Don’t automatically switch to English when non-native speakers talk to you in your language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was learning Dutch, this was a huge frustration of mine. Even though my Dutch was good, the moment I\u2019d slip up in an interaction\u2014or had to ask someone to repeat themselves\u2014most Dutch people would just switch straight to English (or German) without batting an eyelash. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I appreciate that people who do this are simply trying to be kind, from a language learning standpoint, they are really doing more harm than good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyday interactions are a huge part of learning and mastering a new language. Give non-native speakers the chance to take risks and make mistakes when they speak with you. When you see expats or immigrants struggling with your native language, please let them keep trying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Folks need practice to have any hope of becoming fluent. And practice really does make perfect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll probably recognize that the same principle applies if English is a second language for you: the more you use it, the better it gets. Let non-natives use your language the best they can in the same way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll be doing them a huge favor.\u00a0\u00a0\ud83d\ude07\u270c\ufe0f<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Don’t automatically switch to English when non-native speakers talk to you in your language. When I was learning Dutch, this was a huge frustration of mine. Even though my Dutch was good, the moment I\u2019d slip up in an interaction\u2014or had to ask someone to repeat themselves\u2014most Dutch people would just switch straight to English … Continue reading How to help non-natives learn your language<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Help non-natives learn your language the easy way: when they run into trouble, don't switch to English. Just let them keep going!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[273],"tags":[604969259,604969260],"class_list":["post-5505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-foreign-language-learning","tag-second-language-acquisition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t