corrected in speech permanently, as I was there as Austrian, but I would suspect that this were rather not the case but that Slovenes rather would point out to them that they should learn Slovene correctly if they want to live there - so I would think it would be more like a discussion over than correction of speech.

So, in any case: some differences between Slovenia and Austria, and some similarities too.


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## Mark1978

Certainly here (England) it's considered the high of rudeness to correct someone who is talking to you, unless you have no idea what they just said!

Bascially unless you are at least as good at speaking their language at they are at speaking yours, then you are in no position to comment!


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## Mr Punch

As stated at the beginning of the thread, the Japanese will not correct anybody over anything. Most I've met won't even if you ask them, except teachers, and even then only if you ask them. My wife started to correcting me at the beginning of our relationship, but nowadays only does so very rarely. I'd love to be able to say this is because I make much fewer mistakes but really I think it's becuase I'm usually understandable even if a I make a lot of mistakes.

The one thing about this which bemuses and sometimes annoys me is that many Japanese people will nod and smile and agree with you even if they haven't the faintest idea what you've just said! 

FWIW, IME, I've found many people from the UK correct people automatically, so I don't agree that they don't, culturally. But then, I'm from Birmingham, where people are renowned for liking to show knowledge! 

Also FWIW, in agree with the poster who said the attitudes vary geographically in France: in Toulouse people were very nice and usually corrected me kindly; in Lyon they corrected me practically, sometimes rudely, and often not at all.



ayupshiplad said:


> *I'm not sure if this is a universal phenomonon, but with all my foreign languages, I'm fine having a conversation with people about proper things, but when it comes to going into a shop and asking for something, I'm not rubbish, but I'm hardly competant...


LOL, this is exactly the same with me in shops in Japan! Thank you - I'm glad it's not just me!


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## Orreaga

My theory is that in the US, an individualistic, casual, and permissive society, "anything goes" including speaking English poorly. Whether you're a native speaker or a foreign learner of the language, it's "all good" and standards are very low.  It may also be considered politically incorrect to point out a foreigner's mistakes, and an infringement of the person's personal liberty to speak any way he or she chooses.   

Also, English grammar is not a popular subject in US schools, and few would want to make themselves out to be experts as adults by attempting to correct foreigners' mistakes. Few are confident enough about their own command of English grammar to offer help. Personally I do not correct unless asked to. Often the mistakes I hear are more complicated to explain and correct than simply suggesting a different preposition or choice of vocabulary, and I find it inappropriate to start an English lesson with someone I don't know very well. 

Several times I've been recruited to help foreign students revise their English writing for classes, and more often than not I've found it an impossible task.   There are issues not only of grammar and usage, but style, logic, and cohesiveness of argument which  are important in the written language and very different from one language/culture to another.


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## Martindehk

Here in Hong Kong, it depends on the relationship between the foreigner and native speaker.  
If I am to have a conversation with a foreigner in Chinese, I won't care much about correcting him/her, instead I would just try my best to guess the meaning or even straightly switch to English.  
However, if the foreigner is my friend, I would then correct all the critical mistakes so that my friend won't mess around in saying something funny or offensive (though without intention).


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## Gwan

eujin said:


> I've heard of people being lambasted for speaking English in the French part of Switzerland, but I've never heard of the same thing happening in the German speaking part. Based on this anecdotal evidence I would argue that attitudes are more a function of language than nationality. New Zealand can hardly be said to have a glorious history but Kiwis can be quite rough on non-native speakers. I wonder if a similar thing occurs in Wallonia?


 
Sorry you had a bad experience, but no reason to bag the entire country... 

My two cents on learning languages is, if I'm in the country as a tourist for a few days, English and a guide book will do. Sorry, but I can't learn every language... If I'm there for longer, I make an effort. I've lived in Russia (studied Russian at uni for 2 years), France (studied French for 7 years) and the Czech Republic (new to Czech before I went there, but I made the effort to learn everyday phrases like "where is x", "can I have y", "how are you", "my name is" etc. etc.). And it really bugs me when English speakers expect the whole world to speak English!

