| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Do you appreciate being corrected? Thread poster: Mats Wiman
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| Please don't interrupt me. | Jan 26, 2010 |
I truly value corrections when it comes to my pronunciation, but I HATE being interrupted!
When I speak German with friends and neighbors, and I struggle with the pronunciation of a particular word, I give a look that begs for immediate correction and people take that cue.
When I speak with my wife it’s completely different. It seems that her goal in life is to completely erase any trace of an American accent—therefore she corrects every other word (often before I c... See more I truly value corrections when it comes to my pronunciation, but I HATE being interrupted!
When I speak German with friends and neighbors, and I struggle with the pronunciation of a particular word, I give a look that begs for immediate correction and people take that cue.
When I speak with my wife it’s completely different. It seems that her goal in life is to completely erase any trace of an American accent—therefore she corrects every other word (often before I can finish saying the word). It sends the message to me that she can’t possibly know (or care) what I’m actually trying to say.
Since we only have about 30 minutes of quality time together per day (alone, without kids), I completely refuse to speak German in her presence anymore. I speak German everyday with friends/neighbors/teachers/shopkeepers etc, and my pronunciation rarely keeps me from being understood. I’m more likely to use the wrong form/tense of a word, and I appreciate correction there too.
In my opinion, unless the purpose of the conversation is language improvement, it’s best to save corrections for a break in the conversation. ▲ Collapse
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Nikita appreciates correction of pronunciation if not charged -- I hope he equally appreciates correction of spelling too. Ie, surely but not shurely.
| | | | | Never-ending | Jan 27, 2010 |
Just relax Dan, it never ends.
After more than fifty years in Sweden I speak the language fairly well, and after more than fifty years of married life my wife still corrects me. It may be due to nature, a control reflex, whatever!
Turn the occasional deaf ear.
| | | | Lingua 5B 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 15:34
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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| Nice in theory, but... | Jan 27, 2010 |
Dan_Lambert_MBA wrote:
In my opinion, unless the purpose of the conversation is language improvement, it’s best to save corrections for a break in the conversation.
Yes, but just one mistake can interfere with the smooth flow of the entire conversation. Are you aware of this? There are types of mistakes that can do this.
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Celine H
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:34
English to French
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| it is useful but there are limits | Jan 27, 2010 |
I appreciate that I don't sound like a native English speaker, being French, but when my partner corrects me in the middle of a sentence, I don't particularly like to be interrupted. I prefer him to let me finish and then tell me what I mispronounced.
After reading what D. Lambert said, I know that in Germany they love correcting. Sometimes they do go too far. I remember telling a German person that I visited to correct me if I made grammatical mistakes, but it was madness: he even correct... See more I appreciate that I don't sound like a native English speaker, being French, but when my partner corrects me in the middle of a sentence, I don't particularly like to be interrupted. I prefer him to let me finish and then tell me what I mispronounced.
After reading what D. Lambert said, I know that in Germany they love correcting. Sometimes they do go too far. I remember telling a German person that I visited to correct me if I made grammatical mistakes, but it was madness: he even corrected me if I didn't phrase something the way a German speaker would have, even if it still made sense! It does happen that someone makes an awful lot of mistakes, but in that case, don't correct him/her at every corner, prioritise things, otherwise you can't have a natural conversation. ▲ Collapse
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