Bozen – All too often even competent non-native speakers of English fall into the trap of speaking a very limited form of the language, which does not really reflect how British people themselves speak. Clearly language is a living thing and develops over time and what was once more than acceptable as a phrase or even a way of behaving and interacting is no longer the accepted norm. Take for example the greeting and question ‘Hello, how are you?’ and the response ‘I am very well thank you’. The exchange would be perfect English but perhaps today one would be far more likely to hear ‘Hi there, are you well?’ and the response ‘Not bad thanks’. Perhaps this is an exaggeration but the example serves to illustrate that we must be familiar with the nuances, variations, and growth of a language if we want to keep abreast of how the natives themselves speak or in another parlance: “let’s speak like they them there do then!”
The task to update and be familiar with actual language used by mother tongue speakers is not an easy one. Indeed the question is not only one of words and phrases but the elements of pitch (the level of your voice) and register (the appropriate words to use depending on who is saying what to whom and in which circumstances) are also considerations – but this is of course true in any language. So let us look at how we can make some difference to our language competency and have a greater flexibility in what we say in the most common everyday situations. Going back to the first greeting of ‘how are you?’ we can say this phrase is much overused and of course is completely wrong to use in a first meeting when the utterance should be ‘how do you do’ or ‘nice to meet you’, and the response should be a repetition of the phrase and not a ‘I am fine thanks’. Indeed it would be considered rude to ask about one’s health at a first meeting with a stranger and ruder still to disclose information on the state of one’s health – as the British would say it is just not the done thing. Just for a moment keeping on with the relevance of the greeting ‘How are you?’ (or is it more precise to call it an enquiry as to one’s health or state of mood), and knowing that we are likely to need words for such many times in our lives, would it not be useful to find out different and more used expressions? Doing so might lead you to a variety of expressions to use such as ‘Are you well?’ or ‘How are you doing?’ or ‘How are things?’ or even the very sophisticated ‘How are you keeping?’. As for the reply to such enquiry we can come up with utterances such as ‘Not too bad thanks’ or ‘I can’t complain’ or even a very honest ‘I’m a bit down in this period’. The examples of reply given are typically British in that they are not great sentiments of joy and good health but if really necessary and the sun is shining and our health is excellent we could find the courage to declare ‘I am on top of the world … and I hope you are too’.
Reflecting on the content above we can conclude that one way to interpret language and to improve one’s competency is to base it on functions, to identify the function of what you are saying, and find out what native speakers say to fulfil this function. Yes, it can be as easy as asking your teacher or English speaking friend, or even having a quite chat with your computer, as to what expressions to use to satisfactorily manage the function in question. To not dwell too much on greetings let us take the function of farewell as an example in this instance. The function could be described in simple terms as ‘saying goodbye to somebody after meeting them in the street’. Just the word ‘goodbye’ could seem a bit cold and detached and lacking in respect so how about ‘Hope to see you again soon’ or even ‘Give me your number and I’ll call you next week for a coffee’. We are dealing with appropriateness of the language and the establishing of effective communication so it would seem only right that in our language learning and improvement and perfection of what we say and what we do we dedicate time to it. We are often lazy of course but just the simple exercise of identifying and writing down what functions we need and then finding expressions ‘to do the job’ is a worthwhile exercise. The applications are many – take for example telephone exchanges. It might be in your job that you regularly talk on the telephone in English and that you do not feel comfortable nor confident about doing it. Solution? Write down the functions of the situations in which you most commonly find yourself in on the telephone and keep the list by your phone ready for use. It is not as stupid a solution as it may sound and for example the notepaper could include:
Problems in Understanding:
- The line’s bad I’m afraid. Could you say that again please?
- Sorry I didn’t catch that. Do you mind repeating?
Asking for confirmation:
- Could you send me an email confirming the order with details on the quantity and delivery requirements?
Finishing the telephone call:
- Well, thank you for calling and look forward to speaking again soon!
- Everything is clear. I will call you if any further information is needed. Good day to you!
The approach suggested may appear a little artificial but it provides a language support so you are able to communicate effectively and remember that when you are telephoning your interlocutor cannot see you reading from prepared notes! Of course after time and sufficient practice you might even be able to dispense with the notes and perform magnificently well without.
To give another lighthearted but crucial example we can look at the weather. Yes, the weather will certainly come up in many conversations so best to be prepared and on your private study notepaper perfect a number of ‘talking about the weather scenarios’. To give you a head-start here are some pointers:
Asking about recent weather conditions:
- What has the weather been like recently?
- Have you had much rain in the last days?
- Complaining about bad weather:
- I am sick and tired of all this rain
- Heaven knows when all this wind will go away
Looking to the future with hope:
- Next summer surely cannot be as bad as last year.
- The forecast is for blue sunny sky. Fingers crossed!
There are many applications of this functional approach to language learning and some of them are of vital importance. Let’s take two extremes as examples. In Britain there is a large Asian community and many of the female members do not speak wonderful English nor indeed do they participate in British life to any great extent. Their main need for English is probably the occasions when they do the shopping so what better way than preparing them for this chore than giving them functional instruction in English for the purposes of asking and understanding names of items, prices and weights and measures. In fact we can refer to this method as community language learning whereby a language portfolio is built up purely with regard to situations and functions and it is commonplace practised in many of the adult education support centres in the UK. And now the second example. Pilots need to both understand and give instructions when liaising with air traffic control and as English is the international language of the skies they need to be super competent in these functions. Therefore there are a number of aviational English courses which emphasise the various functions which pilots need to perform with many hours of practice both in comprehension and production. ‘Turn to the left in 13 seconds’ is after all a very different instruction from ‘Turn to the right in 30 seconds’!
Of course there are other attributes which go to speaking a language well, and a keen observation of behavioural patterns is important. Words are not always necessary and often a smile or a hand on the shoulder is more appropriate than two or a thousand words. Indeed functioning in a language is an art form and can only be acquired if there is an awareness of many factors but what we can certainly do in our own little way is to attempt to function better and in a more appropriate and contemporary manner – just like they them there do! ‘Good luck’ …. or should we say ‘God be with you’ … or should we just smile?
The author: Geoff Barclay spends much time in South Tyrol for business and pleasure and his ‚Brain International Ltd‘ assists individuals, companies and organisations in their internationalisation process – via market entry and business development support and a range of services embracing training, translations, and language immersion abroad – all intended to better equip the interested party looking to expand horizons.