Use of foreign words or expressions

[jmendez]

Is it acceptable, in an English written or oral exam, to use foreign expressions such as touche, entrepeneur, siesta, and so on.

Thanks

Pep

 

[MikeNewYork]

Is it acceptable, in an English written or oral exam, to use foreign expressions such as touche, entrepreneur, siesta, and so on.

Thanks

Pep

That depends on how foreign the words are and how they are used. In your examples, entrepreneur (spelling corrected above) would be perfectly fine. The other two would be less likely, but the context would be important.

 

[bhaisahab]

Is it acceptable, in an English written or oral exam, to use foreign expressions such as touche, entrepeneur, siesta, and so on.

Thanks

Pep

"Entrepreneur" is widely used, there isn't really an alternative in modern English. I think the others would be OK in the right context.

 

[konungursvia]

Generally, the Weltanschauung of English is very open to code-switching in an academic context, particularly in the cases of Latin, French, Greek and German, but if you're a student, don't use any phrases that come from your lingua mater, or the examiner will likely think you were unable to find the "mot juste" yourself.

 

[emsr2d2]

Note that it's "touché" (the accent is important).

 

[SoothingDave]

"Siesta" has long been part of the English language vocabulary.

 

[Nicklexoxo]

Hi, teachers.

I have a question: Can I use such words in written Exam?

 

[5jj]

I have a question: Can I use such words in written Exam?

Yes

 

[Rover_KE]

Can I use such words in written exams?

Yes.

 

[billmcd]

Is it acceptable, in an English written or oral exam, to use foreign expressions such as touche, entrepeneur, siesta, and so on.

Thanks

Pep

It would depend on the disposition/tolerance level of your instructor, but to be safe I would not be inclined to use any unless use would be relevant to the subject matter of the essay. Use in conversation would be OK if you know that the listener would understand.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It would depend on the disposition/tolerance level of your instructor, but to be safe I would not be inclined to use any unless use would be relevant to the subject matter of the essay. Use in conversation would be OK if you know that the listener would understand.

I agree. In most cases the use of "siesta" or "touche" would stick out in a normal formal situation. Certainly, English speakers know what a siesta is. But under what circumstances, formal, would one use it?

 

[probus]

Is it acceptable, in an English written or oral exam, to use foreign expressions such as touche, entrepeneur, siesta, and so on.

Thanks

Pep

I think they are okay as long as we have no English equivalent. For example, in south Asia the climate encourages and rewards rising very early and sleeping in the afternoon. But as far as I know there is no English word that conveys the idea of the customary or habitual afternoon nap. And as has already been pointed out, we all know what siesta means. So I have always embraced siesta as a loan word from Spanish. We need it because we don't have a word of our own, and therefore it deserves to be considered an English word.

 

[konungursvia]

I agree. In most cases the use of "siesta" or "touche" would stick out in a normal formal situation. Certainly, English speakers know what a siesta is. But under what circumstances, formal, would one use it?

On a history, anthropology or economics exam (any social science really), in which one wished to refer to the cultural practice.