GreenDustESL homework
Reversed, this is how English as a first language conversations go in foreign lands
In many countries they don’t even ask. They recognize your accent and reply in English right away.
NotSteve_Very much how it is in Québec which is unfortunate as someone trying yo better my French
sounds like you need to work more on your “hon hon hon” and a little less on your “baguette”.
I can carry a basic conversation - certainly enough to get by and be understood. last time I went to Quebec though, most locals were like “hell naw” and assumed I couldn’t. This is without even speaking a word, though. They had an uncanny ability to guess my primary language by appearance alone.
This is in Montreal, btw. I did spend some time around the Mont Mégantic valley area (super rural, basically farm country vibes) where I encountered people whose English was worse than my French. I was able to get some practice in with them, but I could tell they didn’t necessarily like it haha!
So I find it to actually be a really helpful “barometer” of language skill. When I’m in France, if I go in a store and conduct s full conversation in French, I know my accent, word choice, and general language skill is good. If halfway through the exchange we switch to English, I know I either made an egregious language error or I started sounding like an American. If the conversation switched to English right away, I either made a critical language mistake OR I just happened across a very competent English speaker.
In American English it would go
“Do you speak English”
“Nein”
“O K. I. Will. Talk. Slow. So. You. Can. Under. stand. Me.”