Questions to ask in another language

What would you need from us in your first term to teach well here?

It shifts the interview to what the job requires and shows whether they know it: class sizes, book budget, reading support, time to mark, a room. Vague answers here often become unmet expectations in month three.

From: Questions to Ask an English Teacher

What qualifications or experience of yours do not count here?

Doctors driving taxis is not a metaphor, and unrecognised credentials are one of the most common losses migrants describe. Asking about it acknowledges a real cost rather than a personal failure.

From: 20 Questions to Ask an Immigrant

How did the second one arrive: at home, at school, or through a move?

The route decides most of what follows. A language learned at home is usually spoken but not written, a language learned at school is often the reverse, and a language learned after a move carries the memory of that move with it.

From: Questions to Ask a Bilingual Person

Which language do you use at home, and which do you think in?

Separates the practical question from the interior one, and the second half often produces an answer they have never been asked for. It can also change over the course of a life.

From: Questions to Ask an Immigrant for a Project

Which question words should I learn first?

뭐 or 무엇 (what), 누구 (who), 어디 (where), 언제 (when), 왜 (why), 어떻게 (how), 얼마나 (how much, how long), 몇 (how many, with a counter) and 어느 (which). 뭐 is the spoken contraction and 무엇 the written form, and 누구 becomes 누가 when it is the subject, which is the irregularity beginners hit first.

From: How to Ask Questions in Korean

¿Cómo se celebra un cumpleaños en tu familia y qué se come?

More impersonal se, now with a cultural payoff: the answer usually covers songs, food and whoever gets their face pushed into the cake. Family customs vary enough by country that this rarely produces the answer you expect.

From: To Ask Questions in Spanish