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36 Times Folks Overheard Others Speaking About Them In Another Language, Not Knowing They Understood
Interview With Expert
Being able to speak more than one language is a valuable skill that takes a lot of time and effort to master. Some people grow up speaking different dialects based on how they’re spoken to at home and the way folks in their community talk.
The best part of being bilingual isn’t just putting the other language to use; it’s also sometimes being able to overhear people talking about you when they think you can’t understand. This list is full of such stories and awkward moments that multilingual folks have experienced.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Not me, but my uncle. On a late night bus out of Chicago, he was sitting there just reading and two girls at the next stop came on, chatting in German. They sat a few seats away from my uncle and started gossiping about inner-circle drama, what they were going to do for the night, regular girl chatter. Then one of the girls saw him and said something along the lines of, "What I would do to him if I had the chance.." to her girlfriend, and they both laughed and her friend quickly shushed her and said " What if he hears us!"
The first girl replies "They're all just stupid Americans, we're fine!" and without missing a beat, in perfect German, he replies, "Oh, no, please do tell: what would you do if you got the chance?"
They're getting married next spring.
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#2
I'm from American but I live in Japan, and my friend came to visit last year. While we were sitting at a counter at a sushi restaurant this Japanese older couple came in and sat in the seats next to us. We were just looking at the menu and talking about what to order and I overhead the guy next to me talking to his wife saying "Oh, I wonder if they're OK...they probably can't read the menu...should we do something? Maybe we should help." It was actually kind of cute. I just turned to them and politely said that there was no need but I appreciated the thought.
#3
I spent a few years in Seoul and gained near fluency after about a year of immersion. Most days on the street I'd hear something about the size of my nose or my blue eyes. Usually it was satisfying enough to look right at the speaker until they paused then I'd just introduce myself and ask them about their day. Met a lot of cool people.
In some situations it was a game. One of my Korean friends was fluent in English. We used to take the bus together and talk about whatever just to see what happened with the crowd. He spoke English and I replied in Korean. Really messed with the other passenger's heads. Good times.
An interesting thing to note is that at least half of the world’s population is bilingual, and approximately 20%-30% of folks are multilingual. This just goes to show that there are so many people conversing in different dialects on a daily basis, and getting their point across, no matter the odds.
Also, even though English is a dominant language across the world, there are a large number of Mandarin Chinese and Hindi speakers globally. In places like Papua New Guinea and India, you’ll find the most bilingual or multilingual speakers, whereas you’ll find the least in the United Kingdom.
#4
I am Hispanic and fluent in both English and Spanish, and people often think I don't speak spanish.
So there was this one time I was at a laundrymat folding clothes, while these two Hispanic ladies are at a table across from me folding their clothes.
Both of them are speaking loudly in spanish so I couldn't help but overhear what they were talking about. They start talking about alcohol. One of them said ever since she got married and had a kid she stopped drinking. The other chick was saying that she loved getting drunk and could not live without alcohol that she wanted a boyfriend so he could buy her alcohol and take care of her kid.
Then they both start talking about their ideal boyfriend. One of them says that she is lucky to have found her husband because he is everything she wanted in a guy. The other chick was listing off a huge checklist of her perfect guy. (Hot guy, must worship her, buy her everything, amazing job, clean, cook, take care of kids,etc)
She then is interrupted by her friend saying that she was never going to find her perfect guy with her list being so long she then turns and looks towards me saying what about a guy like him.
Her friend immediately rejected that idea. She then began to make fun of my clothes, hair, glasses, everything ( I'm a pretty nerdy looking dude) she says how I look like a loser who is doing nothing in life, probably that im poor and won't be able to buy her things, and more.
I think to myself that this chick is quite rude and loudly reply in spansh, I wouldn't be into a chick like yourself, because I wouldn't want a lazy drunk for a girlfriend.
She got silent and just stared at me. Her friend began to laugh uncontrollably.
