Using Foreign Language To Conceal What You Are Saying

[sidney]

I think one of the advantages of learning a new language is that you can say almost anything you want in front of that other person, and that person will not understand what you are saying. Like you can speak your secrets aloud. For example, you can say how annoyed you are at this person to your friend that can understand the language that you speak, and the person you are annoyed at will never know what you said. Are you guilty of doing this?

[Trellum]

Hahaha, yeah!  I will do that a lot when I come back to Mexico to visit my parents and other relatives. I'll talk with my boyfriend in Dutch   Specially if we ever come across my half sister.  Hell yeah!  Thanks for bringing this up   Actually this is one of the funniest parts of knowing another language.  It's so cool being able to talk about whatever you want freely!  I'll definitely appreciate this every time I come back home   Who knows, me and my boyfriend could have a good laugh, specially if we are trying to buy souvenirs over here!

[Lin]

I think one of the advantages of learning a new language is that you can say almost anything you want in front of that other person, and that person will not understand what you are saying. Like you can speak your secrets aloud. For example, you can say how annoyed you are at this person to your friend that can understand the language that you speak, and the person you are annoyed at will never know what you said. Are you guilty of doing this?

They may never know that you are disrespecting them depending on how you do it, and the cleverness of your friends' responses to what you say. You can keep it as your little secret, but then again it's not nice to be insolent; for I wouldn't want someone to do the same thing to me.  :confused:

Confusion is sometimes caused by ignorance. But the confused doesn't necessarily have to worry himself; for what he doesn't know can't hurt him. It only helps you to have a little laugh and a little internal contentment for a moment. Then that's it. If you're brave enough, speak your mind understandably.

[andre-nunes]

I don't think this is respectful to others, when in a social setting you should always speak in a language that everyone comprehends, speaking in other languages to conceal what you are say is just like whispering secrets to someone else in a group setting, it's not polite. At least from where I come from...

[rosacrux]

I have done this in the past, and I felt I was being disrespectful. When I lived in the UK, sometimes I spoke in Spanish with my Latin America friends. My British peers thought that I was trying to conceal something, so I stopped doing that.

[lizbeth19hph]

Yes, it is quite a privilege for one to have learned another language but making a fool out of someone by speaking the language  to his face that he cannot even understand is I think not appropriate. What if the tables turned on you and someone did the same thing to you?

[lindbergh]

When somebody speaks to another in front of me in another language or dialect, I find that very disrespectful. It just shows that these people can't be trusted because they're hiding something.  :doubtful:

It could be a great technique to use when in a place where you are not familiar with anybody. But when you are in a professional setting, it's a big no-no.

[Champollion]

Speaking another language is a very useful miltary tool, it was used to great effect by the US Navy in the Second World War by having native American cryptographers on board each ship to transmit messages. The Japanese couldn't break the codes because they were in Apache or Navajo, which they didn't recognise as uncrypted even if they did hit on the correct cipher.

In 1919 the British Prime Minister was Welsh, his Foreign Minister too. In the delicate negotiations of the Versailles peace talks they always spoke Welsh on the phone to confuse eavesdroppers. How times have changed!

[Kotro]

Politically correctness aside, I always crack up when a friend of mine who lives in NY tells me his stories about going to his local deli/grocery store and yelling out some particular Portuguese foul word, but in the same tone as saying good morning - especially when people are friendly and yell it back at him! 

[Rosa]

It can be quite a funny experience knowing a second language and communicating with others of same tongue yet the majority of people around you are unable to understand. My friend once told me that she was travelling on the subway when a group of girls decided to have a ball about her in Spanish. She totally ignored them until she got to her stop, she let them have in Spanish. They were astonished to find out she was quite fluent in Spanish and understood every word they spoke.As a matter of fact she is a Spanish teacher so we shouldn't judge the book by it's cover if we ever think of having fun in such a way.

[LindaKay]

Yes, it is quite a privilege for one to have learned another language but making a fool out of someone by speaking the language  to his face that he cannot even understand is I think not appropriate. What if the tables turned on you and someone did the same thing to you?

I agree. It always bothers me when people do this. You can usually tell they are talking about you, too, because they will usually look at you.

If people don't speak English and speak in another language, I obviously understand it. But I don't understand the need to transition into another language that no one else around can understand unless you are planning on talking about someone.

Overall, I just think it's pretty rude.

[fredkawig]

I tried this many times while playing video games. I actually say bad words in my own tongue and most of the people cannot understand it anyway so there I go. It's also fun to use your own language when foreigners are in, so that they wont understand what you are talking about.

[MrFreshh]

I do find it useful to speak another language when I don't want other people to understand what is going on. Usually though it's only a safe strategy when it is a fairly obscure language. Take, Finnish, for example. Despite being almost completely sure others can't understand me I still try to keep these conversation somewhat safe. You never know who actually can speak your language.

[lllllllllllllllllllllllll]

Overall, I just think it's pretty rude.

^This. Not only is it rude but it is a cowardly way to "speak your mind". If you are brave enough and confident that you can back up your argument then man up and speak your mind out in a language that can be understood by the party involved.

[diprod]

I think we're all guilty of this. I do this too sometimes. Especially when I'm pissed at the person. Haha It's mean sometimes but it helps rather than totally directly hurting other people's feelings. LOL

[wander_n_wonder]

I think one of the advantages of learning a new language is that you can say almost anything you want in front of that other person, and that person will not understand what you are saying. Like you can speak your secrets aloud. For example, you can say how annoyed you are at this person to your friend that can understand the language that you speak, and the person you are annoyed at will never know what you said. Are you guilty of doing this?

I worked overseas a lot and yeah, I'm totally guilty of doing this sometimes. However, I know for a fact that it's also not polite to do so, so I try to limit myself from doing this.  I also feel that it's not nice when you do it in front of colleagues, as they automatically would think that you are saying something behind their back.

[dorannmwin]

Honestly, no, I am not guilty of doing this. I've always been one of those people that won't say anything at all if I don't have something nice to say.

That said, how would I feel if I was saying something out loud in another language only to find out that the person that I was talking about knew exactly what I was saying.

[Daimashin]

Isn't it a little rude to speak in a different language in front of another person? I understand if you don't want people to know the contents of your conversation but only if you say it softly. Speaking it out loud does seem disrespectful to other people. I don't mind people do it to me but I'll definitely not do it on other people.

[Tina_Joanne]

Honestly, I kind of wish I could. But my second language is Italian, which isn't exactly exotic, and both cities I've lived in have had enormous Italian communities, so it's never been safe to assume that nobody within earshot would understand. I just figure that, wherever I am, there's at least one person who speaks enough Italian to be offended. =)

And, in the end, I do feel like it's rude to use a language that not everybody in the conversation can understand. I'd be insulted, so I don't do it. Besides, I generally use Italian when it's the common language of everyone I'm with.

There are definitely times, though, when I wish I could speak Swahili, or another language that's less common than Italian. =)