Comments on: How to Get People to Stop Speaking English to You (i.e. How to Get Native L2 Speakers to Speak the L2 to You) /how-to-get-people-to-stop-speaking-english-to-you-i-e-how-to-get-native-l2-speakers-to-speak-the-l2-to-you/ You don't know a language, you live it. You don't learn a language, you get used to it. Sat, 04 Jul 2020 16:09:19 +0900 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.13 By: Ana /how-to-get-people-to-stop-speaking-english-to-you-i-e-how-to-get-native-l2-speakers-to-speak-the-l2-to-you/#comment-1000559993 Sun, 11 Feb 2018 05:16:38 +0000 /?p=31487#comment-1000559993 This post completely resonates with my experience in recent weeks! Although I have now lived in Hong Kong for 4 years, I feel I should have mastered the language much sooner, but anyway, I finally started completely abandoning English and only brainwashing myself with my favorite Cantonese media (which is mostly 60’s to 80’s movies, series and music – because I was probably a HKer in my past life).

Since I’m of (mixed) Asian heritage (not Chinese though), I don’t have any problems having strangers speak to me in Cantonese in daily life, something that I think is super for my Cantonese learning (if everyone expects me to know it, then I also have high expectations of myself to know it!). But friends and acquaintances (and my now bf) have been used to speaking to me in English since when my Cantonese was a halting intermediate level.

A few weeks ago (when I decided to abandon all English YouTube) I decided I had enough of being seen as an English speaker (English is not my L1 anyways…), and tried only speaking Cantonese with an acquaintance who I feel only wants to be friends with me because I’m an English speaking foreigner – just to mess with her and maybe leave me alone to find someone else to speak English to. From there it snowballed, and other friends were more willing to speak Cantonese with me, so my level skyrocketed! Even though my bf still can’t abandon his habit of speaking English with me, I’m still persistent with Cantonese and won’t let a single full sentence of English come out of my mouth (because I know it’s then a slippery slope back to Englishland…).

I can now say I’m relatively fluent (working towards native level) and really strict on keeping an authentic accent (although more 60’s-80’s style accent – which I love much more than how many youngsters today speak with their 懶音). Not only that, but I super love bathing in the Cantonese media and am now spending almost all waking hours when I’m alone either watching old kung fu series (like 天蠶變), listening to 80’s Cantopop or listening to 80’s 衛斯理廣播劇).

PS! You mentioned Genghis Khan in this post, I just happened to learn the lyrics of 林子祥’s song 成吉思汗 by heart last night: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXNk3UrPO00

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