English and couch-surfing

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  Debrecen, Hungary
Thursday, October 21, 2010

I learned today that Americans are much more tolerant of flawed English than Hungarians. One of the managers I work with told me he wanted to ask me a personal question. My interest was peaked because they don't really ask you personal questions here, especially at work. But he was really asking me for a personal opinion on his proficiency with English. I immediately told him I thought his English was really good. I can understand 95% of what he says to me, and the words he uses are often not perfect, but they're not technically incorrect either. He looked at me in disbelief and told me he thought he was going to start taking English classes. He also asked me to correct him if I hear him using or pronouncing words incorrectly. In general, I'm not comfortable correcting people when they speak. It feels arrogant, and who's to say if I'm really the expert on the English language? But he asked me to, so I feel like I have to. I watched him give a presentation in Engish this afternoon, and I took notes on all the incorrect or awkward usage of English. I wrote it in an email to him, but showed one of my Hungarian co-workers before I hit 'Send.' I told him it felt awkward pointing out such minor things, but he read the email and said that they're not really minor and he would want me to tell him the same things. Apparently, they want to know if they use even fairly insignificant words incorrectly. I can do this because I notice tons of minor misuses, but it will feel a little anal. On the other hand, I guess I'm the closest thing to an English expert they have working in their office.

Apparently, back in the times of the Russian occupation, everyone had to learn Russian in school. But they didn't like the Russians, so they didn't really to try to learn it. After the occupation ended, the schools changed their curricula to teach English and German, but they hired the same teachers who had taught the Russian classes. So, needless to say, the teachers weren't that great, so there's a whole generation who struggles with pretty much any language other than Hungarian. This is not my opinion but was just something I heard today.

Random thought - I'm wondering what you all think about couch-surfing. I'm still planning my trip to Vienna next weekend, and I talked to a friend of mine at work who has a friend in Vienna and said I should get in touch with them while I'm there. Long story short, his friend offered to let me stay on the couch at their apartment. I like to consider myself a fairly low-maintenance and open person, but I'm not sure about this. I would stay with someone pretty comfortably if I had met them only once, but I feel uncertain about doing it when I haven't met the person at all. What if I get there, and they creep me out? Or, what if their place is nasty and I can't relax? How do you graciously remove yourself from such a situation? I'm leaning toward the hotel, but I feel a little silly spending the $200-300 if I don't have to. And it makes me feel a little narrow-minded and uptight. If you've had any good or bad experiences, please let me know.

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