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teachers, exams, grammar books, and exercises to help you solve problems when you are at a stage to
charge on toward mastery.
For more information about CEFRL examinations and any alternatives for non-European
languages, as well as a more detailed explanation of what each of the various levels means, visit
fi3m.com/cefrl.
For a more detailed explanation of the ideas introduced in this chapter, resources for improving
your writing, reading, and listening skills, and how to combine traditional learning approaches with an
independent learning approach, see the videos and links at fi3m.com/ch 7.
CHAPTER 8
How to Get Mistaken for a Native Speaker
It s time to go beyond fluency by adapting to the local culture, until a stranger mistakes you
for a native!
By applying what I ve discussed about academic courses, grammatical exercises, and taking exams, I
have managed to reach a genuine C2 level (mastery) several times. This means I can effectively do
absolutely everything in that language that I can in English, including my work as an engineer and
discussions on complex topics.
But I may still have an accent, and people still know I m a foreigner. This is not something that is
brought up on the CEFRL language scale, because having an accent doesn t affect what you can
actually do in the language. There isn t a C3 level which might be a C2 but without an accent and
with good reason.
Does an Accent Make You Seem Native?
I think people should examine why they want to reduce their accents. The benefits of blending in with
people from another country are not just about having no accent, but about being confused for a native
speaker. These are two very different worlds.
I ll discuss accent reduction shortly, but even if you have an accent, you can still get confused for
a native speaker. And being confused for a native speaker isn t just about sounding like one, but acting
like one.
I go out of my way to emulate the clothing sense, body language, distance between speakers, facial
expressions, the topics I discuss, and all things related to what native speakers would do, rather than
just how they would say something. This requires paying attention to customs, looking at what people
are doing, and picking up on these things.
While this is, of course, much harder to do when you are in a place where skin color makes you
stand out, I don t think you should give up hope. Many countries are much more multiethnic than you
may think, and it is easier to blend in. Even in an extreme case, like China, which has a very tiny
amount of non-Asian immigration, people have confused me for an English teacher who has lived in
China for years, based on a combination of my speaking Mandarin and standing out less by acting
more Chinese.
Walk Like an Egyptian
For instance, when I arrived in Egypt with the beginnings of B1 level spoken Arabic, I found that
people would still talk to me in English, before I even said anything. So improving my Arabic clearly
wasn t the issue here. Many might say that my skin color makes it impossible to blend in, but this
isn t entirely true; it s not about blending in perfectly, but standing out less. Major cities like Cairo
actually do have white Egyptians, but the trick is to not look like a white tourist.
So I took the time to sit down at a café where many people were passing by and, with a notepad,
really paid attention to what was different between them and me from a purely visual perspective. I
noticed that Egyptian males around my age (at least in Cairo) tended to have mustaches and they
definitely didn t wear the kind of lightweight clothes I preferred in that hot weather, but instead wore
sweaters, long pants, and dark shoes. They also walked pretty confidently and were much more likely
to be talking on their cell phones while crossing a busy street with high-speed traffic coming at them.
I also noticed they were less likely to wear hats.
I got rid of my cap, started wearing a sweater over my T-shirt, and as much as I really wanted to
wear my comfortable bright-yellow sneakers, I put on cheap, dull, black shoes I found in a local
market instead. I also let a mustache grow out and maintained some stubble to look more like
Egyptian men my own age.
The way people first treated me after this transformation was incredible! Even though I am
definitely Irish and as white as you d expect any Irish guy to be, people always started speaking
Arabic to me when I entered a store, including in highly touristed areas where they spoke very good
English, or they would continue in Arabic after I asked a question. Something about my outward
appearance helped keep the conversation in the right language.
I am convinced that this outward appearance and body language are as essential as the things I
mentioned in the previous chapter when reasoning why some locals may feel inclined to switch back
to English. When you look like a tourist, there is a certain subconscious thought process screaming at
them to speak English with you, even if you are audibly doing great in their language.
Blending in Beyond Spoken Abilities
Keeping all this in mind, I have found that in Brazil I should swing my arms behind my back while I
walk and try to make physical contact while speaking (for instance, putting my hand on someone s
shoulder while I talk to the person, whether male or female). In France, I sit with my legs crossed, as I
have noticed men tend to do that more frequently there. When in Asian countries, I take someone s
business card or hand out mine or hand over cash with both hands in a slow and deliberate gesture. In
many countries, when out in a bar and saying the local equivalent of  cheers, I maintain eye contact
while saying it. I also always check how I use my arms; too much gesturing in some countries can [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]