#5
Didn't really hear it but saw it. Pretty fluent with ASL and saw a girl talking bad about me for being a slow employee. We were at a coffee shop and I didn't work there. Priceless look when I walked past her and got in my car only to sign at her through the windshield that she's a heinous jerk.
Lili Octopus 1 day ago
I reckon I know how to sign through a windshield that I consider someone a heinous jerk…
#6
Many things overheard. But my favorite moment was early on when I first moved to Japan in 1994....
Waiting on the train platform in a rural village when a mother and her young son come through the gate. Immediately the son grabs her mother's hand and tells her in Japanese that they have to be careful of me - that I'm a dangerous foreigner. He promised to protect her but he was hiding behind her.
We had a long wait. Eventually he decided he could creep closer. Still muttering under his breath about the foreigner. So I muttered back, "I love Japanese children. They're delicious."
He ran screaming.
I did not feel bad about it.
Being bilingual isn’t just great for getting your point across to other people; it’s also shown to improve problem-solving skills, multitasking abilities, and creativity. This is probably because when an individual speaks in one language, their brain’s processing remains active for their other languages as well, leading to better executive functioning and neural responses.
To understand more about the benefits of being multilingual, Bored Panda reached out to Ka Yee. She is a chartered linguist, professional translator, language teacher, and a mum raising trilingual children. She is the creator of The Multilingual Family Hub, where she supports parents around the world in raising bilingual and trilingual children.
Ka Yee explained that “being bilingual lets you connect with far more people and cultures on a deeper, more meaningful level. It builds cognitive flexibility—your brain gets better at seeing things from multiple perspectives.”
“It also gives children confidence moving between different cultural spaces, and yes, for my kids, being able to order bubble tea in Chinese and be jokingly called ‘spies in training’ is pretty cool too,” she added.
#7
Living in germany for a few years, i could understand german.
travelling in a bahn somewhere near augsburg
little girl around the age of 5 or 6 with her mother sat opposite and pointed at me as asked why i am so black.
Mother patiently explains about afro-americans and slavery and freedom.
girl waves me while leaving.
I am indian.
PS: Thanks for the wedding gold , kind stranger, incidentally , tomorrow is my wedding day.
#8
So much YES! I am a man with very long hair. One evening at Dell HQ, the Spanish-only speaking janitors were behind me waiting for the elevator and one of them says, "she sure has a nice back and beautiful hair!" They turned red when I turned around to show them my long, elegant beard. I said, "Gracias!" in a cute girly voice.
PICS: But not what you were hoping for. Old work pic for hair shot, SHAVED shot to be funny (1.5 years ago) and a shot from the car, very recent, with beardly goodness. http://imgur.com/a/ax6ld.
#9
I can speak Polish. By speaking Polish, you can (in varying degrees) understand Ukrainian, Czech, Slovakian, and to a small degree, Russian.
I've heard a few things directed to me once or twice. On one particular occasion, two Ukrainian girls were talking about me on the subway, but not letting them know I understood. When I had to get off the train, I simply smiled at them and said "I understood everything you two were talking about." and left.
Their faces dropped.
Robyn H 1 day ago
I also speak Polish. Will never forget the faces I got from two Polish colleagues years back when they started gossiping (was a newbie in the team and had just suggested a slightly improved more effective workflow) about me cos they didn’t like me swimming upstream. Just calmly turned around and said in Polish: “You know, I speak Polish.” Their faces were priceless.
Although it can be extremely fun and cool to switch between languages, it could be uncomfortable to randomly overhear people talking about you in a different one. As you’ve probably noticed from this list, many folks have had the experience of being bad-mouthed in another language, which is definitely unpleasant to go through.
That’s why psychologists state that it’s important to decide how you would want to handle the situation and whether you are comfortable being confrontational or wish to protect your peace. If you don’t mind taking a stand, you can call the person out on their behavior and explain how their words made you feel, which will help them understand that they were being cruel or demeaning.
