Damn, mother tongues are annoying sometimes. The people next to me in a café in Brussels are speaking English, and I really don't need the one person's monologue of complaints about the world, but I simply cannot blend it out as I can French or German! - ThreadSky

jonworth.eu • 31 days ago

Damn, mother tongues are annoying sometimes.

The people next to me in a café in Brussels are speaking English, and I really don't need the one person's monologue of complaints about the world, but I simply cannot blend it out as I can French or German!

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aminifer.bsky.social•31 days ago

Semi relatedly, I set my VPN to Finland so I can easily zone out ads on the free versions of YouTube etc. Finnish is not only completely incomprehensible to me, but it has a pleasant rhythm and few enough speakers that there aren’t a huge number of ads

utterquatsch.bsky.social•31 days ago

I often find myself in a similar scenarios - for example the first few days back in the UK are usually & peculiarly cacophonous because I start tuning in to everything around me, subconsciously. But despite the background chatter, I still find myself ordering in German while in cafés & restaurants.

theseeeker.bsky.social•30 days ago

I have the same problem. I can filter out French and Dutch here in Brussels but on a recent trip to Wales for a funeral the whole train full of people speaking English was overwhelming.

jonworth.eu•31 days ago

oh indeed, totally get that too! Can relate!

janetrad.bsky.social•31 days ago

On a trip back I automatically said Bonjour to some workmen one morning and they, bemusedly, said Bonjour back!

thuytran.bsky.social•31 days ago

In a noisy office restaurant full of people speaking French I heard somebody speaking Vietnamese tables away.

johnhyphen.bsky.social•31 days ago

have to say, understanding zero dutch feels like it makes me impervious to a lot of advertising though!

jonworth.eu•31 days ago

Oh indeed, it has upsides! I think there is some happy medium, which is more or less where I am with German - where I understand anything I want to, but still can sort of turn it off when I want to as well! 🙂

niceguysean.bsky.social•31 days ago

Strange how these things work- I am the opposite. I can blend out English, but can't blend out Italian.

intermax.bsky.social•31 days ago

Something similar happens when I watch a Polish language film with English sub-titles. I'm trying to follow the plot using my rubbish Polish but the sub-titles, which are usually out of sync, keep intruding.

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