Back to the topic. In France, frequently people would just switch straight to English (especially in touristy places like Paris), which irritated me because, while I know I'm not perfect, I can certainly order in a restaurant, check in to a hotel etc. etc. with no major problems. I remember once someone being rude to me when I confused savoir and connaitre (sorry for lack of circumflex). Otherwise, people were generally nice, and young people especially were happy to chat in French. Often I would speak French and they would reply in English, but in a nice "let's both try to improve our foreign language" way, not a "you're terrible at French" way.

In Russia, people were usually just impressed that I spoke some Russian and I don't recall being corrected a lot (lost cause maybe).

My Czech wasn't really up to much, so I didn't really get corrected, more often they'd switch to English, which was fine because their English was far better than my Czech! Once I asked for directions in Czech and the woman launched into a very rapid explanation. Once I gave up and asked if she spoke English her response was, "Sorry, I thought you were Czech but just speaking really slowly for some reason!" At least I guess my accent/grammar was okay!

With non-natives in English, I try to be patient and correct, if at all, by rephrasing quickly and moving on at once when it's my turn, unless it's really incomprehensible or a major error. I guess that's a combination of being a student of other languages and knowing how hard it is and having trained as an English teacher.

Sorry for the super long post!


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## rob.returns

In my country, they usually laugh at speakers of "tagalog"(our language here in the Philippines) if they would be in groups. But it's really not making fun of the person. Its more like the accent. A lot of speakers especially Americans would really not commit mistakes but they have a funny accent when speaking our language. 

But individually when speaking to a foreigner, we don't usually laugh at the person. Personally speaking, If the speaker is my friend I would correct him if the error is unforgivable but that is after the conversation and only if he is my friend.


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## learnerr

Fascinating discussion.


Orreaga said:


> My theory is that in the US, an individualistic, casual, and permissive society, "anything goes" including speaking English poorly. Whether you're a native speaker or a foreign learner of the language, it's "all good" and standards are very low.  It may also be considered politically incorrect to point out a foreigner's mistakes, and an infringement of the person's personal liberty to speak any way he or she chooses.


This is interesting, but this is only a part of the reasoning that need be conducted. The matter is, when you point out someone's mistake (or what appears to be a mistake to you), you do not restrict in any way that person's liberty to be mistaken. I think that the other part should concern the cultural difference in the goals and sakes of talking.

When, if we take the example that karuna provided, a person says "утро вечера мудрее" instead of "утро вечера мудренее" (please note one "н" in the last word, not two, by the way  ), this is not only weird, but also goal-breaking: the point of this talking is to directly communicate one's feelings, considerations, and thoughts, having the straight influence on the listener's mind; if the listener could guess what you mean but was not able to enjoy or appreciate the meaning straight in the words, the act of communication was a failure. In the American culture, as far as my via-internet observations go, the point of talking, among anything else like showing off, is to have some point passed via the channel, i.e., if the other person could guess what you meant, then the act of communication was a success, and if the other person could guess that your words were cool, then even more so. From here the difference that I don't find surprising, even if I never have observed how people from either culture behave when they may correct a foreigner's speech.

Myself, though, I think I would not like to correct foreigners' talking. It feels to me as over-presence. Certainly I would prefer not to correct passing strangers, and on those rare occasions I had a chance to correct them, I didn't. Yet I feel karuna's point well, and I find it may happen not very good of me to avoid correcting mistakes.


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## إسكندراني

This is interesting actually. In Quranic schools, it is normal for the teacher to interrupt the student to correct a mistake, several times as necessary. Perhaps this never bothered me because I was exposed to Egyptian culture before coming to the UK. However, it really put off other people, and I find it still does.


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## dreamlike

I only correct foreigners speaking Polish when what they have just said could make them a laughing stock (and Polish leaves a large room for funny language slips) among the less tolerant, or when they are being downright incomprehensible. I'm usually impressed when a foreigner makes any attempt at speaking Polish, so yeah. I don't think that making language corrections varies that much across cultures, rather it's a question of whether one is well-mannered or not. I don't see anything wrong whatsoever with correcting people, as long as it's done in a genuinely polite way.


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## SaritaSarang

If I am speaking with someone and they make mistakes, I always wait until they are done speaking to correct, but even then its not directly correcting, you can repeat what they said as if confirming, but repeat it correctly, and that sends the message of how to say it without directly saying "this is how you say it".


