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Most surprised reaction from natives? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6903 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes  5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 89 of 91 09 July 2012 at 1:46am | IP Logged |
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I don't learn any rare languages so I don't have many funny stories to tell you.
However, I used to be taken for a German native speaker quite regularly (especially in Switzerland ;)) which sometimes led to funny situations: once in a seminar at the university I referred to my experience as a German as a foreign language learner. Everyone looked at me, very puzzled, and then I heard the question "What? You've learned German as a foreign language?". Needless too say, I was very proud, as it was the middle of the semester and no one seemed to have noticed it before ;). On the other hand, I remember being in a tourist office and asking all kinds of quite detailed and probably a bit stupid questions (I admit!) about the local transportation. The woman who worked there wasn't very nice and seemed to think I was intellectually challenged ;). When I said something like "Sorry for asking so many questions but it is not easy to a foreigner like me to understand how the local transportation here works", she was genuinely surprised and, all of the sudden, a lot nicer to me. But the funniest situation happened during quite a big Polish-German project/meeting. I switched between both languages depending on whom I was speaking to, and at some point a participant who listened to me speaking the both languages complimented me... on my great Polish :). It was very funny but on the other hand, I was quite afraid I had developed some foreign-sounding accent in my mother tongue ;). On another occasion, when I interpreted during a Polish-German workshop, I was asked how and why I had learned Polish... you can imagine my answer :). /All corrections of my English are always appreciated, just send me a PM, please./ 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Jumpman Jr. Diglot Newbie Canada howtostudykorean.com Joined 4591 days ago 7 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English*, Korean | Message 90 of 91 11 July 2012 at 5:33am | IP Logged |
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100% of the time I speak to Korean people in Korean, it just about blows their mind. Despite the fact that I'm IN Korea, people still can't get over the fact that a foreigner is speaking Korean to them. They always tell me that I'm the first foreigner that I've ever talked to in Korean.
They're surprised to the point that they literally don't understand me a lot of the times. I'll say something to them, and they just assume that I don't know what I'm saying. I'll be with one of my Korean friends... and then we start talking to another person (who doesn't know I speak Korean). The other people looks at me, thinking "what did he just say?" I'll keep talking. He then looks at my Korean friend and says "what did he say?" And then my friend will tell him "He just said it in Korean, why didn't you understand?" Here's a good video that describes it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZkW7WnXqcs (it is me in the video). I go up to spin a wheel at some contest thing on the street (they were giving away ice-cream). Before the video starts, the girl just wanted to ignore me, but then asked if I could speak Korean. I told her I could, so (and this is when the video starts) she says "hello" to me... and asks me a question. She can barely stop herself from giggling like a school girl. Being in another country (other than Korean) I get even more dumbfounded reactions. When it happens in Korea, they at least can realize that I am in Korea - and thus - have a reason for learning Korean. But when it happens randomly in another country, people really can't believe it. Edited by Jumpman Jr. on 11 July 2012 at 5:38am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Vagabondette Diglot Newbie Mexico Joined 4517 days ago 5 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish | Message 91 of 91 13 July 2012 at 7:00pm | IP Logged |
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Both of my favorite "surprise" stories happened here in Mexico (where I live). As a gringa, locals generally don't expect me to have any serious Spanish skills so when they find I do, they're always pleasantly surprised and, occasionally, downright shocked.
Once, while spending a week in Cancun (my least favorite place in Mexico), I was approached by the standard batch of sales people (selling crafts, tours, etc.) while walking down the street. I waved them off with a "no, gracias" and kept walking. As I walked away, they began a discussion (complimentary, thankfully) about my appearance. After listening for a few seconds (and laughing to myself), I turned and walked back and explained in clear, concise Spanish that I understood every word they'd said and that they shouldn't assume that just because someone is a gringa they don't also speak Spanish. They were so shocked they weren't even embarrassed about their comments. In the next 5 minutes I was offered 2 dates and 3 jobs as a reward for speaking the local language. :) Another time, while sitting in the park in Merida, I was approached with some crafts by two girls in indigenous clothing. Since I live in Chiapas I recognized their clothes as coming from one of the local villages and I recognized that they were speaking Tzotzil, the local Mayan dialect. So, when they approached me about buying some crafts, I responded negatively and wished them good luck in Tzotxil. They were so shocked one of the girls actually dropped her stuff. They immediately started talking to me in their language and I had to stop them and explain (in Spanish) that I live in Chiapas but I only know those couple phrases. They were so excited to find someone who speaks even a little of their language that they called all their friends over to talk to me. A few weeks later when I was home in Chiapas having a drink at a sidewalk bar, a girl came up to me and asked me if I was the one from Merida who speaks Tzotzil. Apparently I'm semi-famous now with some of the locals. lol 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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