Earlier quoted context omitted.
Try to get an Australian passport. It helps I hear.
Ha ha, I am learning to say mate with every sentence. Thanks Mate.
No worries!
Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
71–80 of 261 posts
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#72>The message, written in English, was sent by a native speaker to a colleague for whom English was a second language. Unsure of the word, the recipient found two contradictory meanings in his dictionary. He acted on the wrong one. >When such misunderstandings happen, it’s usually the native speakers who are to blame. So...somebody got a message they felt was ambiguous and confused them, didn't ask for clarification b…
You're right, it wasn't a very clear article. Kinda fluffy actually. But it did have one good point: that native English speakers often are not required to learn a second language to facilitate business, and so are less aware of the intricacies of intercultural communications (whereas everyone else had to learn English as a second language, so they're on more or less equal footing with each other).
Even in the English-speaking world, we run into similar issues communicating across borders, whether that's cultural differences across states, urban/rural divides, regional accents, or across countries (US/UK/Australia/South Africa/India, etc.)
I don't think the article presented enough evidence to support the headline that "native English speakers are the worst communicators". It's less about English vs any mother tongue being worse or better; rather, bilingualism has numerous benefits (intercultural communications being one of them), but many in the Anglosphere are not bilingual (because they're not forced to be, unlike people who have to learn English as a second language): https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428634-000-oh-to-be...
TLDR: Fluffy article, interesting underlying point
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#73All: please let's not react to the title, and certainly not just with an indignant reflex [1]. There's more interesting material here.
We've edited the title now to be more neutral and accurate, using representative language from the article.
[1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#74I think some commenters are taking issue with this article for singling out English. Yes, the larger issue is native vs non-native speakers in any language. But this article is specifically addressed to native English speakers because English often serves as the common language in a room of mixed-language speakers.
I'm a native English speaker. I don't find the article offensive, and I appreciate it pointing out how I can be a more effective communicator.
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you ever been to France and tried speaking French after a few years of study? Have you ever had to deal with someone there who speaks far better English than you, but refuses to because of snobbery? This article is trash
Have you ever spoken to a French person while imitating their accent and found that they understand you much better?
Yes, I thought I was being funny with my exaggerated french accent. They just found it clearer. Unfortunately this makes them think I have better french than I actually do and they speak to fast.
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#76Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#77I agree with this totally and I am a native English speaker. English often has many confusing and ambiguous terms that can only be known by having a very well developed sense of context. Have many non-native English speaking friends, I understand their difficulty with the language. When communicating with my friends I try and choose appropriate words to avoid misunderstanding until I can grasp the level at which they…
Have you ever been to France and tried speaking French after a few years of study? Have you ever had to deal with someone there who speaks far better English than you, but refuses to because of snobbery? This article is trash
That isn't really relevant to the article. The article is only comparing native English speakers to non-native English speakers, not other languages.
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here is another BBC article, from which I learned that this international insurance company has organized training for native speakers to speak in a more understandable manner: > After taking an in-company e-learning course to help native English speakers communicate better with non-native speakers, Barron slowed down his pace of speaking and edited his “American speak” to avoid jargon and idioms that don’t translate…
Thanks for linking to this article. Can anyone recommend a place to get this kind of training for those of us who don't work at a company that offers it? I'm a monoglot American living in a midwestern city where I'm mostly surrounded by other such Americans, but I want to raise my awareness of how I might be a bad communicator.
In the UK, there is a campaigning organisation called the 'Plain English Campaign' which promotes clear, easy-to-understand written English suitable for any industry or profession.
Although, the organisation is based in the UK, their advice is relevant for anyone who writes or reads English.
Here is their clear, simple and short guide on How to write in plain English [PDF]:
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#79Is this another case of worse is better? Dammit.
(also funny that the title is native speakers are hard to understand in an honest language situation, I would say it's natural)
Re: Native speakers are hard to understand in a lingua franca situation
#80Misused English words and expressions in EU publications [0]
> Over the years, the European institutions have developed a vocabulary that differs from that of any recognised form of English. It includes words that do not exist or are relatively unknown to native English speakers outside the EU institutions and often even to standard spellcheckers/grammar checkers (‘planification’, ‘to precise’ or ‘telematics’ for example) and words that are used with a meaning, often derived from other languages, that is not usually found in English dictionaries (‘coherent’ being a case in point).
[0] https://www.eca.europa.eu/Other%20publications/EN_TERMINOLOG...