To get a better understanding of the cultural aspects of bilingualism, we also reached out to Stefanie, who is a PhD student specializing in second language acquisition. As a researcher and mother raising bilingual children, she bridges the gap between linguistic theory and everyday practice. She is the creator of Live Your Language, where she shares insights on multilingual living.
She explained that “bilingualism can be a vital cultural bridge, allowing you to deeply experience new cultures and make new friends. It also helps preserve heritage languages that might otherwise be lost across generations. Speaking another language also helps protect against cognitive decline with aging, promotes academic achievement, and enhances career prospects.”
#10
Was studying abroad in Berlin, and these two guys on the U-bahn (subway) were talking about how I dress like a “stupid American.”
I told them *in German* that they looked like typical “Deutsch-douches.”
They stared, shocked, as I got off at my stop.
#11
My mother-in-law was complaining about me in Spanish to my father-in-law just after my husband proposed -- things like how I was bringing him down, was lazy, etc. They were used to my husband translating their dialect for me, but I had slowly been learning and getting better and understanding them. So they were quite shocked when they realised that I understood what was going on, and in fact spoke better Spanish than their youngest son (who was raised in an English-speaking country, but still spoke Spanish at home).
They were never rude to me again, especially since I was the only one of their children's significant others to bother learning the language. So not exactly the lazy, bringer-down they thought.
#12
ASL here. You'd be surprised at how many deaf people freely talk bad about everyone.
It is really is a different culture.
Even though some of these stories might seem like cautionary tales, learning a new language is actually a lot of fun and a worthwhile experience. Although it might be tough at first, experts advise starting off by memorizing at least 100 of the most common words in that language and practising them as much as you can.
When we asked Ka Yee for tips on becoming bilingual or trilingual, she said that “growing up multilingual is a cheat code, but people can become bilingual at any age. The key is immersion—surround yourself with the language through TV, music, podcasts, and daily habits.”
She also added, “I became fluent in English through pop culture, obsessively watching and listening to Hanson and the Backstreet Boys. Having a [friend] or romantic partner who’s a native speaker of the language can definitely help!”
Stefanie shared that “a successful plan incorporates a consistent routine, reliable language input, and regular feedback. Making progress and keeping topics relevant to your interests and goals will help sustain motivation.”
“Finding a conversation partner with similar interests is ideal for this, as they provide authentic context and immediate feedback. This social connection ensures practice remains engaging and helps you master relevant vocabulary naturally,” she added.
#13
Once on the subway in New York, this young guy tells his friend in French, "who would wear red pants?" I turn to him and say "you'd better watch out, you're not the only one that speaks French." His friend then gets extremely embarrassed and says "I told ya so.".
#14
I teach German at an Afrikaans school and when I came to the school I couldn't speak or understand the language. Now after a year I understand nearly everything but I haven't let my students know that yet because they are always sitting in my class and gossiping about other teachers or students and I enjoy being up to speed on what is going on at school.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 day ago
I'm an English teacher in an English-medium school but I understand quite a bit of Zulu, enough to know when kids are threatening each other or being rude. The amount of times I've said, "Stop threatening him!", only to find the shocked Pikachu face on the other end is way more than 50 times!
#15
Backpacking in China - a little girl near me asks her dad "What kind of person is THAT?!"
I answered in Chinese: "I'm an American!".
There’s so much more to being bilingual than surprising people who are bad-mouthing you in public. The best parts of learning a new language and trying it out are that you can experience so much more, get creative, and even boost your thinking and processing abilities.
There seems to be no better time than now to start on your journey to being bilingual or trilingual, so why not get going? We’d also love to hear if you have any amusing stories about learning a language or overhearing someone talking about you in one they don’t know you understand.
#16
I'm American. I was in Paris on the metro, and I heard these drunk American girls talking about me. I glanced at them and heard one say "do you think he's listening?" And her friend said "no we're speaking English. He probably only understands French."
...I don't even speak French.
