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Old July 16, 2018, 11:31 PM
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wrholt wrholt is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1,401
Native Language: US English
wrholt is on a distinguished road
What JPablo and Poli said matches my experience.

Exchanging pleasantries in the other person's language can be perceived as showing your acceptance and respect for them as people and your willingness to do whatever it takes to communicate with them, and most people from Spanish-speaking communities will appreciate your efforts.

But once you have finished the basic pleasantries, the goal of communicating effectively and efficiently tends to outweigh the desire to practice the language you are learning. The greater the difference between how well each of you speaks the other person's language, the more likely that you'll spend more time speaking the best language of the person who speaks the other language less well. On the other hand, the more equally well you speak one another's language, the more likely that you'll switch between the two languages and use them more-or-less equally.

Last edited by wrholt; July 16, 2018 at 11:34 PM.
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