Do you want to be corrected when you make mistakes in a foreign language?

[jld]

Some people seem to welcome correction, and some don't. Where do you fall on the continuum? Feel free to share why.

[mom2bee]

I like to be corrected, but not in an obnoxious or jargon-spouting way...Just model the correct way its done a few times and tell me, in no uncertain terms, that what I said/did was wrong.

 

I like to be corrected for a few reasons;

1) I want to be able to set a good example for my students on how to accept your own goofs.

2) I want to show that I am still learning and growing myself

3) I want to be fluent in several languages, I do not want to be a grammarian/linguist. I just want to speak, read and understand Spanish, Arabic, German, Japanese, Mandarin, ASL and other languages as they are actually spoken in real life, by real people participating in modern society.

 

I don't like it when people are just nit-picking at me. I don't feel that I'm at the level in any language but English where nitpicking can actually serve me, so its counterproductive to nit-pick at me, but other than that...correct away, please.

[regentrude]

I want to be corrected - in a nice way, please.

 

I LOVE the way my french tutor handles that. I made a mistake in an email, and he used the same phrase correctly in his reply. Or when I say something wrong, he uses the correct phrase in the next sentence when he asks me again about what I just said. This way, I get the hint, but it does not feel in my face.

 

It also depends on the situation. I have no problems if friends or my kids point out that I am using a phrase incorrectly (English is not my native language). I think I might feel picked on if a student was doing the same unasked (that would be OK if I were a language teacher).

[Ester Maria]

In an educational context? Absolutely, how else am I supposed to learn?

 

It's outside of the educational context where it gets tricky. In some instances it can be inappropriate / rude with regards to the situation, especially in public, if not explicitly asked. Wait, it's with regard to the situation, right? Singular? With regard, but as regards? (The devil's in the details...) :tongue_smilie:

 

I don't know how I'd react if somebody started correcting my English here, for example (and I could use it - and how! - on all levels, esp. concerning syntax and idioms). I suppose I would be somewhat amused, a bit embarrassed and truly thankful at the same time - but the latter would prevail, unless it was absolutely clear that the whole point of it was to shed a bad light on me rather than (to? or without to here?) help me express myself in a more agreeable and presentable manner. I would still find it inappropriate, though, as it would interfere with the general flow of the conversation - my personal "profit" would come at the "cost" of a normal, natural conversation for all parties involved.

 

I suppose the same can be applied to most IRL situations: it interrupts the normal flow of whatever is happening at the same time, even if the correction itself is helpful and generally welcome. I wouldn't correct people in most of those, unless explicitly asked in advance, and I would probably also prefer not to be corrected every. single. time. I make a mistake outside of the educational context.

 

In the context of lessons, hours dedicated specifically to conversations in a foreign language and alike (it's and the like, right? :D another one of those common mistakes I make all the time), though, I wouldn't be impressed if I noticed I was "spared" of it (if I noticed I had been spared, right? Because I always notice afterwards... or afterward... Or English still allows using the same tense here, like Italian, if it's a more general claim?). I'd be even less impressed if I noticed I was "spared" because the teacher doesn't know whether they should correct me or not (yes, yes, it's he or she, not they, but... here it's "just" laziness on my part :D), especially if I didn't make a mistake in one of grey areas of the language, but, rather, concerning more clear-cut things. I like being pointed to what's wrong, every time, even at the initial stages of learning, before those mistakes "cement" themselves in my mind through extended periods of incorrect use.

 

Personally, I don't correct people unless asked to do so, outside of the educational context.

[Tress]

Ester Maria :lol::lol:.

 

And, yes, I want to be corrected. Part of the reason I'm on here is to improve my English, so feel free to point out my mistakes :).

[skueppers]

I prefer only to be explicitly corrected if I ask for help. Otherwise, I'm fine with being implicitly corrected (the other person using the same construction in their response to me), but I don't want explicit correction.

 

It would also depend on the kind of mistake and the person doing the correcting. I certainly would never want to be corrected in a business meeting! It's also not particularly helpful to correct what I think of as "deep" mistakes -- for example, correcting the use of pronouns in English by a native speaker of Chinese isn't likely to be helpful unless you know the person is currently working on improving that area of their English. Individual vocabulary words or idiomatic phrases are much easier for a person to learn in response to feedback.

[Rosie_0801]

I correct my kids' godmother's English, because she wants me to. She had a poor education and if not for a couple of friends with better English, she wouldn't progress at all, because most of her social circle has similar levels of English but less inclination to do anything to improve.

 

The level of correction I'm comfortable with depends on what level of learning I am at. If I'm just beginning, correct me if I say something rude because I'm surely not doing it on purpose! Clarify if you don't understand what I'm saying. Other than those instances, leave me be or information overload will prevent me learning anything.

 

When I am able to converse casually for a few hours without getting a headache, I will be able to appreciate and absorb corrections.

