How do native speakers react when you speak their language?
daniel870

When native speakers hear someone speaking their language. The first is a feeling of happiness and pride. This is because, for many people, speaking the native language is a source of identity. It can be a way to connect with others who share the same culture and history.
marcelofonseca

In Italy I'd rather speak English. I was under the impression people thought I was "yet another immigrant", and Italian is a popular language anyway, so they wouldn't be surprised if a Brazilian could speak it. Plus my Italian is super weak, and people didn't seem to have a lot of patience.
In Russia it was really cool. Most people were very curious about my motivations to learn Russian, but also asked a lot of things about Brazil and often mentioned a movie where someone says that Brazil is full of wild monkeys. Also some of them wanted to know what Brazilians think about Russia. I got absolutely zero negative reactions.
But nothing can ever compare to being in Romania and speaking Romanian. People treated me like a king! I got discounts in every single place I stayed and was actually treated like a friend, not a client. In Timisoara and Sibiu I even had my meals with the people who owned the places I stayed, there was a time they had friends over just to talk to me. But the best story was actually in Budapest; I was standing by a train and for some reason a group of Romanians assumed I was Romanian and asked me for information. We spoke for a while and when I told them I was Brazilian, they were really shocked, but in a very positive way. They gave their phone numbers, invited me to their home in Sighisoara, smiled profusely and told me, that I am Brazilian, but also Romanian. I actually heard that quite a number of times, and that was actually a big achievement. Romanians were often proud of me.
You know, I used to think that the very reason my Italian and French haven't ever been that good is I can't find the motivation since people that are used to foreigners learning their language won't often be interested in talking to you or helping you. But recently I decided to learn Bulgarian, and yeah, it was just like with the French. Romanians and Russians are usually more interested.
NolaNewGal

Ive had the change to speak to native Russian speakers. They have always been interested and have asked why I decided to learn Russian, Never had a negative response.
Michilini

Interesting. I actually heard the opposite too from a learner who lived in Russia and was already fluent. Told me when she first arrived her landlady made fun of her accent and would laugh at any mistakes she made. Said this kind of treatment/ high standards towards learners was common. Made me think it was the opposite of my experience with Chinese!
EthanRob

Well written!
Michilini

Thanks :)
caitlafous

When native speakers hear someone speaking their language, it usually elicits one of two reactions. The first is a feeling of happiness and pride. This is because, for many people, speaking the native language is a source of identity. It can be a way to connect with others who share the same culture and history. The second reaction is one of suspicion or mistrust. This is often the case when the speaker is not a native speaker themselves. In some cases, this can lead to accusations of theft or cultural appropriation. However, in most cases, it simply reflects the fact that many people are uncomfortable when they are not in complete control of a situation. Regardless of the reaction, it is always best to err on the side of caution when speaking someone else's language.
ColinJohnstonov

In Austria they either respond in English or in some incomprehensible dialect understood by only ten people and a few hundred cows in some valley somewhere.
jeanqwashington

I'm a native English speaker who has studied some Mandarin. I remembered one time in Taiwan when I said a few sentences in Mandarin to the ticket seller at the bus station who had her head down while she was busy with some papers on her counter, and I passed her the money for the ticket, and as she pushed the ticket to me, she looked up and said, "Oh, oh!' Until she saw me she hadn't realized that I wasn't Chinese. I waltzed away from the ticket window feeling likeI had just conquered the whole world. A little victory, a huge ego boost!
anncou

Really interesting article!
Michilini

Thank you :)
mari5443

Chinese pronunciation is difficult, so many Chinese people often praise the good pronunciation of first-time learners. It doesn't take much surprise to make their jaws drop.
Japanese students can write without much problem after studying in China for about 6 months. However, they are often told that they are still not good at speaking.
ZacRobinson

Thank you for sharing this. In my practice, native speakers have always been sympathetic to situations where I speak a non-native language and make even the most basic mistakes. It is normal for everyone, because cultural identity is a very important aspect of our lives. On the website https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/cultural-identity/ I constantly read very useful information about cultural identity, especially regarding the linguistic component.
ericfromlingq

Like this: https://youtu.be/oLt5qSm9U80
But in all serious, most are happy to hear me speak Japanese. My Japanese friends, who I've never spoken Japanese to in the past, were shocked.
Michilini

