The weirdest part of knowing a foreign language is . . .

[True2marie]

The weirdest part of knowing a foreign language is . . . the reaction of others when I speak it.

For some reason, people have a lot of stereotypes on who they think should ore shouldn't know a foreign language. So, when I speak Spanish, onlookers act stunned and stare at me in the oddest way.

[Astdua]

That's a good feeling, actually, lol. Funny things have arisen out of it, like being in a foreign food restaurant and communicating with the waiters in their own language, the reactions of onlookers has been mostly amusing to me. It's a good party thing, conversation starter, and beneficial all around, although it does get weird and awkward at times to be honest.

[PSLoveCharli]

I'm an African American, so when I attempt to speak Spanish to Latinos/Hispanics, they often chuckle or smile at me. I don't know if it's because I get a couple words mixed up or just the wrong phrase all together, but they seem to figure it out -- after laughing :confused:

[Kotro]

This doesn't happen to me personaly, but one of the weirdest repercussions of knowing more than one language is when people switch languages mid-sentence, without two seconds thought, if they fail to elaborate the expression they want in one of the languages. I can't help but give them a look and come up with a solution in the same language. I see it more as laziness from them than a proof of proficiency.

[Expressionism]

For me the weirdest is accidentally thinking in one language (not even my native one) and then say something that just sounds like a literal translation, or even get out a whole phrase in that language. It usually happens when I've been reading or speaking one of them a lot, but fortunately it doesn't happen very often.

[sidney]

The weird part of knowing 2 languages is being able to combine the 2 and form 1 coherent sentence, and that only the people who can speak both languages are the ones who can fully understand the whole sentence.

[Baburra]

The weirdest part for me is that my friends only ever hear my speak one of the language on either side, and they are often left out of the conversation when I start speaking in my other language. Also, I imagine it isn't too comfortable for them having gotten used to seeing and hearing me a certain way, only to see and hear a completely different side of me in a split second.

[Trellum]

Hahaha, for me the weirdest part of knowing a foreign language is the reaction of the people around me (speaking in their language about me - assuming I can't understand) when I tell them I understood every word they said!  LOL.

It actually happened to me once, I was inside an elevator in Oslo, I was wearing some really tight clothes. The ''gentlemen'' behind me started to make comments about my body and so on, flattering comments mostly   It was funny, they probably thought I couldn't understand a word, but I did.  I told them: ''take a picture, guys, it lasts longer''.

[caparica007]

Hahaha, for me the weirdest part of knowing a foreign language is the reaction of the people around me (speaking in their language about me - assuming I can't understand) when I tell them I understood every word they said!  LOL.

It actually happened to me once, I was inside an elevator in Oslo, I was wearing some really tight clothes. The ''gentlemen'' behind me started to make comments about my body and so on, flattering comments mostly   It was funny, they probably thought I couldn't understand a word, but I did.  I told them: ''take a picture, guys, it lasts longer''.

Lol, you actually said that? In Norwegian (norse?)? I imagine the look on their faces...

For me the weirdest of knowing a foreign language is forgetting it and when you try to speak nothing comes out!  :doubtful:

[Rosa]

The weirdest part of knowing a foreign language for me is actually speaking it then in the middle of a sentence  forget an important vocaulary and have to switch back to my native language to complete the conversation. :grin: