"We'd like to speak English with you..."

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"We'd like to speak English with you..."
« on: December 15, 2011, 12:32:49 AM »
Really, you would?

Twice this happened this evening, within minutes of each other.  Were they laying in wait?  I thought the "catch every opportunity" school of language learning had already died its justly deserved death some years ago.  Perhaps there is a test coming up.

In closing... don't catch every opportunity.


Alternatively, let's make a deal: do you have a sister?
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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AMonk

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2011, 12:51:03 AM »
 
Really, you would?
Alternatively, let's make a deal: do you have a sister?

ahahahahah bkbkbkbkbk
Moderation....in most things...

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old34

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2011, 04:20:57 AM »
 Perhaps there is a test coming up.


Yep. CET 4 and 6 are this Saturday.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2011, 05:56:31 AM »
Oh, it's you! I'm so glad to meet you! You know, I've heard so much about you. Does your mom still have the army boots I gave her?

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2011, 01:53:31 PM »
Whenever I see Chinese people on the street back here in the US I have to hold myself back from going up to them and asking stupid questions in extremely basic (and of course broken) Chinese. It would just be so self satisfying.

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2011, 01:59:27 PM »
When i am in Canada i like to point at them and call them lao wai bjbjbjbjbj

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2011, 05:39:43 PM »
I don't know what goes on in their minds, and I wish I didn't have to think about it at all.  I mean, I am old enough to be these lumps of youth's father and this confers NO ADVANTAGE AT ALL! To respect me is to stand in my way in the street and blurt out inane, thoughtless "conversation"? Were it even conversation it might potentially be forgivable, but whoever thought up "catch every opportunity" probably also wrote the book on "hey man" and didn't teach these retards how to have an opinion worth hearing.

I dislike it all because I don't want to be the one telling some largely harmless kid to... welcome me into the family home.


ETA: I kind of worry that it leaves little timebombs of disappointed, aggravated, savant-like reaction lying around the campus.  I'm recognisable, they're not, but they're ones who got cursorily plowed aside from the path of righteousness--and lost face?

Get them together in groups and they'll be yelling hey mans like nobody's business.

« Last Edit: December 15, 2011, 05:46:23 PM by Calach Pfeffer »
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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Escaped Lunatic

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2011, 06:24:21 PM »
Don't think of these situations as annoying interruptions.  Think of them as an opportunity to spread alternative paradigms of English definitions, grammar, syntax, and common expressions. uuuuuuuuuu

"Hello" is wrong. "Me love you loooong time!" is the ONLY proper way for a girl to greet a foreign guy.
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Pashley

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2011, 06:45:23 PM »
I don't know what goes on in their minds, and I wish I didn't have to think about it at all. ... Were it even conversation it might potentially be forgivable, but whoever thought up "catch every opportunity" ...

I dislike it all because I don't want to be the one telling some largely harmless kid to...

Early in my stay here. I used to go out in a local park most mornings to take a tai chi class. There was a Chinese in the group, Martin, who had spent a decade in Australia and had excellent English.

So one morning I'm taking a smoke break after an hour or so of practice and a young girl wanders up and shyly tries out her English. She's 17, just finished Middle school, will be an English major next year, and has never spoken to a foreigner before. Chatting with her is fine; she is quite pretty, very sweet and just generally a nice kid.

She is in the park at 7 am to walk the family dog, accompanied by an uncle. Martin wanders over and tells me that the uncle is lecturing his niece, telling her that she must take full advantage of the opportunity, come to the park every day and practice hard. I excused myself and went back to tai chi. Martin and the uncle had a conversation. I never saw the kid again.

She was a nice enough kid. I'd happily have chatted to her a few times, but the pushy uncle blew it for her.
Who put a stop payment on my reality check?

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Raoul F. Duke

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2011, 06:52:15 PM »
I generally feel some compassion for these guys.
As teachers, we want them to practice their English...and to me, such an approach marks the possibility of an actual diligent student. We expats mark the only native speakers they CAN practice with. If I have the time and the mood, I'll spend a few moments talking to them.

Sometimes, I meet some cool people or at least find a reasonably interesting conversation.

I DON'T let it turn into a class. I get paid to teach classes.
And if I'm just not in the mood, well, I have developed some creative ways of getting out of the situation clearly. uuuuuuuuuu
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we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)

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Pashley

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2011, 06:53:51 PM »
Whenever I see Chinese people on the street back here in the US I have to hold myself back from going up to them and asking stupid questions in extremely basic (and of course broken) Chinese.

The one time I tried that, in Toronto Chinatown, the girls turned out to be Vietnamese.
Who put a stop payment on my reality check?

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2011, 06:55:41 PM »
the lack of respect for privacy or space is what makes me crazy and it is not the kids fault but the parents, family and teachers pushing them.
Now that my Chinese is better i explain to people who impolite it can be, sometimes I see a spark of comprehension whle other times it completely goes over their head.
I always remind myself that i would not get to angry at the dog for peeing on the floor.

Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2011, 08:16:38 PM »
What do Chinese teachers do, I wonder.  They get imposed on a lot too, but... like it? That awesomely ridiculous notion of teacher as surrogate parent who shows their concern by spending time with you... I don't even know how to express it... but Chinese teachers get the trade off.  They get to be officiously involved in way too many aspects of a student's life, teaching them how to be a "people", not just how to pass a subject.

I THINK NONE OF THEM ARE AWARE IT IS AN IMPOSITION.

Or if they are, then they expect to make some trade.  That is, if everyone involved is Chinese, then they expect to make some trade.  The stupid foriegns don't know that free space isn't a given while relationship is and you're supposed to negotiate benefits.

Needs a menu:

10 minutes English: hand
15 minutes English plus 10 minutes correction and development exercise: blow
30 minutes English each day plus scornful correction: marry.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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kitano

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2011, 08:25:14 PM »
This is actually an important part of our job as foreign teachers to make our students get some appreciation of appropriateness.
Even more important than any grammar or anything is how and when to use English, and this is an area where we are genuinely valuable solely on the basis of where we were born. I know that it comes up in Business English a lot but I think it's equally important to teach some of this at all levels. When you look at the state of the ESL industry over here it's hardly a surprise so many people have weird ideas about foreigners

Incidentally, my girlfriend sometimes got 'Ni hao' from locals when we lived in Holland. It did tend to be lads in their early 20s when they didn't realise that she was with her boyfriend so I don't think it was just 'Oh, a foreigner....'

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kitano

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Re: "We'd like to speak English with you..."
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2011, 08:28:25 PM »
Needs a menu:

10 minutes English: hand
15 minutes English plus 10 minutes correction and development exercise: blow
30 minutes English each day plus scornful correction: marry.

20 minutes English : 10 minutes French
30 minutes English : 10 minutes Spanish