Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

Yeah, I was thinking, I'm so glad you don't work with me Chris!

I HATE it when Native English speakers try to speak to me in Spanish when no one else is around. HATE HATE HATE IT! Hey, I'm not you're Spanish teacher buddy!

I generally go by majority rule in social settings, becuase most of the people around me are trying to learn one of the two languages, if there are six Spanish speakers and 2 English speakers, we speak Spanish, if its the other way around we speak English. Of course if the information is very important, the biliguals make sure everyone has understood.

I also think its very selfish to speak to your students in Spanish outside of class. In this case you are their English teacher. When I was a Spanish student in the US and I saw my Spanish teachers out and about, they always spoke to me in Spanish. They were invested in my learning, I owe it to my students to at least try to do the same.

[lozwich]

[Guy Courchesne]

I love having the opportunity to speak Spanish with English speakers...especially the irony of it when no one else is around. Sometimes, I'll meet someone in the street or at a restaurant and the conversation starts in Spanish...some time later, the question comes up 'de donde eres?' and we both realize we're native English speakers. I suppose it speaks well of my own Spanish abilities, and is easier to do in DF where there is a good mix of foreigners running around....no way to visually tell where someone is from.

I have a hard time with Brazilians speaking to me in Spanish...I find it difficult to understand.

Melee, in what language do you and your husband communicate? My wife and I have a strange mix of Spanish, English, and Spanglish.

[MELEE]

[corporatehuman]

Well, to each his own, what can I say.

I was a touch melodramatic in my sentence. I -have- spoken English, with my co-workers, I prefer not to. And you are right, if you don't want to spend English, don't hang out with them.

And that's exactly what I've done. However, when you don't hang out with people, then they think you don't like them. Yet, I don't like to force people to speak Spanish if they don't want to. I'm damned either way.

So for now, I just try to create, or participate in social situations with majority Spanish speakers.

As for my students, please withhold the judgment. If by speaking to them in Spanish outside of class, that somehow means I'm not interested in their learning English, that's just not correct. I am interested in them learning English, that's why I teach, work hard to teach, have good classes. I'm also interested in learning Spanish. That's why I speak Spanish outside of class. My work is in school, my life is outside it.

- Chris

[ls650]

This topic reminds me of a phrase often heard in my classes:
"Um, it depends on the situation..."

[pollitatica]

You refuse to speak English outside of the classroom to your students? Doesn't that seem completely against the point of teaching them English?

[wildnfree]

I feel very strongly about this issue.

As corporate said, we are paid to do a job, which we do well. Outside of work we are entitled to practice in the languages of our choice. By speaking Spanish to students outside the classroom, it is by far from selfish and shows:

1. You are respectful and interested in their linguitic background;

2. You respect the culture of the host nation and attempt to intergrate;

3. You are trying to enrich your own living experience;

4. You are not one of those imperialistic English speakers who goes around the world expecting todo el mundo to understand him/her. This is the Ugly American syndrome.

5. You will acquire fluency in the host language in order to communicate better with students of lower levels in English (ie explaining grammar ect).

[MELEE]

[lozwich]

[Justin Trullinger]

Well said , Loz.

Sometimes the soul of courtesy is to let the other person decide.

As a "guest" of Ecuador, I don't necessarily feel it's my decision to make. I work in a weird limbo between the two languages, as I do teach, but most of my time is spent running the administrative side of our English department. My Spanish is fluent, and it is the language I use with most of my office colleagues; if it's more comfortable for students to speak to me in Spanish outside of class, that's fine with me. This often comes up when dealing with schedules, qualms or issues about what's happening in class, or what have you, especially if any of these conversations take place on the phone. However, if someone chooses to speak to me in my native language, I feel that part of my mission as an educator is to be patient and helpful with it- even if it would be easier and faster for me to do it in Spanish. I wouldn't like to make the implied statement that their English isn't good enough. (Which I feel is what a shift into Spanish would say.) If someone who I don't know well, or who may not know that I speak Spanish, is obviously having trouble with English, I may let them know that I would be willing to speak Spanish, and then let them choose. If they choose to struggle on in English, well, I respect their commitment to practicing, and try to help as best I can.

I guess I do feel differently in other situations, when talking to strangers. Nothing winds me up more than bartenders, servers, and people involved in attention to the public who insist on using their incomprehensible English, when all I want is to get a beer or something, in whatever language is best for the purpose! In my job, I am a representative of a cultural education organisation, and feel I need to act accordingly. There are times, however, when I wish people would ignore my foreign-ness when I'm not working. I'd be most happy to be able to go out in public without being mistaken for a free English practice service. Even in these cases, if people actually speak English, it doesn't bother me. But when they insist on using it, allegedly for my convenience, and it makes my life more difficult, I resent it.


Best,
Justin

[hlamb]

This is definitely one of those things that depends on the situation and the people involved. I have had some students who love to talk to me in Spanish outside the school because they can see that I am attempting to learn their language. They feel proud when they are able to help me a bit, and it usually makes them more attentive in class. But others prefer to speak English and get some extra practice. This is fine with me, because it's partly why I am here. I let them choose, but I encourage them to practice their English if they want.

With coworkers it can be difficult. I had a secretary at my school last year refuse to speak Spanish to me because she said she had trouble understanding my accent. That really bothered me because I was trying hard to learn. When I'm with native English speakers I prefer to use English. It's comforting to have someone to talk to where no language effort is required. It's a nice break from all the time I spend on the streets working on my Spanish.

[ls650]

[Justin Trullinger]

Yesterday, I had a waitress explain to me, in Spanish, that she couldn't understand foreigners speaking Spanish. We conversed at some length, and she never remarked on the fact that we were, in fact, communicating quite well in Spanish in spite of my being foreign. Some people are just weird.

I find that some people constantly have to be reminded that some foreigners can speak Spanish. A great example was the clerk in a hotel where I stayed recently- When I first met him, he spoke to me in the baby-talk Spanish that some people reserve for foreigners and the mentally retarded, with the few English words he knew thrown in. When he noticed that I was chatting rather more normally, he complimented me on my Spanish, and told me quite a lot about the area I was visiting. (in "normal Spanish") I ran into him later on in a caf�, and though he recognised me, the baby-talk had returned. We chatted a bit, he eventually got it, and we talked normally. Then next morning, we were back to short words and many gestures to handle checking out of the hotel...oh well.

Such is the life of a foreigner abroad. If you aren't willing to confront other people's prejudices as well as your own, this may not be a career choice for you.

Best,
Justin

[JZer]