Hi! If you're learning one of the "popular" languages, do you find its native speakers friendly, encouraging and helpful when you try to speak it?
By "popular languages", I mean the 12 languages at the top of italki's language list:
English, Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Italian and Russian.
At least with Mandarin, my experience has been very positive. But there are some stereotypes about how your efforts will be received by natives of other languages. For example, according to the Itchy Feet comic:
In Europe: <a href="http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/2014/12/speaking-terms.html#.W4r0ei2ZPBJ" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/2014/12/speaking-terms.html%23.W4r0ei2ZPBJ&source=gmail&ust=1535919953775000&usg=AFQjCNERxzuMqnV7F8Oys_SBwUtQJ6QjHw" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/<wbr>2014/12/speaking-terms.html#.<wbr>W4r0ei2ZPBJ</a>;
If you're starting out with Italian, you will be well received
If you're starting out with French, not so much
If you're starting out with German, Germans will speak to you in English
In Asia:<a href="http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/2016/03/speaking-terms-part-2.html#.W4r1DS2ZPBI" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/2016/03/speaking-terms-part-2.html%23.W4r1DS2ZPBI&source=gmail&ust=1535919962962000&usg=AFQjCNG_uopuRCWOe7VG61d3dPIB16YwUQ" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/<wbr>2016/03/speaking-terms-part-2.<wbr>html#.W4r1DS2ZPBI</a>;
If you're starting out with Thai, you'll be seen as polite
If you're starting out with Korean, natives might not understand why and might discourage you
If you're starting out with Mandarin, natives will talk to you at full speed like there's no tomorrow
What do you think? Is there any truth to these stereotypes? What has been your experience?
There were a ton of exchange students from Korea in my college. In one of my classes, one of them saw me reading Harry Potter in Korean and asked me about it. We eventually started speaking in Korean and another girl soon joined in. They were initially shocked that I could speak Korean (even when I made mistakes) and kept asking me questions about how I learned. They soon invited me to go out for lunch and shop around with them. One of the girls stayed by my side and spoke to me in Korean as much as possible, even teaching me some new words and phrases.
That experience strongly reflects how Korean people are when a foreigner speaks to them in their language. They are genuinely surprised, then incredibly encouraging and positive. Even when I make mistakes or it's obvious I'm super nervous, they are some of the nicest and most supportive people I've ever met. They are really one of the main reasons I fell in love with the language.
