Preparing for a year abroad

[Montmorency]

Just to be clear, I personally wouldn't make notes / use a voice-recorder or phone actually during a conversation, unless it was some kind of specific learning situation. But as soon as possible afterwards.

[allhandsondex]

Just to be clear, I personally wouldn't make notes / use a voice-recorder or phone actually during a conversation, unless it was some kind of specific learning situation. But as soon as possible afterwards.

Depends whether you're in the conversation or not eavesdropping can be a great way to learn.

[tiia]

Tiia, how do you deal with the situation? How do you make notes while talking to people without making them feel bad or nervous?

Usually it started with having a conversation and me not understanding some key word. The other person had to explain the word anyway and when I found it useful I told them I'd like to write it down. Sometimes I wrote a one or two words more, that I had asked already before. The main point is that the focus is still on the conversation, not the vocabulary.

I think I often put the paper back when the word is written down, or at least I try to write as few words as possible and ignore the paper most of the time, if it's still lying on the table. Maybe most people were quite patient with me, but I think if it's just so few words most people won't mind it. They might even be happy to teach you a word.
It has always been clear, which particular word I'm writing down and that I'm not doing some kind of protocol. Sometimes I even asked them to look whether I wrote the word correctly.

I looked at an old paper and there I had written six words for a whole conversation. Usually I write less, mostly just 1-2 words.
Although I often can recall 1-2 words later on I prefer writing down those I might have problems to remember. E.g. I can easily remember pyörösaha (circular saw), because I know pyörä (wheel) and saha (saw), but säteily (radiation) I wrote down, because otherwise I would have absolutely forgotten it.
But if I had learned both words the same day I probably would have written down pyörösaha as soon as I had written säteily.

Personally I prefer the pen and paper version, because I dislike people using their phone all the time. If you write it on paper one can see that you are really just writing down a word and you're not doing anything else, that might distract the conversation. And I don't like that typing on a phone takes so much time.

[Elenia]

Tiia, how do you deal with the situation? How do you make notes while talking to people without making them feel bad or nervous?

Usually it started with having a conversation and me not understanding some key word. The other person had to explain the word anyway and when I found it useful I told them I'd like to write it down. Sometimes I wrote a one or two words more, that I had asked already before. The main point is that the focus is still on the conversation, not the vocabulary.

I think I often put the paper back when the word is written down, or at least I try to write as few words as possible and ignore the paper most of the time, if it's still lying on the table. Maybe most people were quite patient with me, but I think if it's just so few words most people won't mind it. They might even be happy to teach you a word.
It has always been clear, which particular word I'm writing down and that I'm not doing some kind of protocol. Sometimes I even asked them to look whether I wrote the word correctly.

I looked at an old paper and there I had written six words for a whole conversation. Usually I write less, mostly just 1-2 words.
Although I often can recall 1-2 words later on I prefer writing down those I might have problems to remember. E.g. I can easily remember pyörösaha (circular saw), because I know pyörä (wheel) and saha (saw), but säteily (radiation) I wrote down, because otherwise I would have absolutely forgotten it.
But if I had learned both words the same day I probably would have written down pyörösaha as soon as I had written säteily.

Personally I prefer the pen and paper version, because I dislike people using their phone all the time. If you write it on paper one can see that you are really just writing down a word and you're not doing anything else, that might distract the conversation. And I don't like that typing on a phone takes so much time.

I almost always have a pen on me - less often, but still often enough, I even have paper! But I have spoken conversations with natives enough to ever actually take notes. If it does happen for me, however, I will take tips from you - you seem to have it worked out!

[tiia]

Tiia, how do you deal with the situation? How do you make notes while talking to people without making them feel bad or nervous?

Usually it started with having a conversation and me not understanding some key word. The other person had to explain the word anyway and when I found it useful I told them I'd like to write it down. Sometimes I wrote a one or two words more, that I had asked already before. The main point is that the focus is still on the conversation, not the vocabulary.

I think I often put the paper back when the word is written down, or at least I try to write as few words as possible and ignore the paper most of the time, if it's still lying on the table. Maybe most people were quite patient with me, but I think if it's just so few words most people won't mind it. They might even be happy to teach you a word.
It has always been clear, which particular word I'm writing down and that I'm not doing some kind of protocol. Sometimes I even asked them to look whether I wrote the word correctly.

I looked at an old paper and there I had written six words for a whole conversation. Usually I write less, mostly just 1-2 words.
Although I often can recall 1-2 words later on I prefer writing down those I might have problems to remember. E.g. I can easily remember pyörösaha (circular saw), because I know pyörä (wheel) and saha (saw), but säteily (radiation) I wrote down, because otherwise I would have absolutely forgotten it.
But if I had learned both words the same day I probably would have written down pyörösaha as soon as I had written säteily.

Personally I prefer the pen and paper version, because I dislike people using their phone all the time. If you write it on paper one can see that you are really just writing down a word and you're not doing anything else, that might distract the conversation. And I don't like that typing on a phone takes so much time.

I almost always have a pen on me - less often, but still often enough, I even have paper! But I have spoken conversations with natives enough to ever actually take notes. If it does happen for me, however, I will take tips from you - you seem to have it worked out!

Basically it's just something between being lazy and wanting to learn more words. I never gave it too much thought before, as it always worked out fine. (The only thought was that I should always have a pen and paper with me - which I usually have anyway.)

[Bao]

For your time of preparation: If you can, make German and Chinese friends where you live and take part in group activities where you're the only non-native speaker, and encourage them to just talk in their native language around you. Of course, I don't mean it like 'using people' but like 'making use of the fact that you happen to find friends like that'. I find just being around native speakers helps getting used to the pace and turn-taking natural conversations have, even when you don't understand everything.

Also, practice paraphrasing. No matter how much boring vocabulary you learn beforehand, you'll probably not think of every eventuality - when I arrived in France, about the first thing I had to talk to people about was that the faucet in my room was leaking, and would they please send somebody to fix it. Also, make sure to learn the important stuff about medical and other emergencies, and get somebody to drill these things with you. When I arrived in Spain I was fine the first night, but the second night I developed a rash (urticaria) on my whole body because of mosquito bites and just hoped that it would end at that and not turn into an anaphylactic shock, because I had no idea how to find help. (Yup, I was lucky. No, I'd never had an allergic reaction to an insect bite before. I think it was an allergic reaction because of the timing. Yes, it was probably stupid that I didn't even try to get help.)