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Fatal error, LBSoD, GAME OVER! – or is it? (#360)

17 December 2011 by OffQc

It’s easy to get frustrated when a francophone switches to English on you, isn’t it? I know because you keep telling me!

Instead of seeing the situation as GAME OVER!!! or as some sort of Linguistic Blue Screen of Death, what if you chose to see it as an opportunity instead? a conversation starter? a good chance for some feedback?

What would happen if you said something like this the next time your francophone interlocutor switches on you:

Ah! Tu passes à l’anglais! Cool, that’s fine with me. Mais… pourquoi? Pourquoi tu passes à l’anglais? 🙂

With a friendly, curious smile. Try asking a “why” question (instead of a yes-no question) to invite the other person to converse with you in French. It may even help to say a few words in English to at least acknowledge the other person’s choice to speak in English to you. (They have just as much right to speak in their other language as you do; it’s that annoying thing called “freedom.”)

How might asking a question like the one above change the way you view the situation? Is it still GAME OVER, a dreaded LBSoD, or is it maybe a good offcois moment in disguise, begging you to take responsibility and try again?

You may not always get your way in the end, and some situations may not even be worth the trouble. But you have full control over the mindset with which you approach your learning and all the obstacles (=opportunities) along the way. Enjoy the challenge!

For the more adventurous among you LBSoD sufferers:

Rather than avoiding language situations where people might switch to English on you, what if you actively sought them instead — just so that you could have the marvellous opportunity to ask the language switchers why they did it?

(And when you’re actively seeking those opportunities, do francophones switch to English on you as much as you thought they would?)

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Posted in Entries #351-400 | 3 Comments

3 Responses

  1. on 17 December 2011 at 08:36 John

    Excellent advice. I have countered sometimes with this: ” Wow, your English is really good. [In Quebec, more often than not this is the gospel truth.]
    Did you learn it at home or at school?” After a short explanation from my interlocutor, I ask if we can continue in French anyway because someday I want to approach his or her ability with my foreign language. Most people are flattered and sometimes go so far as to indicate a better way to phrase what you are trying to say. Of course, I never do this in emergency situations, but I have tried it with policemen (and women), people calling to sell me things over the phone, Canadian border guards, and even at the pharmacy when getting a prescription filled, and almost always successfully.


  2. on 17 December 2011 at 10:48 Embe

    Generally I’ve found that if I just keep speaking/trying to speak in French, people will switch back. They can see you are trying to practice something. Strangely, they might also not even notice they’ve done the switching; people in Montreal are so often so crazy bilingual that they can’t remember which language they just spoke! Also what I’ve found useful is continuing in your inadequate French while saying something apologetically like…”il faut que j’ameliore mon français…” (though avoid doing this to clerks in busy situations etc). Quebecois are super obliging and will often try to speak more slowly. Some switchers are also trying to practice their English.
    My view is to never consider the switching thing (or the not-switching thing!) as a covert political message; that’s just one’s own linguistic anxiety looking for an easy out….I find learning a language means I have to lean on other people, even ask to lean on them and make mistakes in public. It’s all good. Vulnerability makes us more approachable.


  3. on 19 April 2013 at 10:27 Anonymous

    This is great! I do try to use my limited french often opening with “désolé pour mon français”, and it is largley accepted. The problem is when people do switch to English, they don’t expect my English/ “British” accent and we battle on en français. And then I’m asked to say ‘after’, ‘straw’ and ‘talk’ several times, much to peoples delight. J’adore Québec!



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