#17
My cousin was having dinner at a Chinese restaurant with his parents and overheard the waiters speaking Chinese saying something about what black people are doing eating there (referring to my cousin and parents). My cousin replied to them in Chinese. Ended up with free dinner.
#18
Sat across from two German girls on a train. They said I was "7/10, maybe 8/10 if he smiled more. Looks like his mother died or something. Smells nice though". I told them my mother was fine.
#19
Mexico. Just a regular neighborhood in CDMX. I was staying with my GF who lives there. I'm a white guy from the Netherlands. But I was wearing a cheap old outfit and wearing a baseball cap. Stubble beard. I looked like a local sitting down with my 6ft.
Two Dutch girls walk by. They look at me, giggle, and one wonders why Mexican men are so ugly and scary. The other disagreed and said that I at least wasn't fat. My clothes were just awful, according to them.
Later, in the shower, I found at least 3 satisfying replies I could have given that would have given me Reddit gold times 4 here, easy.
Anyway, I didn't.
#20
I lived in Western Africa, where most 99% of white folks are visitors who don't stay long enough to learn the local language- even though english is an official language most prefer their native tongue.
One day I left my cell phone in a taxi, and had to chase it all the way to the taxi ranks. Out of breath I asked, in english, for my phone. She said she had it and I had to pay what amounted to $10. I said no, and she should give it to me, i paid my fare.
Her and the other drivers started speaking Fanti, saying I should pay more, maybe $20. I had the money. I was an American.
So I walk over to her slowly, put my hand on her shoulder and say "Auntie, Osiande me ye obroni, wo dwin m'insase fanti, a? Wo se, Dzin Pa ye sen Ohonia. A?" (Auntie, because I'm a white guy, you think I don't speak Fanti? Your people say that a good name is better than riches, yes?)
All of the cabbies got quiet and turned to her. She just held out my phone, and I grabbed it and casually walked away to the "Ooooooo"s of all the other cabbies. From that day, whenever I took a cab in that town, they called me Dzin Pa (A Good Name).
#21
Not in real life, but I was once playing Stronghold 2 online (2v2). Apparently pretty much everyone on there was German. Anyway, I'd greeted them in English, so I guess they assumed I only spoke that, and so even though there's no Allies-Only Chat, they felt comfortable talking about their plans with each other.
They discussed their strategies in German. I understand German. I did well that game.
#22
Not exactly the same, but my ex-wife was Arabic and spoke the language fluently. But normally she acted and looked very western. Once we were selling a van to two North African Arabic guys, and she listened as they discussed how much money they had and could offer. They also thought it was difficult to handle the transmission (manual, but on the steering column instead of the floor). We made sure to show that she had no problem driving it (they were a bit chauvinist) , and sold it to them for their max price.
#23
My mother was visiting hers in Prague, and walked to her car with German plates. Some idiots were standing next to her car, one said: "I can't wait to see how that stupid cow is going to get out of that parking spot." and my mother answered "Well, if the stupid cow got her car in there, she's going to get it out of there too, right?".
#24
I live in Japan and this happens quite a lot and to varying levels of insult. I'll tell a cute one. I was at McDonald's perusing the menu board and the longer I stood there, the more uncomfortable the staff became. "Oh no. No one speaks English. We have to find the English menu. Where is the English menu???" I told them, "No, it's ok, I'm just thinking." They all sighed in audible relief.
#25
My mom speaks an obscure dialect of Chinese, although not very well since she learned English upon going to school. But she can still usually understand anyone else speaking the Cantonese dialect.
One day we went to a market in Chinatown and my mom was trying to order something, but the people had a hard time understanding her because obscure dialect. At that point, the old ladies behind us started talking smack about us in Cantonese. My mom said what she got out of it was: *That lady is very Americanized, her Chinese is terrible. And her daughter* (me) *is clearly half-White and because of that she is ugly.* We gave them the stink-eye.
