February 17, 2006
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How to translate salsa into a good life analogy...
In salsa, it doesn't matter if YOU are a good dancer - your partner has to be one as well ..furthermore, it doesn't matter how much the girl knows - the guy is still the leader and the couple looking good depends on his ability to lead.... hmmm....
ARGH
Last night, I was trying to find my friend's house and asked this man, in Russian "do you know where this englishman lives?", except that I couldn't remember how to properly say "englishman" so he looks at me, all weird, and says "you don't speak Russian very well, do you?". AAARGH. I say that you should never ever say to someone... "you don't speak <such and such> language very well, do you?"... you let the PERSON say that himself, and no matter what, you should always say "no, no.. it's fine" or "no, not bad"... or "no, very good!" Saying "you're not very good" to a language learner is the most discouraging, worst thing you could say. In fact, saying "you're not very good" to any learner of anything is probably the most discouraging, worst thing you could say. There's some advice for you.
Comments (6)
i watched 'dancing w/ the stars' (whatever you call it) and it was pretty hilarious. i give them props for learning these dances in a limited amount of time, but there's some high comedy going out there on the dance floor. the facial expressions alone are priceless.
i think it's funny that you ask a random person if they know where an englishman lives. don't get discouraged. just think about my 5 year old student!
so i should stop saying "you're not very good at this" to the 8 year olds i work with?
it's funny because i thought you were talking about salsa that goes with chips.
ewhee
You know, I kinda noticed that about Russian speakers, that at least the ones I've encountered have had few qualms about correcting you or, um, offering "feedback". I think it's a matter of being gracious as english-speakers, though - Russian's a fantastically tough language to learn and all, but English is a whole 'nutha basket of whup-worms wrt difficulty.
I would've responded with "You don't have a very handsome face, do you?... ugly."
When did you leave Japan? 日本語 できますか？ ダーニ は ちょっと くるっている です。
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