Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

gear2000 · Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 48 Location: atlanta,USA

Of course lets take out people whose first language is english.
Then who speak english more simliar to native speaker?
including writing skills.....
Im from Asia, and i have always felt Asian learner is the worst..hehe
Sad but true
whats ur opinion about this??

ABADI · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: jeddah, KSA

when i was studing at the british council,one of my teachers told me that Arabs are the best in ESL, i'm not sure if that true but yes we as Arabs speak english clearly

gear2000 · Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 48 Location: atlanta,USA

any scientific explanation?

ABADI · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: jeddah, KSA

ummm first of all let me say that again Razz

i'm not sure if that true Razz

anyway i'll point out some similarity between English and my mother tongue which is Arabic. these things in common between them might be a good explanation for my teacher's opinion.
1) Most of the sounds in Arabic are also in English, and vise-versa, i'll give ya some examples if you are interested in that.
2) The basic word order in the spoken language is subject-verb-object, just as it is in English.

BTW, most Arabs learn English as a foreign language, ( EFL ) not as ESL coz there is no actual use of English outside the class.

nostril5 · Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 65

First, this really depends on the individual, but in my experience the Dutch have the best English. The Scandanavians are second and then the Swiss.
Arabs seem to be similar to many South Americans - great communication but grammar and pronunciation...
And, yes, most Asian students find English more difficult at a high level. The language and the culture are very different. Of Asian students, the Japanese seem to be more likely to be in a high level class than others. I wonder if it is because they have more exposure to Western culture.
Still, much better than my second language Crying or Very sad

It's my experience over 13 years of teaching EFL.
Mike
http://www.write4ielts.bravehost.com

Criollo · Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 4 Location: U.S.A

nice questions, I think it have to do with the root languages, I think the scandinavians and germanics can speak it more easily, while asians (including all asia) have more trouble because they have complet different language and sounds, but... I think avery person that it try hard could achieve good results.
_________________
El Criollo
excuse my English, is not my native language...

ABADI · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: jeddah, KSA

Criollo · Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 4 Location: U.S.A

ABADI · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: jeddah, KSA

Azaquiel · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 55

Most of the asians I know only have trouble with the English language due to the fact that they don't practice enough.

Sure they go to English-taught schools on a daily basis but, once they get home, they are surrounded by asian languages until they have school the next day. As a learning environment, they have a real tough time adjusting simply because they aren't really making any adjustments nor improvements to their language barriers.
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nostril5 · Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 65

Criollo did not say Arabic was completely different to English. If Abadi got that impression, maybe it is just a reflection on how Abadi's language is used, not English.

Mike

notajuliet · Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 40

A lot of the time non-native speakers actually do a better job than native ones because they never get used to slang and shortcuts.

bahar spring · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Posts: 1

German, Italians and Greeks have AN obvious accent. Chineese and oriental Asians can not speak and understand easily unfortunately(sORRY), though they get high grades from English tests. I m not sure about Arabs, but their accent is very noticeable.

The Dutch is very good also. AND Scandinavians re second.

That means NOSTRIL5 s correct

minicat · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 22

nostril5 · Joined: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 65

I am an Australian teacher with 15 years experience.

I agree with you that Mandarin Chinese speakers SHOULD have quite good pronunciation. However, the fact is that most do not. I am surprised at this.

I am also surprised at the fact that in Advanced classes, the Asian students who seem to do the best are often Japanese.

I know that the Chinese professors I have taught have been surprised that they share classes with Japanese high school students and they said the same thing as you at first. However, they went home with a different attitude.

Of course everyone is different and I am sure that you will also have great English in the future.

Rgds,

Mike