Voices en Español

When it comes to doing language exchanges, there’s a right way and a wrong way to correct your partner. Everyone always feels self-conscious, especially at the beginning, about speaking a foreign language with a native speaker. And if that conversation is happening over MSN Messenger or via Skype where you can’t see the other person, it can be even more nervewracking.

Here are four tips on the right way and the wrong way to offer corrections.

1. Never say “That’s bad English.”
Why is this statement not good? Because the listener will invariably hear only the word “bad” and take it personally. The human ego, particularly the adult ego, is fragile. And when it comes to learning languages, many adults can be hyper-sensitive and misinterpret a remark like this as criticism. It’s better to say “That’s not standard English” or “It sounds more natural to say ….”

2. Don’t interrupt when the other person is telling a story or a joke.
I once had an intercambio who frequently interrupted me while I was speaking. At first I welcomed it but then it became very disruptive and distracting. His corrections were so detailed and long-winded that 5 minutes later I had lost both my train of thought and any desire to finish whatever story or joke I was trying to tell.

If your language partner is seaching for a word or a phrase, of course, help them out, but don’t stop them dead in their tracks, in mid-sentence, with a lengthy explanation that could throw off their conversational rhythm.

3. Offer major corrections in the moment and small corrections at the end.

I define a major error as something that is so incorrect it leads to misunderstanding. In other words, it’s a mistake so big that it shuts down communication because the listener is confused by what the speaker is trying to say.

If someone makes a huge error, you should correct that right away. For example, one of my intercambios has the unusual habit of saying “your” when she means to say “his” or “her.” You can imagine how confusing this is when she’s talking about someone and she keeps using the pronoun “your” when what she really means to say is “his” or “her.” That’s a huge error. So I gently correct her in the moment as soon as she makes it.

But if it is a small error, I take note and wait until the end of the conversation to point out the mistake. That way the other person gets the benefit of expressing their thoughts as well as they can and build their confidence without the distraction of receiving corrections every five seconds. I discretely take notes in a small notebook to remind me of what the mistakes were so I can accurately refer to them later on at the right moment. (Sidenote: I also encourage and welcome the same treatment from my Spanish-speaking intercambio so that I can learn  from my mistakes and improve.)

I define a small error as something that is incorrect but not so bad that it prevents the listener from understanding what the speaker wishes to convey.

For example, it’s common for Spanish speakers studying English to say “The people is …” instead of “The people are…” It’s a natural mistake because in Spanish, “people” is singular, so “the people is” would be grammatically correct in Spanish. Although this same statement it’s grammatically incorrect in English, an English speaker would have no trouble understanding the rest of that sentence even with that grammatical error.

4. Acknowledge something that the other person did well.

Look for ways to give positive reinforcement. There is always something good you can say. Always. Maybe it was their use of adjectives. Perhaps they gave you a good book or movie suggestion. Or how about that useful explanation they gave you about a piece of slang you picked up from a song? Just the mere fact that the other person showed up for the intercambio is important and you can appreciate them for that.

Whatever you do, always look for a way to show your appreciation, to transmit something positive from the encounter, so that the other person leaves the session feeling generally upbeat about the intercambio and looking forward to the next session.

In what ways do you like to be corrected when you speak Spanish?

Photo by Fil and used with permission.