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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 ... 12 ... 21 22 Next >>
lackinglatin
Triglot
Groupie
United States
randomwritingsetc.blRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5769 days ago

62 posts - 146 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, Modern Hebrew
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 89 of 173
06 March 2010 at 4:03am | IP Logged 
I was wondering if someone would mention Esperanto.

The other day I was playing "Go" online, receiving a teaching game online from a German friend. A random guest dropped in that neither of us knew. The guy teaching me said hello, asked if he knew Esperanto (Saluton! Cxu vi parolas Esperanton?).

The guy responded "Salut." Nothing else.

We continued talking, carrying on with the teaching game.

After a while, he asks in English, "Terribly sorry to interrupt, but what language are you two speaking in?"

I said Esperanto, responding in English.

His response: "OH MY G-D!"

priceless. Having grown up monoglot, I'm just in the past year getting to experience having 'secret languages' in Hebrew and Esperanto. I wish I saw my Esperanto friends more than once a month so we could have that more often... the bus rides are usually fun, though. Using Hebrew around all the tourists I see is always fun, of course. Petting one's own ego.

I get Spanish lessons from a lady who has two young sons, whom I teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in exchange for her teaching me Spanish. She speaks in French with her sons, though, and only one of them has a fair knowledge of English. We all share Hebrew, and though I teach them in Hebrew, my Hebrew is obviously quite poor compared to a native... so it's always an interesting experience being in her house, she being the only one who speaks all four languages with fluency (Spanish, French, Hebrew, English).

She talks to me in English when she doesn't want her son to understand, and they speak to her in French when they don't want me to understand. Oh the fun!

Edited by lackinglatin on 06 March 2010 at 4:03am

1 person has voted this message useful



Katie
Diglot
Senior Member
Australia
Joined 6507 days ago

495 posts - 599 votes 
Speaks: English*, Hungarian
Studies: French, German

 
 Message 90 of 173
06 March 2010 at 6:37am | IP Logged 
[QUOTE=aabram] When I was learning sign language at school me and my friend used it on lot of occasions.
We were pretty much only ones who were half decent at it so others would not understand a
thing. The best part of it was that we were able to silently communicate over classroom.
During boring classes we discussed things we'd do after school or what we'd have for
dinner later on.

[QUOTE]


That just reminded me of my school days! I was one of only about 2 or 3 people who knew sign language at my school. One of those people was a very good friend of mine and we were in a lot of classes together. We would chat constantly, the entire class, via sign language (oh and by the way, we were the same - both really good students).

One day we were in my Biology class (about 6 - 8 months into the year I would guess) and we were joking around. I started to tease her about something to do with a boy, so she replied with a profanity. At that point our teacher called out to us with a huge grin on her face and told us to stop it. SHE KNEW SIGN LANGUAGE AND HAD BEEN FOLLOWING OUR CONVERSATIONS ALL YEAR!!!!!!!! God only knows what she found out about us... haha... boys, parties, cliques, parents... we talked everything! :S haha... how embarassing. But hey, it served us well everywhere else!

On the note of using another language when you don't want others to understand, my friends' 4 year old daughter is becoming clever at doing this. She knows that when she is in trouble for something, she will always be told off in Hungarian. She also knows that, if she is to comment on anyone, it's safer to do so in Hungarian. LOL The other day, I took her shopping with my mother. We were walking past a few people and she announces at the top of her voice "Phew! Someone farted!" LOL. THANK GOODNESS she said it in Hungarian. The funniest bit was that my mum doesn't know Hungarian and she was standing in the middle of these people saying "What did she say?" and wouldn't stop asking until I said to her "Mum, I really can't tell you right now - wait until we get around the corner!" LOL
5 persons have voted this message useful



Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5211 days ago

616 posts - 725 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 91 of 173
06 March 2010 at 7:19am | IP Logged 
MegatronFilm wrote:
As a white Spanish speaker, people just assume that I can't speak Spanish. I'll listen into conversations and then
respond. The look on people's faces is so funny when I start speaking fluent Spanish to them. Its always followed
with, "You speak Spanish?!".
It'll be like that once I learn Spanish, I'll listen in on a ton of conversations :)
This didn't happen to me, I think I saw it on a website somewhere, but apparently this guy and his wife were in a theater talking in Spanish about how fat this lady was beside them, when she leaned over and said something to the effect of, "Just because I'm fat doesn't mean I don't know Spanish."
5 persons have voted this message useful



