Understanding a Non-Native Speaker

Can fluent but non-native speakers communicate more effectively with each other than with native speakers? I wonder.

The flowers are sunflowers dyed with purple dye, so that the petals are red and the leaves purple. My boyfriend gave them to me, and I think they're lovely (and they match my couch), so I put them in the video.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• prepoceros
• language
• speaking
• understanding
• fluent
• native
• non-native
• speaker
• communication
• foreign
• samson

[jlammetje]

This is exactly what I'm noticing in communications with my fellow English Master students! The Dutch students tend to choose the same words in certain situations, and understand each other perfectly, while foreign students (whose English is fine!) do not understand because they would use different words.

I think the common language background is more important than the speed of talking.

[sannetussch22]

@sannetussch22 and being used to languages. I live near the border of Germany I speak it but I can't understand it that well when someone is speaking it. In Germany people don't learn English like we do in Holland. In Holland we use subtitles with a different language (especially English). But in Germany they synchronize the whole movie so they learn it less so speak it less.

[sannetussch22]

When I where in Indonesia I where speaking with people that actually only spoke a few words. I mean if you said baked egg instead of sunny side up they all ready would be like what are you saying. But my mom and dad sometimes asked them for some things. And I where mostly the one that could understand them with just a few words so not even a sentence. In Thailand is the r a l and they talk so softly but I always could understand them so I think it has more to do with how your going to say things

[WeeMcNiCoL]

My answer to your question is PRO and CONS

[oescolhido691]

Well, Im not an english native speaker, but i understand better others not native speakers than native speakers. I get really offended when a native speaker makes fun of me, or pretends to not understand me

[ifosfamid]

I've noticed that I often understand other non-native speakers more easily than native speakers understand the non-native speakers. Or at least that's my impression after reading the comments on videos on youtube. I also think that it depends on what country you're from. Smaller countries lke Belgium, Sweden, Norway.. have more english media (TV, books, movies). In lager countries like France or Germany everythings is translated.

[Mottahead]

I'm happy that this video is about understanding non-native speakers.

Some people actually do videos mocking non-native speakers and they think they're being funny while they do this sort of thing.

My answer to these people - you know, the geniuses that speak fluent English, even when they have nothing better to do then mocking other people - is:

People who speak English as a second language are actually bilingual (or even trilingual). So , geniuses, how many languages you speak, by the way?

[sbelanto]

Some things you spoke about in the video brought up some very interesting issues for someone like me who partakes in a strictly non-primary language community: Esperanto. Unfortunately, I learned about Esperanto only a f t e r I traveled extensively in Europe.

[sbelanto]

You can’t imagine how much I regret not having heard of Esperanto at a younger age. It would have been so nice to use their networks while traveling and having a built-in language to communicate in, to boot.

[sbelanto]

There are still better and worse speakers to contend with in Esperanto. But I must say it is so nice to generally understand 95% of the Esperanto I hear spoken. Can I understand native English speakers better in Esperanto? I hate hearing the native English accent in Esperanto, even if I have one myself, and even if it was designed to be spoken and still understood with accents.