Words of wisdom from my awesome son-in-law on Facebook this morning. My daughter is a very lucky woman.

[generalbetrayus]

"Do you know what bothers me about hearing people speak foreign languages in public? When I don't know and can't even guess what the language is. I just want to know what it is! And it reminds me that there's so much to learn and know and I'm just a tiny finite being who will never know even a measurable fraction of it.

You know what doesn't bother me about it? Literally anything else. I love that it means there's diversity around me. I love that it means that where I am is desirable enough that people come from all over the world to be here.

Why would it bother me that I can't understand what people are saying a few feet away from me? I can't understand any of the utterances I'm too far away from to hear, or that are said in private or whispered. I don't get what upsets people so much about someone speaking (or singing) in another language."

[badhair77]

1. Great attitude.

I always feel inadequate that I am not bilingual.

[Walleye]

2. Oh, the butt hurt boys are always getting pissed off at being laughed at

I don’t think anybody is really laughing at them, but they do deserve plenty of ridicule. I’m sure they go out and order guacamole and enchiladas.

[MineralMan]

3. I'm 100% with your Son-in-Law.

My tendency when I will be encountering people who speak a language I don't know is to learn simple greetings and farewells in that language. Then, I use those to show my interest. I have never seen an ill reception to my simplistic use of any language. It always seems like people are pleased that you took at least the time to try. Most are surprised when I say "Hello," or "Good morning." They're not surprised that that's all I know, but it's OK. I tried.

These days, you can learn those basics on YouTube for any language you can imagine.

[PatSeg]

4. It could make some people feel excluded

They may imagine that people are talking about them in a language they don't understand. Of course, there are people who just need an excuse to be pissed off and offended.

The best places I've lived over the years were very diverse. I learned a lot and it created a very healthy environment to raise children.

[haele]

6. Most people aren't being talked about by others in public.

Not unless they're doing something extraordinary to make them stand out.

I know this, my secret power is blending in; I look like someone's pale auntie, and am basically ignored, even in areas where I would normally stand out as a Gringo or really pale.

Unless they're talking to me directly or discussing participating in a crime near me, does it matter what other people are saying? I'm not the f'ing center of the world, abitrator of other people's motivations or desires, after all ..

[PatSeg]

7. This is true

Plus, if people are talking about you, it is pretty easy to tell. People aren't all that subtle.

Sometimes it is nice not knowing what people are saying. The conversations of other people can be a distraction if you're trying to think or read. If it is in a different language, it can become just background noise.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. For most of history, in most parts of the world, a polyglot population has been the norm.

Last edited Thu Feb 12, 2026, 12:17 PM - Edit history (1)

People who believe otherwise have not read enough history. The US is something of an exception in this regard.

It is estimated that at the time of the French Revolution in 1789, only half of the population of France could speak French, and as late as 1871 only a quarter spoke French as their native language.[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_France

ETA: I could also have mentioned that modern Spain, formed by the union of Aragon and Castille, has a greater variety of languages than most Americans are aware of (hey, them Yerpeens is weird, huh?) -- the Barcelona Olympics brought a lot of attention to Catalunya (Catalonia) and its language. Rick Steves has also discussed Catalan culture on some his shows.




I'm not very good at learning languages, but I've tried learning other alphabets so I can understand some of what protest signs in foreign countries are saying. If you're considering learning the Cyrillic alphabet, let me save you some trouble & tell you that many protest signs in Russia say "Putin Nyet", which I believe needs no translation.

[generalbetrayus]

8. I'm too lazy to provide a link(s), but from my reading of the Middle East at the time of Jesus Christ, I have learned

that national borders were very fluid at that time. There were many Greeks living in Palestine at the time who adopted the Jewish faith. And Jewish and early Christian doctrine welcomed strangers from other lands.

[PatSeg]

9. That's interesting about the French

What language did they speak if not French?

[erronis]

11. I know that Occitan/Provencal was actively spoken in the south. Probably German in the east. Dutch to the north.

Of course to the Parisians, nobody else speaks francaise.

(Darn DU won't let me put in accented letters....)

