I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my dog.
Emperor Charles V
We take our ability to understand and speak the local lingo for granted, but sometimes we can suddenly find ourselves totally dumb.
It can happen for instance if you are invited to a party where most of the guests are foreign born and are mostly conversing in their native tongue.
When you start mingling, you quickly realize that socializing is going to be очень tрудно (very difficult).
It is undeniable that people feel more comfortable speaking the language of their formative years rather the language of their adopted country. It can be annoying to some people, but it can hardly be helped, especially when some individuals don’t feel at ease in their second language.
Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did. – Sarah Caldwell
I speak two languages fairly well, but since I am curious I am also familiar with a multitude of foreign words, especially Italian and Spanish (Latin roots), German (my first foreign tongue) and Russian (through family ties).
I hear Russian spoken regularly, since my better half is a child of the former Soviet Union. I know scores of Russian words and while I cannot understand everything that is being said, I still can (sometimes) grasp what the conversation is about.
At first, a foreign language is like a cacophony of unfamiliar sounds. But little by little you start identifying some words and that enables you to get the gist of a conversation. And the more you learn, the more you want to know.
Different languages often mean different customs.
At a Russian diner party, guests like to get up and make flowery speeches, usually followed by a toast and a stiff drink down the hatch.
If you have three or more speakers, it can be a sobering experience.
Last Sunday I went to a Russian family get-together and after playing “bubble boy” for most of the day, some older chaps finally took me to (political) task.
I was extremely surprised to discover that these former citizens of the Soviet Union are now enthusiastic (WTF?) Trump supporters. These very people who fled an autocratic regime in their homeland seem to be whishing for the same type of government in the United States.
If Trump is elected president (perish the thought) he said that the first thing he would do is to throw Hillary Clinton in jail.
Isn’t it what’s happening in Russia right now? Regime opponents are either jailed or outright murdered… Wake up people!
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
I like the resilience of the Russian spirit, but what Russia needs is a good shot of reality in the arm. The Russian Bear needs to come out of the taiga and learn to cohabit peacefully with different species.
So does the Trumpster, but I know that this is asking too much.
Без труда не вытащишь и рыбку из пруда.
You cannot pull a fish out of a pond without effort.
Meaning: You need to work hard if you want to get something.
Alain
“You won’t miss the cow until the barn is empty.”
(After Barack Obama leaves the White House)