4 ms·

> Try asking _anyone_ who doesn't have English as their first language in a serious context how they feel about their language and you'll struggle to find someo

> Try asking _anyone_ who doesn't have English as their first language in a serious context how they feel about their language and you'll struggle to find someone without a genuine fondness for it. Well. My first language is Polish, and there are some of us who call it "superpowers". If you go to a conference, you can be quite sure no-one understands you apart from your friend who you are talking to, and possibly that one passer by, who is also Polish or Ukrainian. That is, unless we start to curse. Then we are probably well understood.

bobthepanda 4y ago
There’s a bit in the American TV series Fresh Off The Boat where the parents start shouting very normal sentences in Chinese so that it looks like a fake heated argument, and the salesman offers them a discount to get them to stop scaring the customers.
stavros 4y ago
Greek here, nobody understands us, period. It isn't anywhere close to anything else.
- BiteCode_dev 4y ago
  I usually can grab a few things from tone alone for a lot of languages. But I got a new greek buddy recently, and when she talks on the phone, my ears cannot lock on anything. Edit: completely unrelated, but I saw your username on lobster on a dead man switch thread (I use Shamir’s Secret for treasure hunts to I thought the DMS idea was cool). Do you happen to have invites? I started to write again, and wanted to post something but I don't have any account.
  - stavros 4y ago
    Yeah, it's so far from other languages that you probably can't make out any of the words at all. I think I have some invites, can you email me about it?
    - BiteCode_dev 4y ago
      Just did. Cheers.
Swizec 4y ago
As a Slovenian … I don’t have this superpower because I’m usually the only Slovenian there. There was a conference in NYC once where at least 10 people tried to introduce me to the one other Slovenian there, it was pretty funny. Slovenia being small, we had already met years ago at a local meetup or something.
Veliladon 4y ago
Polandball means we all know what "kurwa" means.
WalterBright 4y ago
> If you go to a conference, you can be quite sure no-one understands you apart from your friend who you are talking to I'd be careful about that. I've overheard others making nasty remarks thinking I wouldn't know what they were saying. Seinfeld had a pretty funny episode about that. I've watched Polish movies. It doesn't take long before one gets the hang of what others are saying.

bobthepanda 4y ago

There’s a bit in the American TV series Fresh Off The Boat where the parents start shouting very normal sentences in Chinese so that it looks like a fake heated argument, and the salesman offers them a discount to get them to stop scaring the customers.

stavros 4y ago

Greek here, nobody understands us, period. It isn't anywhere close to anything else.

BiteCode_dev 4y ago
I usually can grab a few things from tone alone for a lot of languages. But I got a new greek buddy recently, and when she talks on the phone, my ears cannot lock on anything. Edit: completely unrelated, but I saw your username on lobster on a dead man switch thread (I use Shamir’s Secret for treasure hunts to I thought the DMS idea was cool). Do you happen to have invites? I started to write again, and wanted to post something but I don't have any account.
- stavros 4y ago
  Yeah, it's so far from other languages that you probably can't make out any of the words at all. I think I have some invites, can you email me about it?
  - BiteCode_dev 4y ago
    Just did. Cheers.

Swizec 4y ago

As a Slovenian … I don’t have this superpower because I’m usually the only Slovenian there. There was a conference in NYC once where at least 10 people tried to introduce me to the one other Slovenian there, it was pretty funny. Slovenia being small, we had already met years ago at a local meetup or something.

Veliladon 4y ago

Polandball means we all know what "kurwa" means.

WalterBright 4y ago

> If you go to a conference, you can be quite sure no-one understands you apart from your friend who you are talking to I'd be careful about that. I've overheard others making nasty remarks thinking I wouldn't know what they were saying. Seinfeld had a pretty funny episode about that. I've watched Polish movies. It doesn't take long before one gets the hang of what others are saying.