Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby rdearman » Mon Aug 03, 2015 7:47 pm

neofight78 wrote:
rdearman wrote:When I travelled to Italy I carried a notebook which I marked down the number of Italian conversations and people I spoke to. I had created myself a target and held myself accountable. I'm not an extrovert by nature, but this type of thing forces you out of your shell if you're going to hit your targets!


I'm going to be in Russia for the first time in October. One of the things I want to do, is to start using the language outside the safety net of talking with tutors or Russians who are learning English. I was thinking of setting up a series of "missions" that will involve me talking to real people in real situations to help tackle this problem (any suggestions welcome). Striking up conversations with strangers and small talk are not really my strongpoint, so having some kind of plan is essential.


That is a really good idea. I had a couple of missions I thought you might like to try, don't know your language level, so...

1) Find a book you don't have, but want written in Russian. Then go through bookstalls asking for the book, ask if they've read it, what their opinion of the book is.
2) Ask people to play leapfrog with you in the park, see how many you can talk into it.
3) Find someone who can juggle 3+ objects. Ask them to teach you to juggle.
4) Apply for a job in a restaurant.
5) Order food in a restaurant and negotiate your bill when it comes. See what happens, obviously don't annoy or get arrested!
6) Haggle at the grocery store.
7) List 25 unusual things you might find in a city, then ask people to help you find them. aka, Scavenger hunt. Pink bicycle rack, or Green church.
8) Start a band. Try to find people who can play guitar, drums, etc. Ask people if they know anyone.
9) Try to speak to everyone you meet for 1 hour. Perhaps standing outside a metro station.
10) Call in to a local radio show and request your favourite song. Use the opportunity to get some publicity and to say hi to your mum.
11) Volunteer your time and assistance at a local church, animal shelters for a day.
12) Try to organise a game of softball, basketball, football or some other sport.
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby aokoye » Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:12 pm

neofight78 wrote:
rdearman wrote:When I travelled to Italy I carried a notebook which I marked down the number of Italian conversations and people I spoke to. I had created myself a target and held myself accountable. I'm not an extrovert by nature, but this type of thing forces you out of your shell if you're going to hit your targets!


I'm going to be in Russia for the first time in October. One of the things I want to do, is to start using the language outside the safety net of talking with tutors or Russians who are learning English. I was thinking of setting up a series of "missions" that will involve me talking to real people in real situations to help tackle this problem (any suggestions welcome). Striking up conversations with strangers and small talk are not really my strongpoint, so having some kind of plan is essential.


I love this idea! I'll on to Rdearman's ideas with things that I did when I was living in Vienna studying abroad:
  • Order food over the phone (take out or delivery)
  • Try to find a random appliance by asking someone at a shop where it is (for me in Vienna this was an electric tea kettle - at the time I didn't know the word "Wasserkocher")
  • Go shopping at an outdoor market
  • Find a bakery and ask about the different things they have (obviously it's nicer for everyone involved if it's not busy when you go) - I had fun with that when I visited Lyon France for five days and the owner of the bakery really appreciated it as well
  • Buy concert tickets at a ticket window/desk
  • Go on a tour that is conducted only in the language that you're learning (I hate tours but it would be good language practice)
  • As a take on the last one, go to a museum and use the audio guide that is in the language that you're learning
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby neofight78 » Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:37 pm

Thanks for the suggestions guys, keep them coming. I'm hoping I'm at a B2 level, as that's the exam I will be taking! So I should be able to tackle pretty much anything, although I might need to research some words for some of them, like 'leapfrog' for example :D

My dentist is trying to persuade me to get a crown done, I told my tutor this and she suggested it might be cheaper in Russia and could be the basis for a good "mission". The only thing is, if there is a problem after I've left Russia it's a long way to go back to get it fixed...
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby Serpent » Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:04 pm

dental care is expensive in Russia, I've been considering going to Czech Republic or Serbia for it. You could get it cheaply in Belarus too.
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby rdearman » Sat Sep 19, 2015 4:40 pm

OK, I decided to brainstorm some more missions for you.

