The Non-native English Common Mistakes Thread

[evilshell]

	Quote:	Hsiang
	when I was in London, i was often greeted with "You all right?" is this the equivalent of "how do you do?"

Yep, it is...but coming from a place where if you're asked if you're alright makes you wonder if you look like you're on death's door, it is a dumbfounding greeting. And I think I'd sound a tad odd saying it back, it doesn't roll off my tongue

[Hsiang]

	Quote:	evilshell
	it is a dumbfounding greeting. And I think I'd sound a tad odd saying it back, it doesn't roll off my tongue

dumbfounding is correct, i wasn't sure how to answer the first time, and in fact, giggled a little

[evilshell]

	Quote:	Hsiang
	dumbfounding is correct, i wasn't sure how to answer the first time, and in fact, giggled a little

Heh, I did the fish movement. Mouth opens and closes a few times, look of "do I look that bad??!" on my face. I now just answer with "Doing pretty good, thanks, you?"

[Hsiang]

	Quote:	evilshell
	Heh, I did the fish movement. Mouth opens and closes a few times, look of "do I look that bad??!" on my face. I now just answer with "Doing pretty good, thanks, you?"

i'll remember that the next time, provided i don't giggle

thinking of London conjures up images of roast duck though, maybe i'll pop over next month

[Slaphead]

	Quote:	evilshell
	Yep, it is...but coming from a place where if you're asked if you're alright makes you wonder if you look like you're on death's door, it is a dumbfounding greeting. And I think I'd sound a tad odd saying it back, it doesn't roll off my tongue

As a Brit myself please allow me to clarify.

"Alright" is simply a greeting, in much the same way as "how are you doing". Normally it's answered with "alright" itself, or "ok, you?" and variations thereof.

"you alright?" is generally used when somebody looks a bit squiffy, either through drinking to much, or perhaps eating something that disagrees with them. It's also used when somebody appears to be somewhat down. Normal answers to this include "yeah fine but this will be the last one", "I'm absolutely (insert profanity here) munted, I'm going for a kebab", in the case of sickness "I'll be alright in a minute", or in the case of somebody looking somewhat depressed expect a rhetoric about the very recent ex, or money.

"are you alright?" is somewhat of a redundant question. When one must resort to asking this then things are already pretty bad. The answer to this question depends on the severity of your correspondents injury or sickness. The answer you'll receive can vary greatly. Expect profanity in quantity, and in bad situations expect a derisory look As to why you wasted time asking, and haven't yet called an ambulance. In the worst circumstances don't expect any answer whatsoever.

Hope that helps

[Hsiang]

	Quote:	Slaphead
	"you alright?" is generally used when somebody looks a bit squiffy, either through drinking to much, or perhaps eating something that disagrees with them.

but they used it at the store at i was shopping at... now that you've mentioned it, I might've been fairly merry back then

[Hsiang]

some common pronunciation errors to avoid for all non-natives, especially in legal matters...

How does this work?

[PaperMoon2]

	Quote:	evilshell
	It is never appropriate to use "r" or "u", but it is correct to say "how are you?". And answering with "I'm good" is just fine.

True, "r" and "u" are only to be used with people you know very well and in a chat or phone text message for like a shortcut. But when writing normally you have to write out "are" and "you".

[PaperMoon2]

	Quote:	evilshell
	Yep, it is...but coming from a place where if you're asked if you're alright makes you wonder if you look like you're on death's door, it is a dumbfounding greeting. And I think I'd sound a tad odd saying it back, it doesn't roll off my tongue

	Quote:	Hsiang
	some common pronunciation errors to avoid for all non-natives, especially in legal matters... How does this work?

LOL!!! That's funny! I didn't know what he was saying when he was saying "aleeby" instead of alibi. LOL! Yeah how you pronounce it makes all the difference in the world!

[evilshell]

	Quote:	PaperMoon2
	True, "r" and "u" are only to be used with people you know very well and in a chat or phone text message for like a shortcut. But when writing normally you have to write out "are" and "you".

Or by the....

nah, I won't say it.

[eng_ch]

	Quote:	seeingbee
	Native German speakers often ask: "Can you borrow me a ___?" Correct usage: "Can you lend me a ___?" "Can I borrow a ___ from you?"

I haven't read the whole thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating anything, but I gather from my OH who worked there a lot that Scouse dialect does in fact use "Can you borrow me a pencil" instead of "Can you lend me a pencil"

	Quote:	Sky
	"She" can be only used for ships, cars and sometimes aeroplanes, otherwise, unless you know the gender, it's "it".

And motorbikes!

A message to all the English and non-english natives, please learn that 'loose' does not mean 'lose'. This particular one gets my pedantic persona banging his head against the wall.

Cheers

Jim

[Carlos R]

	Quote:	Velofellow
	Quote: Sky "She" can be only used for ships, cars and sometimes aeroplanes, otherwise, unless you know the gender, it's "it". And motorbikes!

And the wife. And the wife. Don't forget the wife! She gets annoyed if referred to as "it".

[Little_Polka]

Hehe the ones I hear/read a lot (and yes, I am a non-native speaker, I am having some problems with English too):

Hello together (in the beginning and the end of the day...)
I putted....
I learned them this and that.
"Are results" instead of "our results"
Changing "ph" into "f"
"Coach" instead of "couch" (yesterday on FB one of my English friends posted: I am on my coach, bored to death" )
Spelling VILL, VE, WERY, TINK and so on

I guess all the non-native speakers are trying their best but it is hard to learn when one spends most of the time with non-natives making mistakes (at least in my case).

Edit: feel free to correct me

[bozothedeathmachine]

I haven't read the whole thread either, so I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this.

Hearing the native German speakers make these mistakes helps me learn German, especially when it comes to grammatical structure and words they use interchangeably that we don't, EG "aroma" vs "taste" that was brought up earlier.

ETA: It should also help me learn Czech* as my 4-year-old will often translate word-for-word from CZ to English.

*Should I even actually want to learn it. Which I don't. Don't tell my wife.

[eng_ch]

I guess the most telling of all is the mispronunciation of th as S (I sink). Which is odd, because native English speakers who mispronounce th pronounce it as F (I fink). I grew up in South London and I remember sessions at primary school that taught everyone exactly how to pronounce th (put your tongue between your teeth and blow)

[bozothedeathmachine]

	Quote:	eng_ch
	I guess the most telling of all is the mispronunciation of th as S (I sink). Which is odd, because native English speakers who mispronounce th pronounce it as F (I fink). I grew up in South London and I remember sessions at primary school that taught everyone exactly how to pronounce th (put your tongue between your teeth and blow)

That's because the "th" is not a phonic in the Germanic languages. So it's not learned and is not really natural. Same way Americans can't really perfect an English access and vice versa.

[mirfield]

	Quote:	bozothedeathmachine
	Same way Americans can't really perfect an English access and vice versa.

That's true. It's funny when Americans try to copy my quite broad Yorkshire accent and sound more like Dick van Dyke.

I'm sure my New York accent is perfect though. Cwoffee. Foggeddaboudid.

[eng_ch]

	Quote:	bozothedeathmachine
	That's because the "th" is not a phonic in the Germanic languages. So it's not learned and is not really natural.

Yes, I realise that but it CAN be learned and fairly easily. It's not a sound you need to learn when you learn to speak - but someone has to tell you the mechanics if you haven't learned it early on. About half the primary class came from families who hadn't taught them to speak "properly" (forgive the term - remember this was S London) and had to learn their THs at school at the age of 8. I don't know whether TEFL teachers commonly teach the mechanics of the sound - maybe they never remember learning it themselves?