Comments on: Learn English, Make Friends!

By: MOHAMED ASIQUE

MOHAMED ASIQUE — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 15:49:11 +0000

I want to learn and speak English help me … ANY ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Reem

Reem — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 20:28:56 +0000

Great topic I found. Thanks Piller.
Learning English is not difficult unless you have to practise it with native speakers or even with the ones whose English is very well.

By: Yasin

Yasin — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 05:24:43 +0000

In reply to khan. I want to learn and speak English help me ...

By: saira

saira — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:32:12 +0000

I want speak english well please help me………..

By: English

English — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:58:44 +0000

The best way to make friends is to make them online. There are many social networking sites that operate in English. I am sure English would definitely help in making new friends.

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:49:08 +0000

In reply to Xiaoxiao Chen. Thanks, Xiaoxiao, for connecting the dots! A pre-publication version of the article is available here.

By: Xiaoxiao Chen

Xiaoxiao Chen — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:34:36 +0000

Thanks, Ingrid, for another insighful post about sth that we usually take for granted (we used to assume that one’s English language competence will help one settle down, make more firends and live a better life in English-sepaking countries). Marek’s experience actually reminds me of the participants in your recent article “Language work aboard the low-cost ariline” (Piller & Takahashi, 2011)–the Australian airline attendants who are native Japanese. As your study shows, despite their English proficiency, these flight attendants remain “Japanese”: their identity and mobility won’t be changed because of their English language skills. So I wonder if this kind of exclusion is also linked to the fact that non-native English speakers are always viewed differently, no matter how good their Engslish is, as demonstarted in your post of “The politics of subtitling”.

By: Grace

Grace — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 09:13:47 +0000

Some of the participants that I interviewed are also aware that acquiring English and English-speaking friends does not necessarily translate into social capital in overseas study context. For one thing, academic English is not something you learn from chatting with native friends. For another thing, when they need help in dealing with visa, insurance, jobs and so on, oftentimes they find their co-ethinic friends are much more understanding and helpful. Therefore, to be or not to be with the people from their own country remains tricky to overseas students.

By: khan

khan — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:51:12 +0000

Dear Ingrid
Very interesting post. We need interdisciplinary approaches to social
phenomenon. By the way some linguists call interdisciplinary as
“disempowering game”. I still remember my first introduction to
linguistics in Karachi where the lecturer repeated the word ”
autonomous discipline” several times to underscore the independent
nature of the subject as if it has got little to do with life . As a result of it, I misconstrue it as a very
inward- looking, highly technical discipline with all the techincities . Thanks to linguists like Hymes and many
others who have demonstrated how the discipline can make valuable
contribution in enhancing our understanding of social phenomenon. The
case of Marek is such an apt example.
Thanks very much indeed. Khan

By: vahid

vahid — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:19:01 +0000

In reply to Ingrid Piller. Agree!

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:13:04 +0000

In reply to vahid.

I don’t think you have to beat yourself up for having been “wrong”! 🙂 Moving in with flat-mates from your target language and establishing intercultural networks seems to me an important way to grow personally and linguistically. The key point I was trying to make in my post was that the acquisition of cultural and social capital are sometimes naively conflated …

By: vahid

vahid — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:29:41 +0000

I used to encourage my IELTS students to “move in with English-speaking flat-mates”! How wrong I was! 🙁

By: F.L. Feimo

F.L. Feimo — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:21:22 +0000

How true! As with advancement in any field, the right connections or networks are paramount. Newcomers often encounter what I understand as the ‘Sticky Floor’, as demonstrated by Marek and other Polish immigrants. Without proper mentorship, they are stuck in their careers with little chance of progression – hence the ‘Sticky Floor’ effect. It is important that they find a mentor while in the early stages of integration so they can truly showcase their skill sets; the longer they are underemployed the more difficult it is to break the cycle and advance.