 

Of course it all depends who and how, doesn't it? If someone speaks to you only to correct you, well you don't think pleasant things about them. ;) Corrections are more comfortable and less disruptive to fluent people's socialising in one on one conversations, or an intimate circle.

 

Rosie

Edited March 9, 2011 by Rosie_0801

[cdgni]

I want to learn how to speak correctly, but not every moment is the time for correction.

 

So, if I'm in a calm place and I can hear and respond to the correction in a timely manner.. I'm all for it.

 

But if we are in a market and trying to make my point and the person understands me, then no, I don't want corrected.

 

I also don't want to be corrected if the person is condescending. (i.e. a certain child who speaks much better than me and is sometimes rude about how I might pronounce a word!)

[enviromommy]

Some people seem to welcome correction, and some don't. Where do you fall on the continuum? Feel free to share why.

 

I am a perfectionist. So on the one hand, in theory, I very much want to be corrected so that I can learn to speak a language "perfectly." On the other hand, I sometimes become deeply mortified, almost paralyzed with embarrassment, if I find out I have made a silly mistake in a foreign language.

 

However, I'd rather be corrected than be making the same mistake over and over without realizing it.

[Spock]

Some people seem to welcome correction, and some don't. Where do you fall on the continuum? Feel free to share why.

 

It depends. My husband (a native Spanish speaker) will sometimes correct me when I am emotional (excited/angry/unhappy) and trying to tell him how I feel or why. At that time I do NOT want to interrupt the flow of what I am saying to correct my grammar (especially when it is a grammar point I know, and I just misspoke). [The grammar mistake he corrects most frequently in these situations is the use of y/o when I should say e/u--such as saying "y ingles" when I should say "e ingles". I know perfectly well I should say that, but sometimes don't do it in conversation if I get involved in the topic.

 

However, I DO want to improve my grammar, and I appreciate it when he corrects me after I finish, instead of in the middle of my sentence--if, of course, he acknowledges and responds to what I was saying also, and doesn't ignore what I said to focus on how I said it.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Spock

[jld]

It depends. My husband (a native Spanish speaker) will sometimes correct me when I am emotional (excited/angry/unhappy) and trying to tell him how I feel or why. At that time I do NOT want to interrupt the flow of what I am saying to correct my grammar (especially when it is a grammar point I know, and I just misspoke). [The grammar mistake he corrects most frequently in these situations is the use of y/o when I should say e/u--such as saying "y ingles" when I should say "e ingles". I know perfectly well I should say that, but sometimes don't do it in conversation if I get involved in the topic.

 

However, I DO want to improve my grammar, and I appreciate it when he corrects me after I finish, instead of in the middle of my sentence--if, of course, he acknowledges and responds to what I was saying also, and doesn't ignore what I said to focus on how I said it.

 

That would really irritate me, too, Spock. You're really nice to speak Spanish to your dh even during an emotional time!

 

My dh sometimes corrects my French, but not that often. But we don't speak French together that often, either. The kids sometimes correct me, but I don't really speak French to them that often, either. I do appreciate the corrections, though.

 

Probably one of the biggest mistakes dh and I have made is that he has not spoken French to me like he has to the kids. His English was better than my French when we met, and so we just started our relationship with English, and it's never really changed. I do notice we speak more French when we're in France, and of course we speak it to each other when we're with other French speakers.

 

Dh also just isn't too big into correction; he's very relaxed and easy-going, and really only corrects anyone on anything if he thinks it's absolutely necessary.

[Guest harry]

Generally I prefer to get (and give) corrections right on the spot.

The exception is when there needs to be flow in the conversation or argument.

 

At that point any interruption becomes an obstruction rather than help.

[Yenisei]

I do like to be corrected, but I think it should usually be done in a manner that is as unobstrusive as possible.

 

When I first started learning German, my girlfriend's neighbors had two young kids who corrected my mistakes, which was pretty funny but actually helped me. Kids are of course less discreet than adults when it comes to things like that.

[justamouse]

Yes I want to be corrected, but how is the question. I'll give my mother as an example. ;) She'll rattle something off, I'll respond and she'll rattle me a correction--so quickly that my ear can't differentiate between the slight vowel changes. Sometimes it takes coming at the thing from behind-seeing where the person is having the problem and showing them the difference between what they are going and what they should be doing, you know?

 

So now she knows to tell me the vowel changes, not just the word itself. It is very hard for an adult's ear to be trained, much easier for a child.

[zillymom]

I really appreciate when my Italian is corrected! I always appreciate it on online forums or my blog (especially my blog, since grammar is one of my weaknesses and I use that blog specifically for practice). I appreciate it in conversation too, although my situation is more set up for that - I don't have a native speaker to talk to in "real life", just a few Skype friends. We are chat buddies specifically for language exchange/learning.

[desertmum]

I don't mind being corrected. I may blush, then shrug and move on...