[eppur_se_muova]

20. An Occitan author won a Nobel Prize in Literature.

... such as Occitan, which was already being written at a time when French was not and its literature has continued to thrive, with a Nobel Prize for Frédéric Mistral in 1904.

[PatSeg]

29. Thank you, that was helpful

[eppur_se_muova]

18. Click on the link to the Wikipedia entry; it's pretty thorough.

[PatSeg]

30. Thank you

Gives me a new perspective.

[otchmoson]

10. What bothers me the most?

Acknowledging that our educational system is so arrogant that a second language is not required, or at least encouraged.

[rurallib]

12. Had an incident many years back in a Walmart

white 2 guys behind me were speaking in a language I could not make out. Being a university city that was nothing new, but usually I could sort of guess about what it was.

But this one I had no idea - so I asked. Both proudly answered together that it was Arabic. Once again I marveled at the different people I encountered because of the university.

[erronis]

31. And I was sitting on a flight from Seattle to DC with a bunch of burly men speaking a strange language.

I can speak (not fluently) 3-4 western European languages and understand the tones of some of the eastern European ones. But these guys were speaking something very unusual.

Now, I lived in northern NY and Vermont and have been to Canada many times. When I met up with them at baggage claim, I asked what they were speaking. They said French. Quebecois. But their accents were so strong that I couldn't grasp a single word in French. They laughed when I mentioned this and said that they were from the Laurentians and some other Quebecois couldn't understand them either.

[Seinan Sensei]

13. It was a long time before English-speakers first showed up

There were hundreds of other languages, before and during the English-language incursion into North America

[NNadir]

14. I am pleased to send you a DU heart for this wonderful post.

[generalbetrayus]

40. Thank you!

[LittleGirl]

15. The GOP members

Are the least represented in jobs abroad.

[TommieMommy]

16. Exactly 👍👍💙

[ChazInAz]

17. I was six years old when we left Budapest I. 1956.

We eventually wound up in Springfield, Illinois' "Cabbage Patch": an immigrant neighborhood that was mostly Slavs, Magyars and assorted Bohunks. My father insisted that we speak English at home, resulting in us children losing our Hungarian.
Of course, that didn't prevent us from learning interesting words from our less restrained, polyglot neighbors! Get me tired and/or mad enough to let my accent slip and I'll let fly with some profanities picked up from a terrifyingly ancient Cossak who lived across the street.

[hamsterjill]

21. A very healthy attitude! You got a good one in that son-in-law.

It doesn't bother me that people speak a language that I don't understand. I realize that I'm a tiny speck on the planet and that there is a whole wide world out there besides me and my preferences.

That said, I'm getting older and I have a hard time sometimes understanding customer service reps who speak in English, but it isn't their first language. I try never to be rude, but I do get embarrassed sometimes at myself for having to ask "can you say that again, please". I don't think that makes me a horrible person. I think that makes me human. We all have differences. We are all unique. We deal as best we can.

[Joinfortmill]

22. I hear him. As for people who 'love to hate'. They are projecting their self-hatred onto others. Sick fucks.

[William Seger]

24. "Conservatism" isn't a coherent political philosophy; it's just a bad attitude

Specifically, it's a list of grievances, and the reason "conservative principles" are often ignored or contradicted is that they are just rationalizations for the grievances.

I saw a comment on YouTube that said: "I don't care if they deport all the immigrants, legal or illegal, if I don't ever have to press 1 for English again."

[tanyev]

23. I prefer to hear people talking to each other in languages other than English.

When you’re in a public place it’s impossible to avoid eavesdropping on people near you who are talking loud enough to be heard. I’ve heard a lot of conversations about things I didn’t want to know.

When they’re talking in another language, it’s easier to tune it out if I’m trying to read, or I can listen and appreciate the musicality of the language and their expressiveness without understanding one word of it and feeling like a creepy eavesdropper.

