I don't really have friends in person but I do have friends online, and lots, lots of them. It has always been a habit of mine to just pop out my computer and talk, chat, go on mic, video-call my friends from the US and UK that I've met since so many years ago in a roleplaying game. I thank them for all the fluency they made me acquire in the language. And without them I honestly believe I would be so extremely bored everyday without having somebody to talk to or vent to.
For me, interaction is 100% effective for a learner, of any age and background. The stereotypes have to stop, stereotypes against people from different races and against foreigners. I find them disgusting and ignorant, and it always infuriates me whenever I've heard someone make assumptions about a group of people they have probably never even sent a message to, it's like, if you're learning English, why would you feel that way about people who speak the language? There's always a tint of racism behind those comments of people and students who don't want to talk to a foreigner because they're this and that, when in reality most people are nice, and the world is not a distopia full of evil racists on the hunt for Mexicans. But I digress..as it has always been said, talking to others who aren't only from your circle of friends or your country always opens doors to learn cultural things and differences that will open up your mind to how things works in different places, but most importantly, you'll acquire a level of fluency, idioms will stick, even the humour will be understood.
For me, I've never had a bad experience with a foreigner online, and usually when talking to them through microphone they're really kind and understanding, I actually really love making friends like that and I just wish we could all just hang out in person.
Now that I'm in quarantine after class on Friday, at 7 pm, I play with this chinese girl and her friends on Discord this game called Witch-it through microphone, and we just talk about so many things, it's awesome. They're always asking me about stuff in Spanish and what not, too!
For me, interaction is 100% effective for a learner, of any age and background. The stereotypes have to stop, stereotypes against people from different races and against foreigners. I find them disgusting and ignorant, and it always infuriates me whenever I've heard someone make assumptions about a group of people they have probably never even sent a message to, it's like, if you're learning English, why would you feel that way about people who speak the language? There's always a tint of racism behind those comments of people and students who don't want to talk to a foreigner because they're this and that, when in reality most people are nice, and the world is not a distopia full of evil racists on the hunt for Mexicans. But I digress..as it has always been said, talking to others who aren't only from your circle of friends or your country always opens doors to learn cultural things and differences that will open up your mind to how things works in different places, but most importantly, you'll acquire a level of fluency, idioms will stick, even the humour will be understood.
For me, I've never had a bad experience with a foreigner online, and usually when talking to them through microphone they're really kind and understanding, I actually really love making friends like that and I just wish we could all just hang out in person.
Now that I'm in quarantine after class on Friday, at 7 pm, I play with this chinese girl and her friends on Discord this game called Witch-it through microphone, and we just talk about so many things, it's awesome. They're always asking me about stuff in Spanish and what not, too!
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