Interesting - men are much more likely to do this than women, in my experience. As you say, it's about power and dominance. And you could always learn Welsh, a language in which very few will do this to you ;-)
"This is the vicious circle a lot of language learners get caught in; they’re not getting the practice so they don’t get better, but because they’re no good nobody wants to practice with them.”
At least for the man who spoke heavily accented English, might not this be the root of things? Perhaps the switching isn't about *your* language capabilities at all but rather theirs. To give an example, I've seen fellow Americans who are learning Spanish switch to Spanish at a Mexican restaurant, upon hearing the server speak English with an accent. They don't do it thinking that the server needs help, but rather because they are excited by (and seizing) the opportunity to practice their own skills in a non-native language.
It's a good point, and I've tried to see it from both perspectives. I do think though that you have to expect that if you live in a country with a national language(s), people you are going to meet are generally going to want to speak that language. It's also worth saying that in Germany at least the desire to speak English with foreigners coexists with complaints about foreigners not learning German - but, as you an imagine, it's more offensive when some foreigners don't speak German than others. I speak about this a bit at the start here.
Absolut richtig! This one really hit me where it hurts James -- I've been in Germany for 16 years and it's been an absolute battle to avoid The Switch, even though my German has grown in leaps and bounds. Aside the very old friends for whom speaking in English has been our custom, with the rest I just have to refuse to budge an inch. For me it's always an insult.
Then again, perhaps from their perspective, at some points (i.e. work situations) it might be required for efficiency's sake. And in others, perhaps a subtle act of sabotage against the Anglo-American world empire, or on rare occasions, a person in actual need of English practice whom I am happy to oblige.
But for the most part, if it’s not an outright act of one-upmanship, it’s someone being lazy and wishing to have more enjoyable conversation in the world language, rather than something more halting in their own, regardless of what their interlocutor’s longer-term needs may be.
In any case, I always think better of those who don’t switch. Now even when other native English-speakers attempt to speak in German to ME, I don’t switch to our common language unless they want to. I just think its common courtesy.
Somewhat ironically, I've found Germans living in London always delighted to meet an English bloke who speaks German. I suppose it follows Thomas Mann's logic of 'Wo ich bin, ist Deutschland'. Also weitermachen!
You are better travelled than me, and I'm sure your experience is more common. But when I was recently in Brussels I found people would entertain my attempts at French, however clunky. In fact I often had to initiate the switch to English myself after hitting my limits, though perhaps this means my accent is so bad it's not even detectable as British!
Interesting - men are much more likely to do this than women, in my experience. As you say, it's about power and dominance. And you could always learn Welsh, a language in which very few will do this to you ;-)
I've also found Polish people delighted if I even try a few phrases. Which might make you quite well situated!
"This is the vicious circle a lot of language learners get caught in; they’re not getting the practice so they don’t get better, but because they’re no good nobody wants to practice with them.”
At least for the man who spoke heavily accented English, might not this be the root of things? Perhaps the switching isn't about *your* language capabilities at all but rather theirs. To give an example, I've seen fellow Americans who are learning Spanish switch to Spanish at a Mexican restaurant, upon hearing the server speak English with an accent. They don't do it thinking that the server needs help, but rather because they are excited by (and seizing) the opportunity to practice their own skills in a non-native language.
It's a good point, and I've tried to see it from both perspectives. I do think though that you have to expect that if you live in a country with a national language(s), people you are going to meet are generally going to want to speak that language. It's also worth saying that in Germany at least the desire to speak English with foreigners coexists with complaints about foreigners not learning German - but, as you an imagine, it's more offensive when some foreigners don't speak German than others. I speak about this a bit at the start here.
https://youtu.be/4cF_0cYg15E?si=KDEHpDmlq0hV_xgP&t=84
Absolut richtig! This one really hit me where it hurts James -- I've been in Germany for 16 years and it's been an absolute battle to avoid The Switch, even though my German has grown in leaps and bounds. Aside the very old friends for whom speaking in English has been our custom, with the rest I just have to refuse to budge an inch. For me it's always an insult.
Then again, perhaps from their perspective, at some points (i.e. work situations) it might be required for efficiency's sake. And in others, perhaps a subtle act of sabotage against the Anglo-American world empire, or on rare occasions, a person in actual need of English practice whom I am happy to oblige.
But for the most part, if it’s not an outright act of one-upmanship, it’s someone being lazy and wishing to have more enjoyable conversation in the world language, rather than something more halting in their own, regardless of what their interlocutor’s longer-term needs may be.
In any case, I always think better of those who don’t switch. Now even when other native English-speakers attempt to speak in German to ME, I don’t switch to our common language unless they want to. I just think its common courtesy.
Somewhat ironically, I've found Germans living in London always delighted to meet an English bloke who speaks German. I suppose it follows Thomas Mann's logic of 'Wo ich bin, ist Deutschland'. Also weitermachen!
You are better travelled than me, and I'm sure your experience is more common. But when I was recently in Brussels I found people would entertain my attempts at French, however clunky. In fact I often had to initiate the switch to English myself after hitting my limits, though perhaps this means my accent is so bad it's not even detectable as British!
I'm glad you had that experience. Weird non-specific accent is definitely a boon!