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Beware of "secret" languages ;-)

  Tags: Turkish | Polish | Japanese
 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages Post Reply
173 messages over 22 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 21 22
geoffw
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4690 days ago

1134 posts - 1865 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Yiddish
Studies: Modern Hebrew, French, Dutch, Italian, Russian

 
 Message 169 of 173
10 January 2013 at 11:05pm | IP Logged 
Tecktight wrote:
Anyway, lately he has taken to using Russian as a
"secret" language, which, in an international city like D.C., is really not that secret, at all.


I see this thread has been resurrected, so I'll resurrect this gem, which blows my mind...I used to spend time in DC
regularly, and over a long period of time I literally didn't make one trip to DC without hearing someone speaking
Russian in public at least once.

Maybe he can try out his super-secret Chinese on the next trip to DC.
1 person has voted this message useful



Sumthae
Diglot
Newbie
Poland
studyinglanguages.wo
Joined 4343 days ago

6 posts - 8 votes
Speaks: Polish*, English
Studies: Indonesian

 
 Message 170 of 173
13 January 2013 at 8:49am | IP Logged 
kanewai wrote:
Sumthae wrote:
Indonesians on the other hand... Ugh... I often catch
them talking
about me, even if
I'm around. I came to Indonesia to learn this language. I often am ignored. There comes
a new person to a familiar place in which I'm currently in (like boarding house, the
place I usually eat etc.) and they are starting talking to the Indonesian person about
who I am, what I'm doing in here, etc. Hello, I'm here! I can understand you, and I
don't like f... be ignored. You want to know something about me? Ask me. You didn't
even try talking to me.

...

Why do Asians think their languages are "secret" is beyond me.

I think some of this in Indonesia is sexism. I remember meeting female travelers who
complained that they felt invisible in Indonesia. For men it can be the opposite there;
once I said even something as simple as "selamat pagi" I would be the object of non-
stop attention.

I don't understand how a white girl can feel invisible there. I'm always in the
spotlight, stares, broken English thrown at me (best is: "Good morning, Mister" thrown
at me in the evening ;)), asking for photos, etc. I'd like to be more invisible. :D
A man asking my Indonesian girl friends on the market about me, a mother for of a girl
asking an old lady from neighbourhood about me, when I'm standing probably not even 2m
from her. Once a man said, that some people might be shy to ask a foreigner. But I see
a lot of men or women not being shy at all, and asking foreign girls questions without
any problems. So I'm unsure what is it. Maybe they really consider that a white person
possibly can'[t speak their language, but it's just plainly stupid, when everybody
around tries to convince me Indonesian is much easier than English.
2 persons have voted this message useful



MarlonX19
Diglot
Groupie
Brazil
Joined 4167 days ago

40 posts - 51 votes 
Speaks: Portuguese*, English
Studies: French

 
 Message 171 of 173
09 July 2013 at 3:40am | IP Logged 
I haven't experiencied many situations like these but I remember one I was in the classroom and one of my classmates made somethings that pissed me off and I practically screamed something like ''f**k you man'' (Sometimes I scream in English when am angry) We were having Geography class, our teacher only looked at me like ''I understood you'' then she looked away... None of my classmates speak English but they surely understand a few words (mostly bd word) in English, Im sure my geography teacher also understood the ''f**k you man'' part.
1 person has voted this message useful



zografialep
Hexaglot
Groupie
GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4141 days ago

41 posts - 71 votes 
Speaks: Ancient Greek, Greek*, EnglishC2, GermanB2, Spanish, Latin
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 172 of 173
02 September 2013 at 8:16am | IP Logged 
   When we were younger 9-12 years old, me, my brother and my cousins had ''developed a
sectret language. It was actually pretty simple : we used in every sullabe no other vowel
but i(pronounced e like in beetle). So for instance when one should say 'Pos se
lene?''(what's your name) in greek, we would say ''pis si lini''.
It was great, effective and not too hard. The other kids thought we were from another
coutry and the parents that we're crazy, so we could say anything we wanted.
Sometimes we still use this language, but just for fun.It brings back great memories...
1 person has voted this message useful



zografialep
Hexaglot
Groupie
GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4141 days ago

41 posts - 71 votes 
Speaks: Ancient Greek, Greek*, EnglishC2, GermanB2, Spanish, Latin
Studies: Russian

 
 Message 173 of 173
02 September 2013 at 8:40am | IP Logged 
A couple of weeks ago I was in Germany with a friend also from Greece. Naturally we
talked in greek when we didnt want people to understand us and most people looked at us
pretty confused.It felt incredibly good, being able to say whatever you wanted!
So one day we where in a supermarket, wating in the line to pay and we were talking
about how great it is that nobody can understand us and we can say things and insult
whoever we want without being noticed. And while we are saying these stuff, the guy in
front of us, who was Asian btw, turns around, says to us hello and starts talking IN
GREEK! Turned out he had lived an amount of time in Greece..!
But it doesnt end there. We were both red and laughing incontrolably when the man in
front
of the Asian guy turns to us and starts speaking in greek too! He later said
he is Bulgarian(Bulgaria and greece are neighboors, so there are some bulgarians that
have learned greek) . Needless to say at this point we were so embarrassed, our faces
had turned bright red and we just wanted to get out of there.


3 persons have voted this message useful



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