Lost in translation? Not so much! These bilingual folks recall the times they caught someone gossiping about them in another language. Learning another language really does come in handy! Content has been edited for clarity.
“She Never Said A Word To Me Again”
“Italian was my native language. I couldn’t speak Spanish or Portuguese fluently, but I could understand almost everything.
When I was in the United States dating a Brazilian girl for about two months, I never mentioned to her how I could speak or understand Portuguese. Because of my Latin roots, I assumed she would have at least guessed I would be able to understand the language a bit.
One night, my girlfriend came over to my house and used my computer. She video-called one of her best friends, and they spoke to each other in Portuguese. I sat next to her watching television the whole time. Little did she know, I understood every word she said to her best friend.
During the entire conversation, my girlfriend talked about how she was dating another guy at the same time and was planning on staying at his house later on.
I didn’t flinch or lash out. I sat there for the duration of the conversation, and once she was done, I told her in Portuguese how good the movie was I was watching.
It was truly priceless. Her jaw dropped and there was silence for a few minutes. Then, I told her to pack up her belongings and leave in Portuguese. She simply left and never said a word to me again.”
“It Was One Of The Worst Moments Of My Life”
“I could speak Chinese fairly well, even though it was not my native language. I dated a Chinese guy fairly seriously for about three years. One day, we ran into a family friend of his mother’s and her daughter at a restaurant.
My boyfriend introduced me to them, and initially, they seemed pretty nice. We sat at a table close enough nearby to be able to hear them. Suddenly, the mother and daughter started talking to each other in Chinese and speaking poorly about me. The mother said I had no right to be with someone like my boyfriend and that my boyfriend should be ashamed for being out in public with me.
The daughter responded, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll never humiliate you like this.’
Their words stung, but I got through eating the rest of my meal. When we left, I said goodbye to them in Chinese.
As my boyfriend and I walked away, the mother had the nerve to say, ‘I don’t care if she understands, at least now we don’t have to hide how unwelcome she is around here.’
It was one of the worst moments of my life, and I knew I would never forget it.”
“Both Of The Girl’s Jaws Dropped”
“A while back, I took an Asian studies class. The professor was white, from upstate New York, and fluent in Chinese. On a train in Beijing, he eavesdropped on two Chinese girls talking about one of their boyfriends.
One girl was saying how after such a long time, her boyfriend had still not proposed. Judging by her voice, she was extremely frustrated with the situation.
She said, effectively, after all of this, ‘I’ll say yes to the next guy who asks me to marry him.’
My professor, after listening to the whole conversation, got down on one knee. In Chinese, he asked for her hand in marriage. Both of the girl’s jaws dropped and they nervously abandoned the train at the next exit. All my professor could do was laugh.”
“The Entire Class Simultaneously Turned And Faced Me”
“I worked as an English teacher in Korea. The amount of Korean I spoke was extremely minimal, with only a few different words and phrases. I taught elementary students, and they thought I didn’t speak any Korean. The students used to say things about me in Korean quite frequently. Some of it I knew they were speaking poorly about me, and some I didn’t fully understand, but still knew was about me.
One day, one of the students got up and asked, ‘Can I get up and go back to my homeroom for a minute?’
I replied, ‘Why?’
He replied in Korean, ‘I forgot my book.’
I sighed and answered, ‘You can go get it if you hurry back.’
The entire class simultaneously turned to face me with their mouths wide open. You could see it dawning on their faces how they thought, ‘Wow, our teacher understands everything we have been saying.’
I had my entire class of students convinced I spoke fluent Korean when I probably only spoke at the level of a 2-year-old. It was the best trick I pulled throughout all of my time teaching.”
“The Guy Was As Smug As Could Be”
“I grew up in Belgium, so I spoke a bit of Dutch. Years ago, I went to Hong Kong for work and used my free time during the evenings to visit the city.
When returning to my hotel after a night out, I usually took a crowded train back. On this night in particular, there weren’t many seats left. After everyone streamed out of the train, I noticed one seat available in the middle. I rushed in towards it while another, obviously local guy tried to dash it, too. I won, and I got to sit my lazy self down in the seat right in front of him.
I watched him sulk for a bit, then he started talking to a friend, another local, in Chinese. I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying. But out of nowhere, the guy switched to Dutch to complain about me getting the seat from under his nose. He used some pretty colorful language about me!
The guy was smug as could be, as he was sure he got away talking about me thinking there was no way a random guy in Hong Kong knew Dutch. And then there was me, smugger still, because out of all of the random guys in Hong Kong, I understood it.
I remarked to both of the guys in Dutch, and they were shocked. We eventually got to talking, and it turned out they studied in Belgium for a year or two and picked up Dutch. Small world.”