That video is hilarious. The sketch seems to be parodying Japanese people refusing to accept that people who don't look Japanese can speak the language. But some of the comments seem sceptical about whether this actually happens. I wonder if what's really happening in many cases is that foreigners are speaking bad Japanese with awkward grammar constructions based on English and then putting the blame on native speakers who genuinely can't understand them, believing they must be being awkward on purpose. This tends to happen a lot with Chinese learners.
Jsm1

The article's such a great read and honestly very relatable!
Michilini

Thanks! :)
khardy

Steve posted a video a few days ago of a very (very) interesting conversation with Stuart Jay Raj who, very near the end, says this:
"...and there are other countries, um, where there's very little leniency done for non-standard versions of their language.
"So Vietnamese is an example of that. Thai is an example of that. So even Thai, even if they speak their dialect from, uh, northeast or the north or south or wherever, um, when they come to Bangkok, they will force themselves to speak central Thai. And if they don't, there's almost shame to it. And so I guess it's this nationalistic thing too. Everybody must speak this standard Thai.
"And so that rule is then also applied to foreigners. So if it's just a little bit off in Thailand, Thai's will not understand."
I've no experience with these languages, just passing along what I heard at https://youtu.be/5BtdZVO6n24?t=1369
Michilini

I can only comment on Chinese and whilst I find Stuart Jay Raj very insightful there are some things he has said about this which I don't agree with. He made a video recently looking into videos of American foreigners who go to China town speaking "perfect chinese" and film the shocked reactions of native speakers. Stuart said that if their Chinese really were perfect Chinese people wouldn't react in a shocked manner. I don't think that makes any sense. I agree completely that these videos are made by foreigners whose Chinese is clearly not "perfect" and don't sound native. But my observations of native Chinese speakers in the UK reacting to friends whose accents can pass for native (according to native speakers) suggests that the closer a foreigners accent is to Chinese the more shocked Chinese people's reactions are.
Perhaps this is different in China. But given the popularity of TV programmes where foreigners are showered with praise and compete against each other for their ability to sound like native Chinese speakers I assume it's not much different.
MiSaoHoa

Afaik it's not the case with Vietnamese.
TomekaStamper

Thanks for this thread. It looks like a great articles that is written on the basis of Native speakers reaction.
MiSaoHoa

If you're pronunciation and accent is really good they won't make any remarks at all. They'll just assume you're a native speaker.
Michilini

I often hear this said but it hasn't been my experience and I don't think it makes any sense. People are surprised by things which are rare. I've observed reactions of native speaker friends to foreign friends whose pronunication can pass for native but don't look Chinese. I live in the UK and Chinese native speakers are surprised if they come across anyone who can speak any Chinese. They are even more surprised to encounter people who can speak Chinese with native accents, since this is extremely unusual. I cannot comment on how Chinese people living in China tend to react to native sounding foreigners because I don't live there. But given the popularity of TV programmes where foreigners are showered with praise and compete against each other for their ability to sound like native Chinese speakers I assume it's not much different.
MiSaoHoa

I speak Vietnamese. I used to get lots of "wow, you speak Vietnamese, how did you learn" but after 15+ years of study if I get any comment it's "are you half," "is your mom Vietnamese," etc., but I'm 100% blue eyed Caucasian. I also get "do your parents speak Vietnamese," or "have you had a blood transfusion with a Vietnamese person?" (lol). However, pronunciation is my strongest area, where I'm weak in grammar and general eloquence/wit. That's why I struggle in Japanese which is much more complex in terms of grammar. One important factor in sounding native is to pick a regional accent and stick with it. For example, if you speak English like luca lampariello, no matter how perfect your grammar, prose, and pronunciation are, you'll sound like a foreigner.
I know one Vietnamese guy here in the US who, even after knowing him for years, his English was so good that I always assumed he was born in the US. But, he actually immigrated in his twenties and started learning English after that. So yes, it is possible and it's one of the reactions people have (no reaction). This sounds like a flex but even with my appearance, 90-95% of people don't have any reaction to my speaking Vietnamese. The remaining will ask if I'm half, or if I have a long conversation will ask out of curiosity, then be surprised when they find out I'm a student of the language. Granted this is not televised and picked apart by scholars, and Vietnamese people may have a higher percentage of Amer-Asian, mixed race in the population so they'd be less surprised at a native speaker of another race. So maybe it's more normal than in Chinese. Also I think for Chinese, as with Japanese, there are more foreign students of the language so they may expect anyone of another race speaking it to be as a second language.