Tips for maintaining your native language

Hiya all,

just wondering how you all cope and fight against it? I've been living in Germany now for a good while and due to this fact I do not often speak english. I've noticed how rusty I've got speaking and writing. Writing is not too bad but speaking. Good thing is that I still have my welsh accent, bit weaker than it was and should be but still. I've got english sat so that I can watch that at times but still I have the feeling that my native tongue is losing the native language which in one was is pissing me off.

How can one avoid this disaster and refresh the language. Normally one learns everyday and the language develops more and more but only when you live in the country and use the language.

Your thoughts on this?

Organize regular ex-pat gatherings in your neck of the wood. Interchange with other native speakers keeps you on your toes.

yeah tried that but very hard down here. That reminds me there is this Mülheim Social Club which I will intend to pop in once I have time.

What really annoys me is when I know the word in German but just can't quite remember the English word. Or when I mutter to myself in German.

Even when I am in England I sometimes speak to people in German without thinking about it!

Even though I mostly speak English with my German friends, I notice that I speak a much more simple form of English and I am losing some of the more intricate vocabulary. I make a conscious effort with my American friends to speak with a bigger vocabulary.

I do the same thing... especially with phone calls back home, as they only speak english, at least here I mix both when I speak and my friends understand (I hope).

I have also noticed a distinct deterioration in my level of English! I speak German all day, live with my Dutch partner and only have German tv. What I find helpful is reading - I used to read German books to improve my German but I have now switched to reading English books to get my standard back up. Unfortunately, I think it is inevitable that as a second language improves and vocabulary increases, the native language suffers!

I totally agree with you. The same feeling I am having and it does what annoy me. So I'm hoping to meet up with other native speakers on a regular basis soon.

I'm having this problem too. I find that reading proper literature (rather than newspapers) like classic novels helps you to remember words of a higher level (I sometimes dumb down my spoken English when speaking with foreigners).

Agree with UrbanAngel. Reading good quality English regularly does help. Usually, I'll just absorb myself in the story, but occasionally I'll read sections of a novel "actively" paying attention to the words used and how the ideas are expressed. (One of my former colleagues also used to swear by the Financial Times as an example of superior quality English in journalism... if you can bring yourself to read the FT!)

yeah I also read english books not only because I enjoy reading but this also slows down the language degrading process some what. I think the only way to activey avoid this is to meet up and chat with speakers if possible on a regular basis.

my brother tells me i speak english with a german accent aaaaaaaaarr im loosing it

Yeah, that´s always good, we´ve got a couple going here. I still forget words though. The worst thing is though, is trying to explain my profession in english having done my training here.

Boy, am I relieved that other people have this problem, too. I thought I was just getting senile in my old age.

Welsh man, if you're really a 'Welshman' then your 'native language' is Cymraeg

Hwyl fawr
cruiser

When you're right then you're right But unfortunately I don't speak welsh at all.

Yechid da

Iechyd da actually, cheers! and ought to have a Ty bach over the Y in both words!

I hear you. Since I'm a dolt at learning languages, I did the complete immersion thing. Which has left my English in shreds. Even though I'm back in the states frequently for work, my level of English has declined. Actually, since I took this job and do more work in English, my German has declined as well.

I've started watching DVDs in English again.

Crosslink to earlier topic : Living in Germany makes your English worse

I'm told I no longer say "Yeah", but rather "Ja".

("but rather" = sondern)

It's bad news, and the only solution seems to be a quick trip back home to the motherland.

yeah so it seems Matt or at least as propsed many times, meet up with other native speakers on a regular basis and then I think we can work against this terrible awsome suffering