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## dreamlike

SaritaSarang said:


> If I am speaking with someone and they make mistakes, I always wait until they are done speaking to correct, but even then its not directly correcting, you can repeat what they said as if confirming, but repeat it correctly, and that sends the message of how to say it without directly saying "this is how you say it".


How very shrewd, would have taken ages to come up with something like that.


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## Sepia

Mark1978 said:


> Certainly here (England) it's considered the high of rudeness to correct someone who is talking to you, unless you have no idea what they just said!
> 
> Bascially unless you are at least as good at speaking their language at they are at speaking yours, then you are in no position to comment!





Well, how would it even be possible to correct anything when you have no idea what they just said or wanted to say?


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## Sepia

SaritaSarang said:


> If I am speaking with someone and they make mistakes, I always wait until they are done speaking to correct, but even then its not directly correcting, you can repeat what they said as if confirming, but repeat it correctly, and that sends the message of how to say it without directly saying "this is how you say it".



I've had Americans correcting me that way for using words in their BE meaning. I might have found that half way OK if we had been in America or in some other mainly AE environment. But we were in London - the real one in England.


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## SaritaSarang

Sepia said:


> I've had Americans correcting me that way for using words in their BE meaning. I might have found that half way OK if we had been in America or in some other mainly AE environment. But we were in London - the real one in England.



I don't know what to say, except that although I am also from the U.S, I myself also find this kind of behavior ridiculous. If only all people were educated.... sadly so many are not.


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## JamesM

Sepia said:


> I've had Americans correcting me that way for using words in their BE meaning. I might have found that half way OK if we had been in America or in some other mainly AE environment. But we were in London - the real one in England.



Yes, it happens.  I've also had British people correct my English for using words with their AE meaning... in Los Angeles. The real one, in California.    This annoying behavior is not the exclusive property of Americans.


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## ESustad

In my experience, French and Russian speakers rarely hesitate to correct foreign speakers.  Spanish and Portuguese speakers are very enthusiastic about foreign speakers, and seldom will correct mistakes.  Koreans and Japanese are so unaccustomed to foreign speakers that they often have trouble understanding foreign accents enough to correct them.


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## Pedro y La Torre

JamesM said:


> Yes, it happens.  I've also had British people correct my English for using words with their AE meaning... in Los Angeles. The real one, in California.    This annoying behavior is not the exclusive property of Americans.



Imagine how often one gets ''corrected'' (or more usually, blank stares) if one comes from a small, out of the way English-speaking country.


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## merquiades

Pedro y La Torre said:


> Imagine how often one gets ''corrected'' (or more usually, blank stares) if one comes from a small, out of the way English-speaking country.



I was corrected by an Irishman today for not pronouncing my h. 

In my experience the French never correct anybody.  I've even been told by people that it's rude to correct.  Spaniards, however, very enthusiastically correct everybody.  Americans correct if they know how to.
For good or for bad, I correct people way too much, naturally, without even thinking about it.


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## JamesM

In my experience Americans are very forgiving and hesitate to correct a non-native speaker in conversation.  If the idea is communicated the errors are simply ignored.


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## merquiades

JamesM said:


> In my experience Americans are very forgiving and hesitate to correct a non-native speaker in conversation.  If the idea is communicated the errors are simply ignored.



I agree with you to a large extent.  That attitude is very widespread especially in the business world and among worldly people in general.  But there is another group of Americans who are taken aback if they hear even a slight trace of a foreign accent. They make their discomfort known and correct even when they shouldn't.


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## rhitagawr

I wouldn't normally correct anyone unless what they said was (unintentionally) rude or misleading. Instead, I'd say the phrase correctly or use the correct word and hope the other person would pick it up. I once corrected a Belgian lady who said _do a mistake_, but only because _do a mistake _was a in itself mistake. (It should have been _make a mistake._) We had a laugh about it.
I wouldn't be offended if people corrected me - as long as they didn't overdo it. I sometimes correct myself or ask what I should have said. I once said _Unfall _- accident in the sense of _road accident _- in German when I should have said _Zufall_ - accident in the sense of _chance occurrence_. It sounded ridiculous. We had a laugh about it.


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