Looking for the Harley shop in Rome a few years ago we asked a bartender if she spoke English…she spoke 4 languages…and I thought about all the bubbas in my state complaining about ‘those mexicans at walmart not speaking, you know, american’.
Whenever I hear people speaking a language I don't know, my reaction is always "I wish I could speak their language." Not "They must be made to speak mine."
I once saw a guy in a Mexican restaurant in DC have a hissy fit because the menu had Spanish words on it, not the whole menu, just words like burritos, chile rellenos, etc. I said, dude, do you realize that salsa is a Spanish word, as are many other words in common use in the US? 🙄
Humans hate the feeling of ignorance.
The idea that they cannot understand a conversation they are trying to listen into is distressing.
As with most anger, it comes from projection.
An honest discussion is impossible as nobody is going to admit their own ignorance upsets them..
I studied German in high school and was stationed in Germany for 4 years during my military career. I studied Russian in college after leaving the military. Often the professor would stop me and say this is Russian class and you just switched to German.
If i am in Spain, France, Portugal or Italy and I hear an loud English speaker, I just switch languages & pretend I don't speak English.. Working on my German too.
The good thing is, most people love the Scots so as soon as I say I am from Scotland, I get a great response.
A couple of years ago I sat in Church Street Liverpool watching the world go by and was in awe of the different nationalities, ethnicities and languages passing by. I felt so proud of my city which has welcomed the world for centuries.
I lived in France and publicly spoke English to my children and there was never a freak out. People were more in awe that multilingual kids could switch languages so easily. In the US it felt more like people thought we were plotting something sinister against them personally. Real insecurities
The ones at the bottom of the sespit for me,are the brits who go on hoilday abroad and say this!
Call it prejudice but instantly id want nothing to do with them!
I live in 🇨🇭 where they have 3 or 4 official languages and many people speak several languages routinely. One of my French-speaking colleagues regularly switches between German & English within a single sentence. 🤷♂️🙂
If you got wound up by hearing other languages, you wouldn't last a day here.
I feel it probably stems from a profound embarrassment at not having the skill themself. But they can’t cope with that feeling so turn it on others who have something they lack
I confronted someone telling me to stop speaking French. So in English I said "I don't speak English". She replied "yes you do!" 😆 Then I promised her we weren't talking about her and she shut up for awhile. When she started up again her husband told her to shut up cuz her family is German! Wtf?!
For the 1st decade of my life, I only spoke Spanish. When I found myself in a terrifying place with strangers and not able to understand them, I lashed out.
I was 12. I was scared.
After that, languages became something beautiful to me.
I think those people are just scared and emotionally 12.
I live in Wales and occasionally someone kicks off because people are speaking Welsh nearby. Ok, it hasn't happened a lot, but it's frankly pretty weird that it's happened at all
Everyone literally carries a supercomputer in their pocket that is perfectly capable of translating the overwhelming majority of languages spoken in real time. Any individual who fears someone speaking in another language isn't just a bigoted shitbag, they're a failure with a basic skill issues.
I actually used to feel inferior when we traveled abroad. Everyone spoke their language and English. When we took a taxi in Mexico, the driver was practicing his English. I told him about my inferiority complex. He said English is the universal language. If you have a Japanese tourist in Mexico,
They will know English more than Spanish. It made me feel better. That being said, we still try to learn at least the basic pleasantries when we are in a different country. Never want to be an ugly American!
Yep. And it's not just colonialism either, as some would have you believe (though that plays a big part obviously) - the number of times England has been invaded/colonised/settled/etc has left a healthy percentage of various languages in English's make-up, which I suspect helps a lot.
I also think it’s really interesting when the languages get mixed - when I lived in wales people would speak Welsh but chuck in some English words or vice versa - similarly my friend’s son who has one English parent and one Polish one regularly speaks ‘ponglish’.
Comments
He's usually good, but he gets it wrong every now and again. I hope he stops and reflects.
https://youtube.com/shorts/a2Mkpm9LwU4?si=0oFH6bW8k8FGfT_o
The idea that they cannot understand a conversation they are trying to listen into is distressing.
As with most anger, it comes from projection.
An honest discussion is impossible as nobody is going to admit their own ignorance upsets them..
The good thing is, most people love the Scots so as soon as I say I am from Scotland, I get a great response.
Also, most Scottish people try a wee bit of the language. Amazing what a difference saying please & thank you in the language makes.
Many of my English friends when I lived in Spain avoided loud English speakers too.
They were in Cardiff, and speaking Welsh.
Heaven forbid Welsh people speak Welsh in Wales…
Call it prejudice but instantly id want nothing to do with them!
If you got wound up by hearing other languages, you wouldn't last a day here.
And no shade to unilingual folk as a whole here, since I know many unis who wld *never* cop that attitude.
Plus, I hear they made their best wine in the year 2309! I won't be here, but I bet it will be as great as their language!
I was 12. I was scared.
After that, languages became something beautiful to me.
I think those people are just scared and emotionally 12.