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Jovi88 Posted 15 years ago
Culture
People who correct you when there's nothing to be corrected.
English native speakers..
Don't you feel offended at those who are constantly trying to belittle your language skill?
I was out sightseeing with two good German friends of mine (both German native speakers) yesterday. We mainly conversed in English, because my German wasn't good. Anyway, while sightseeing, they were talking about a terrible standup comedian who was going to be performing on stage later in the week. They told me just how bad his performances were and how infamous he was in Berlin. Minutes later, we came across the performer's van with the words 'Männer sind peinlich.' Recalling what they had said about the comedian, I immediately assumed that those words meant "Men are embarrassed" (by his performance). I asked if the word "peinlich" meant "embarrassed". One of them said it should be translated as "men are embarrassing." What came next slightly offended me. He continued and said, "embarrassed means feeling uneasy. Embarrassing means...(blah blah)" I was pretty annoyed by his answer that I refused to talk to him for the next few minutes. I knew what those words meant. I didn't need that from him. I didn't need to be belittled (I speak English as a native language). He didn't back down either. He kept on going. It was virtually impossible to communicate with him. It had happened in the past before, but I usually ignored him. I hate it when people assume that I don't know basic words in my own language.
He isn't open to other English accents either. The American accent isn't the only accent out there. For someone who spends countless hours watching American and English TV and movies, he needs to know that the Americans aren't the only ones who can speak PROPER English. He needs to get it in his head that some English words are pronounced and spelt differently in the UK/Australia. We had an argument over the word "jewellery" once. He claimed it was misspelled, but "jewellery" IS the british spelling of "jewelry".
We even had a silly argument over the word "drive". In German the phrase, "Ich fahre mit dem Zug nach Berlin" means "I'm riding the train to Berlin/ I'm taking the train to Berlin". He thought that the phrase should be translated as "I'm driving the train to Berlin (as a passenger)." When I tried to correct him, he told me, confidently, that he had heard it on English/American TV before. He refused to listen to me because he couldn't admit he was wrong.
How do you deal with people like him? Have you ever experienced something like this before?
Don't you feel offended at those who are constantly trying to belittle your language skill?
I was out sightseeing with two good German friends of mine (both German native speakers) yesterday. We mainly conversed in English, because my German wasn't good. Anyway, while sightseeing, they were talking about a terrible standup comedian who was going to be performing on stage later in the week. They told me just how bad his performances were and how infamous he was in Berlin. Minutes later, we came across the performer's van with the words 'Männer sind peinlich.' Recalling what they had said about the comedian, I immediately assumed that those words meant "Men are embarrassed" (by his performance). I asked if the word "peinlich" meant "embarrassed". One of them said it should be translated as "men are embarrassing." What came next slightly offended me. He continued and said, "embarrassed means feeling uneasy. Embarrassing means...(blah blah)" I was pretty annoyed by his answer that I refused to talk to him for the next few minutes. I knew what those words meant. I didn't need that from him. I didn't need to be belittled (I speak English as a native language). He didn't back down either. He kept on going. It was virtually impossible to communicate with him. It had happened in the past before, but I usually ignored him. I hate it when people assume that I don't know basic words in my own language.
He isn't open to other English accents either. The American accent isn't the only accent out there. For someone who spends countless hours watching American and English TV and movies, he needs to know that the Americans aren't the only ones who can speak PROPER English. He needs to get it in his head that some English words are pronounced and spelt differently in the UK/Australia. We had an argument over the word "jewellery" once. He claimed it was misspelled, but "jewellery" IS the british spelling of "jewelry".
We even had a silly argument over the word "drive". In German the phrase, "Ich fahre mit dem Zug nach Berlin" means "I'm riding the train to Berlin/ I'm taking the train to Berlin". He thought that the phrase should be translated as "I'm driving the train to Berlin (as a passenger)." When I tried to correct him, he told me, confidently, that he had heard it on English/American TV before. He refused to listen to me because he couldn't admit he was wrong.
How do you deal with people like him? Have you ever experienced something like this before?
Top answer
Hi, As a teacher in an English-speaking country, I can deal with such people in my class. In your situation, I don't know. I'd probably just try to ignore such remarks (although I'd find that hard to do.
- Hi, As a teacher in an English-speaking country, I can deal with such people in my class.
- In your situation, I don't know.
- I'd probably just try to ignore such remarks (although I'd find that hard to do.
- ).
- Clive
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6 Answers
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Hi,
As a teacher in an English-speaking country, I can deal with such people in my class.
In your situation, I don't know. I'd probably just try to ignore such remarks (although I'd find that hard to do.
As a teacher in an English-speaking country, I can deal with such people in my class.
In your situation, I don't know. I'd probably just try to ignore such remarks (although I'd find that hard to do.
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Not an English speaker but I'd like to say something. Isn't it silly to say I'm driving the train to Berlin if you were a passenger? I mean, a passenger doesn't "drive" the train; s/he rides or takes the train. Driving and riding indicate two totally different actions. Even when you were a passenger in a car you still wouldn't say you drove a car. The person drove the car could say that. Like, hit
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I hit submit too fast. With people like this, all you can do is try not to have the last word and tell them to check other sources if they don't believe you. If they tell you they don't need to because they're right, then you can tell them you'll check it for your own sake. I bet you they will shut up. This is how I deal with certain people I can't name here. When you stop arguing and tell them yo
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simplyblessedwithlove Isn't it silly to say I'm driving the train to Berlin if you were a passenger? I mean, a passenger doesn't "drive" the train; s/he rides or takes the train.It's just a mistake, and of course you can consider a mistake silly if you like.
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Of course. It happens to all languages. One verb can have many meanings. What I meant was that if his friend was trying to translate it into English, he needed to follow English rules. A passenger doesn't drive a train; he rides it. And the fact that his friend was trying to correct him, who speaks English as his mother tongue, is silly. I don't call a mistake silly; I called his action try
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Last year, I had a small argument with a native speaker of German, teacher of French, who was trying to persuade me that some weird sentences were acceptable in Italian. (He graduated in foreign languages, and studied both French and Italian.)
My friend and I told him that he would sound funny if he uttered such sentences, and the next week he showed us a book, a bilingual (German-Italian
My friend and I told him that he would sound funny if he uttered such sentences, and the next week he showed us a book, a bilingual (German-Italian
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