Pyx
Diglot
Senior Member
China
Joined 5524 days ago

670 posts - 892 votes 
Speaks: German*, English
Studies: Mandarin

 
 Message 92 of 173
06 March 2010 at 7:20am | IP Logged 
My sister was once with her boyfriend walking through the streets of San Francisco, when another couple passed them, and the girl said to her boyfriend "Guck mal wie die da läuft!" (Look how that girl's walking!). My sister was too shocked at that time to reply anything :)
1 person has voted this message useful



Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5211 days ago

616 posts - 725 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 93 of 173
06 March 2010 at 7:22am | IP Logged 
lackinglatin wrote:
I was wondering if someone would mention Esperanto.

The other day I was playing "Go" online, receiving a teaching game online from a German friend. A random guest dropped in that neither of us knew. The guy teaching me said hello, asked if he knew Esperanto (Saluton! Cxu vi parolas Esperanton?).

The guy responded "Salut." Nothing else.

We continued talking, carrying on with the teaching game.

After a while, he asks in English, "Terribly sorry to interrupt, but what language are you two speaking in?"

I said Esperanto, responding in English.

His response: "OH MY G-D!"

priceless. Having grown up monoglot, I'm just in the past year getting to experience having 'secret languages' in Hebrew and Esperanto. I wish I saw my Esperanto friends more than once a month so we could have that more often... the bus rides are usually fun, though. Using Hebrew around all the tourists I see is always fun, of course. Petting one's own ego.

I get Spanish lessons from a lady who has two young sons, whom I teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in exchange for her teaching me Spanish. She speaks in French with her sons, though, and only one of them has a fair knowledge of English. We all share Hebrew, and though I teach them in Hebrew, my Hebrew is obviously quite poor compared to a native... so it's always an interesting experience being in her house, she being the only one who speaks all four languages with fluency (Spanish, French, Hebrew, English).

She talks to me in English when she doesn't want her son to understand, and they speak to her in French when they don't want me to understand. Oh the fun!
That's pretty awesome. What BJJ belt are you? I've recently started BJJ at my taekwondo dojang, and I really like it.

All this talk about sign language makes me want to learn it now...
1 person has voted this message useful



lackinglatin
Triglot
Groupie
United States
randomwritingsetc.blRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5769 days ago

62 posts - 146 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, Modern Hebrew
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 94 of 173
06 March 2010 at 2:40pm | IP Logged 
Honestly, my instructor never belted me because I was too inconsistent at coming. But I had 'tapped' (submitted) a smattering of blue belts, and even a purple once. I haven't been able to do it in a while, so I started taking notes online before I teach them, to see how to teach it exactly.

In the meantime, in spite of my hectic 32 hour schedule, and everything else I do, I'm going to try to start taking BJJ + cross training on Wednesday nights. We'll see how that goes.

Same here for sign language! I'll have to get to that, super handy. I just need someone to speak with.

K

PS--Priceless story about the teacher following all year!

1 person has voted this message useful



Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5211 days ago

616 posts - 725 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 95 of 173
07 March 2010 at 4:38am | IP Logged 
lackinglatin wrote:
Honestly, my instructor never belted me because I was too inconsistent at coming. But I had 'tapped' (submitted) a smattering of blue belts, and even a purple once. I haven't been able to do it in a while, so I started taking notes online before I teach them, to see how to teach it exactly.

In the meantime, in spite of my hectic 32 hour schedule, and everything else I do, I'm going to try to start taking BJJ + cross training on Wednesday nights. We'll see how that goes.

Same here for sign language! I'll have to get to that, super handy. I just need someone to speak with.

K

PS--Priceless story about the teacher following all year!
Oh. I train at my taekwondo school, so we wear white belts but I'm not exactly sure if and how we will advance.

And if I could find someone who knew sign language, I'd learn it :\
1 person has voted this message useful



lackinglatin
Triglot
Groupie
United States
randomwritingsetc.blRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5769 days ago

62 posts - 146 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, Modern Hebrew
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 96 of 173
07 March 2010 at 7:19am | IP Logged 
Historically, all practitioners who are not dan wear a white belt. Judo was the first really modernized martial art, a bit over a 100 something years ago, and that guy started using colored belts. Everyone else took after him.

I'd consider it, but I have 3 languages I'm actively studying right now outside of Esperanto, with 32 hours of classes. :)

Someday, though.


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