  1. Anytime you see someone with a dog ask them what breed it is, it's name, how long they have had it. Time the encounter and try to get the next person talking longer than the last.
  2. Improvise a movie pitch, starting with a made-up title. Then approach people and ask them if they would like to be involved in the movie and what they could do. You get points for each person who'll give you an email address.
  3. Try to fit these questions into a conversation with someone serving you (waitress, hotel desk, etc) "What's the strangest thing about where you grew up?" or "What does your name mean?" (If they say, "I don't know," reply, "What would you like it to mean?"), points for each question you can fit in.
  4. Try to find 10 people who believe in alien lifeforms. Ask as many people as you can, until you've found 10. Everytime you find someone, ask them to elaborate on what the aliens might look like, what they eat, how they communicate, etc.
  5. Tell someone you want to start a conversation with someone else (perhaps opposite gender) and ask this person for ways that you could start a conversation with this other person. Bonus points if you can convince them to introduce you to a stranger.
  6. Select one type of item you are going to collect during your visit. Try to buy one of these every day in a different place. (example Pencil) Then find increasingly more obscure places to find it. This might help in a hotel because you can tell them your mission and get them involved, or a taxi driver may help.
  7. Try to take a class in flower arrangement. Don't prepare in advance, try to find the class when you arrive.
  8. Go to a supermarket and get a shop assistant to help you find something, then ask questions about the products and the hopefully the assistant.
  9. Compliment people on their clothes and accessories. One point for each thank you, bonus points for each minute you can keep them talking.
  10. Try to attend one of these: Art shows, Book readings, Music concerts, Museum exhibitions, Outdoor festivals, Geek gatherings, Parades/rallies/protests
  11. If you see anyone begging (and they don't look dangerous) strike up a conversation with them and pay them for their time.
  12. Go to a restaurant and ask the waiter to select your entire meal for you and ask him or her to explain their choices. Bonus points if you can get someone at the next table to choose instead.
  13. Ask random people to tell you a joke.
  14. Go to a real estate agency and ask about some of the properties they have on offer. Try to find one like the one you live in at home. Describe what you want to the agent.
  15. Get your fortune told by a fortune teller
  16. Find a fish market and ask about the various types of fish, names, what they eat, bottom dweller, how to prepare, etc.
  17. Make a movie with your digital camera, tell them you want to get people to explain their opinions on: "the best font to use on a newspaper", "which tastes better dark meat or white meat on a turkey", "which is more socially important tennis or football".
  18. Purchase dog treats, go to the park and ask the owners if you can give the dog a treat. This works well with the suggestion above (1) about dog owners.
  19. Always be on the lookout for queues. If you see one queue up immediately (regardless of what the queue is for) and talk to the people around you.
  20. Find a library and ask for recommendations about a topic (not languages) and try to get the assistant or someone else to help you select books.
  21. Go to church talk to the priest.
  22. Purposely signup for a long bus ride to another city and speak to the people around you.
  23. Use the "Party with a local" app. http://partywithalocal.com/
  24. Play Ingress. https://www.ingress.com/
  25. Find Games & Comic Stores and play a game, many will have games in the store you can play with other customers.
  26. Go to a Convention and talk to all the advertisers
  27. Attend a free seminar. Many businesses present free seminars to gain new clients such as brokerage firms, home improvement stores, and technology stores.
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby neofight78 » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:08 pm

Great thank you, lots of good ideas :)

I wonder if our Russian friends have the equivalent of meetup.com or something similar...
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Re: Production Practice Problems for Introverts, or Woe Is Me

Postby rdearman » Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:01 pm

I'd forgotten where this list was until someone "hearted" it! I was planning on doing some of these myself.
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Introversion

Postby coldrainwater » Fri Sep 29, 2017 5:47 am

I always wonder what it would be like to have been brought up in my L2 as an extrovert. To put it mildly, I had to fight off certain introverted tendencies to maintain balance so far. I am a healthy combination of heavily introverted and fairly anti-social and this combination meant that my production practice mostly involved talking silently with myself.

Perhaps introverts like myself are lucky in the sense that live production practice can happen much later in the game after many other obstacles are out of the way. My plan essentially will be to turn my willpower and learning attention to production practice at a time when I can afford the enervation. Right now, I am fighting somewhat of a losing battle using my willpower to forge a sitcom-watching habit and I know that the enervation of skyping would be too costly in terms of recovery time. The irony is that I often visualize future speaking practice in terms of how it might help my reading, listening and to a larger extent, writing rather than the other way around. If anything, it is that inverse way of looking at things that may ultimately convince me to pursue the speaking practice.
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