[erronis]

32. I like hearing the other languages because they are beautiful and remind me that we are multi-cultural.

[ihaveaquestion]

25. Echo this!

Years ago, we knew someone married to a Turkish woman... Lovely person and what a beautiful language! I loved to hear her say anything at all in it... didn't matter what it was, it was all so beautifully melodic.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

26. Your son-in-law is a good person

[generalbetrayus]

41. Thank you, I agree.

[popsdenver]

27. You know what irritates me????????

Is when we call customer service for a problem, and when, and if we get by all the computer's chats, etc, we finally get a live agent, the person is in another country. Classically India, and although they speak English, their accent is SOOOOO thick, they are not understandable. I always kindly tell them, to talk slower and pronounce their words better, so that I can understand......they usually understand and comply, but not always and I am regretfully forced to just hang up.....

Of course, these same Corporations that are all saying: RAH, RAH AMERICA, and are all sending U.S. jobs to other countries?????

Since I was young, a thousand years ago, I have always heard the same exact refrain out of these Corporations:
"We can't find anyone who wants to work"........
Instead of truthfully saying:
"We can't find anyone who wants to work for our outrageously low amount we want to pay"

The Corporations are truly what are running America, and we are stuck, WITH THE BEST REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS THAT THE CORPORATIONS CAN BUY.......

I fully expect, that some time down the road, the United States of America will be renamed, The Corporate States of America....

[eppur_se_muova]

33. Yep, I get really ticked off about that too ... hard not to take it out on the operators, but not their fault ...

We dropped WOW for cable and phone largely because I can never reach anyone there ... they have that kind of phone service and an online chat which is very slow, because obviously one person is handling multiple customers ... and you can't make certain changes online, only by phone ....

[popsdenver]

39. Yea

those on line chats are often AI Bots? programmed to help you, but almost always can't.......
I just went thru that for 40 minutes trying to cancel an app called FUBO and finally gave up. They were charging over a hundred bucks a month, and making almost impossible to cancel......cute, huh.
My Super Geek son took over, and in a few minutes had it cancelled, using weird techniques that not everyone knows how to do.

[Historic NY]

28. I grew up with relatives speaking Italian around us kids...

you know after a bit the words and the slang. The bad words too. Sometime we'd speak a phrase back at them and it was shock, mostly because they now knew, we knew.

There is a guy on you-tube thats a wiz on languages I love his videos . He does do obscure American and first Nations languages and sometime make people cry when he uses their native tongue.

?si=b9tOf0pfcSe_YduY]

I always try to have a few phrases that i memorize when I travel. Those first few words even if its hello, good day, how are you, makes a difference.

[eppur_se_muova]

34. Wow, thanks for that ! nt

[erronis]

36. I'm very impressed. He knows a lot of words and is willing to learn more. Better than most Americans.

[Easterncedar]

42. The guy is brilliant!

This is a delightful video. So much fun. And is just shows how lovely people can be, everywhere. So willing to be kind.

[Kali]

43. that was WONDERFUL

[kerry-is-my-prez]

35. I always feel guilty that I lost all of my Spanish vocabulary from mis-use

I took several years of Spanish in high school and college. I even acted as a translator once. I’m 70, so I basically have major brain farts when it comes to English. I plan on going back to relearn it.

[Skittles]

37. just curious

why doesn't he just ask what language he is hearing - I politely asked a couple of ladies at the Post Office and they said Swahili....it sounded so cool

[cksmithy]

38. My daughter had a spanish speaking care giver, at her day care. My daughter was her favorite,

she heard spanish and was cuddled by her when she was a baby and toddler. The babysitter knew very little english, she was a refugee from El Salvador. So years later, my daughter takes high school spanish, the teacher tells us during a 9th grade parent conference/visit, that my daughter has a funny accent, but wow she is excelling in Spanish class. The teacher has never had a english only speaker progress this well. We tell her she heard of a lot of spanish as a baby and toddler. That appears to explain her success. She took Spanish all four years of high school.

Funny story, my daughter always wore wildly patterned socks to school. So one day, she's walking down the hall in school and over hears two girls noticing and kind of making fun of her socks, She didn't respond to them, but she knew what they were saying. Laughed her head off, telling us the story. She was happy they noticed her socks. They didn't have a clue she understood them.