Hedonologist Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Often when native English speakers attempt to use a learnt language with a native speaker, the native speaker will revert to English. Germans have a reputation for preferring to use English fluently, rather than broken German, but I've not found this to be the case with me personally.Do you have any experience with this? Sunny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jubvman Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 I actually visited Berlin several months ago and had some short conversations with some of them. I think some of them thought I looked German so they greeted me in German, which definitely helped! But I found that they are generally pretty relaxed when it comes to that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qaximor Posted February 23, 2014 Report Share Posted February 23, 2014 Yes. Most of the Germans that I know really want to help me improve my German. When I talk to them in English they always tell me to talk in German so I can get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dora M Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Germans, Austrians and the Swiss are usually happy to have a good conversation with you in their native language and help you along with any difficulties that you might have. In my experience they don't often get the opportunity to practice their own foreign language skills, so naturally they want to try it out with you. :grin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted March 3, 2014 Report Share Posted March 3, 2014 Dear DoraAre you Swiss by any chance? I can see that you indicated that you speak Swiss-German..... so it is pretty likely that you are Swiss after all :grin: I am Swiss, that's why I am really curios about it.best wisheslingua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
multilingo Posted October 8, 2015 Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 My workmates speak totally pure German with me. They are happy to see my improvements when it comes to using their language. Sometimes I get hard critic and funny sarcastic comments but I know them so I don't get offended usually. Although they know that I am fluent in English, it is seldom that somebody would go there and would try to speak with me in English and whenever I say word or phrases wrong, they are not hesitant to correct me which I find totally fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykunos Posted May 24, 2016 Report Share Posted May 24, 2016 Living in Berlin, I get different results every day, haha. I will say that since Berlin is such a diverse international city that English is very very often immediately switched to if I ever ask for clarification or repetition of what was just said to me. That can be annoying, but if you ask politely for a German to only speak German to you, I've only encountered warm reactions - they are usually more than happy to help with learning the language. Now the only problem here is me, haha - since that means I'm the one that needs to set the "only German" rule and that can be hard since sometimes I'm just tired and just want to communicate the bare minimum with minimal effort, e.g - English Oh well, always a work in progress, language learning. One step at a time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoManyLanguages Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I currently use an app called HelloTalk, where I communicate with many native German speakers. Most of them seem very patient with me, and take the time to correct me and explain grammar concepts. On occasion, we do switch to English, mostly when using words I don't know yet. This might not be as useful as information though, as the app is specifically for people who want to help teach languages and for those who want to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 On 12/5/2013 at 2:25 PM, Hedonologist said: Often when native English speakers attempt to use a learnt language with a native speaker, the native speaker will revert to English. Germans have a reputation for preferring to use English fluently, rather than broken German, but I've not found this to be the case with me personally. Do you have any experience with this? Yes, when I was in Germany. Most people learn English as a second language, at least basic English. My son's father is from there...however, he doesn't know much English. So we always speak in German (mine's a little botched up, but I think it was quite better when I lived there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
宇崎ちゃん Posted July 24, 2016 Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 Germany is strange when it comes to that in my experience. If you speak English to them right off the bat, they'll answer you in German. But if you try to speak German to them and they see it's quite broken, they'll reply in English. This is especially true in Cologne and Dusseldorf, those in smaller towns and those in the former 'East Germany' will speak German nonetheless, unless they're at least foreign-looking (like those with Turkish roots for example). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverserewind Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 I guess you can just simply ask them in a pretty much straightforward manner. They will understand your desire. Also, they are going to appreciate that. Most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111kg Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 On 7/28/2016 at 7:38 PM, reverserewind said: I guess you can just simply ask them in a pretty much straightforward manner. They will understand your desire. Also, they are going to appreciate that. Most of the time. This. A thousand times this. Ask them to correct you when you are wrong and how would they use your phrases to make them sound better. Especially the older germans, they are very proud people who value education more than the younger folks do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reverserewind Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 1 hour ago, 111kg said: This. A thousand times this. Ask them to correct you when you are wrong and how would they use your phrases to make them sound better. Especially the older germans, they are very proud people who value education more than the younger folks do Well, correcting people's speech by interrupting them will never work out. An English teacher AJ Hoge said that numerous times. I agree with him. I never felt comfortable in those moments. Instead, try to understand their speech and feel free to ask for some elaboration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLawson Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 On 06/12/2013 at 7:25 PM, Hedonologist said: Often when native English speakers attempt to use a learnt language with a native speaker, the native speaker will revert to English. Germans have a reputation for preferring to use English fluently, rather than broken German, but I've not found this to be the case with me personally. Do you have any experience with this? Yes, I've been talking to a German man online for about 18 years, and only recently been practising German with him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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