I belong to two speech communities, which are japanese and English. As I am living among people who speak English, I regularly use English to communicate with my surroundings. However, I studied in Australia for a while. So even though I do not consider myself to be a high level speaker of English, I sometimes recognize the difference between Aussie English and American English. For instance, I tend to say "cheers, mate" instead of "thanks buddy" as well as "no worries" instead of "you are welcome"which seem to sound strange for Americans.
On the other hand, it is also true that since I miss speaking Japanese and of course it is easy for me to speak it, I tend to denpend on my ability in Japanese, which could disturb my improvement in English.
On Thursday, I and my friends talked about our backgrounds including languages, what our hometowns look like and so on. I observed how my friends expressed themselves in terms of their tones, volumes and communication techniques.
Settings and Scene
The conversation took place in my room on Thursday. It started when I showed my friends the pictures of my house in Japan. All of us shared questions and answers in a friendly way.
Participants
While one person was speaking, others were listening to the one carefully except for the time they had different opinions. We kind of took turns expressing ourselves.
Instrumentalities
When they had different opinions, they tended to speak loud and their tones became higher. I think it was because of their emotion to tell others their ideas. Since we are all friends, we spoke in a casual way. Also, I noticed that while we concentrate on the conversation, we are less likely to care about grammer.
Ends
It was a good occasion to more clearly understand each other since our backgrounds are directly related to our charactaristics. What was more, we showed our respects for different cultures.
On the other hand, it is also true that since I miss speaking Japanese and of course it is easy for me to speak it, I tend to denpend on my ability in Japanese, which could disturb my improvement in English.
On Thursday, I and my friends talked about our backgrounds including languages, what our hometowns look like and so on. I observed how my friends expressed themselves in terms of their tones, volumes and communication techniques.
Settings and Scene
The conversation took place in my room on Thursday. It started when I showed my friends the pictures of my house in Japan. All of us shared questions and answers in a friendly way.
Participants
While one person was speaking, others were listening to the one carefully except for the time they had different opinions. We kind of took turns expressing ourselves.
Instrumentalities
When they had different opinions, they tended to speak loud and their tones became higher. I think it was because of their emotion to tell others their ideas. Since we are all friends, we spoke in a casual way. Also, I noticed that while we concentrate on the conversation, we are less likely to care about grammer.
Ends
It was a good occasion to more clearly understand each other since our backgrounds are directly related to our charactaristics. What was more, we showed our respects for different cultures.
Esthr. 25 March 2005. Online image. flickr. retrieved from: http://www/flickr.com/photos/edyson/7438727/
I think that it is really interesting that you have been to so many places and that you know multiple languages. Learning a new language is key to making new friends that are a part of a certain social group.
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