#26
I was in a restaurant once with friends and there were a couple Mexican women talking about how annoying we were. The looks on their faces when I told them I could hear them was priceless.
#27
I sign, but I'm not *really* skilled enough to speak English while I do it so I don't (Plus there was no need to, I was the only hearing volunteer that night). Earlier this year I was a volunteer at a Deaf event held in my town, it was at a pool hall that was just open to the public as well as the people playing in the Deaf competition; I was actually shocked how often a hearing person would come in and say something rude and mean about us all signing away happily.
Eventually I just got sick of it and told one group walking past I could still hear them and the looks on their faces were great to watch.
#28
Every day at work! I work in a manufacturing facility with many hispanic immigrants who like to gossip constantly. They assume that (due to the fact that I am white) I have no understanding of spanish. But what they don't know is that I went to a school system which required us to take four years of a language, where I reluctantly learned spanish.
For three years now I've been working there, listening to their gossip about me. I haven't said anything because I like being able to hear what they really think (and find it kind of amusing). At times it has been quite difficult to pretend like i cant' understand, but I've managed to pull it off.
I'm really looking forward to my last day when I bust out my Spanish and teach them a lesson about being judgmental and shallow.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 day ago
I know I've mentioned it many times before - I'm white af, but was adopted at birth into a Hispanic/Mexican family. I'm not *just* white af - I've got skin the color of wall paint, have blonde hair, and blue-ish eyes. So I look like the last person you'd traditionally expect to understand - and speak - fluent Spanish XD I worked retail in a grocery store during the pandemic, and my area has a lot of Hispanic residents. I heard a lot of disparaging shít-talk about me between Hispanic customers to each other. It was always fun to walk up to them with a huge smile and say, in Spanish, "Is there anything I can help you find today?"
#29
At a blackjack table in an Indian Casino two Mexican dudes were kind of drunk and talking business. Big business. Of the Breaking Bad variety. I kept my head down and mouth shut and pretended I didn't hear a word.
#30
Two old Japanese ladies in a sauna were talking about their niece and how she was about to marry a "stupid American" and was making a huge mistake. Finally one of them said something like "there's other people in here, maybe we should talk about this later", to which the other responded: "what, those two white girls? Yeah sure, like they would understand." My friend and I were only like 12 but were in a Japanese immersion program. When we left I said "I hope you get the problems with your niece worked out.".
#31
Not me, but heard from my dad, a stamp collector and an associate curator at the Carnegie Museum (they sold off the collection long ago.) A group of Polish Falcons wanted to see the museum's Polish collection and started trash talking, Polish of course, about how badly their country's stamps were presented. The Carnegie Museum had at that time absorbed the entire Smithsonian stamp collection. The curator, Hungarian, spoke English, French, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and a few other Eastern European languages. After a minute or two, he walked over to the group and kindly asked them to leave, in perfect formal Polish. The curator's parting shot was, "The last cultured Pole was Copernicus.".
greenideas 1 day ago
But what if they were right? They were asked to leave a museum because they had an opinion and were discussing it among themselves? Weird.
#32
English speaker. Learned Spanish off and on. I catch bits and pieces of Spanish and am fluent in curse words. But am by no means perfect.
Guy at work spends an hour and a half calling me every curse/disrespectful word in Spanish. I catch all of it.
This is work, not a bar. Just told him (in Spanish, he pretended to not know what I was saying in English) to stop or at least say it in English.
Last time he ever worked with me or tried calling me amigo🤷♂️.
#33
A friend of mine and I (both Americans) were in Sweden riding a train to our apartment. We were both fluent in Swedish, but we were talking in English, because it's easier. Two girls get on the train and sit across the aisle from us, and they say in Swedish "Look at that guy (my friend), he's SOOO hot. He looks like he works out, has a nice beard. I want him, I need to have him." My friend and I both play it casual because we know that they'd be pretty embarrassed if they knew either of us spoke Swedish. Then my friend pulls out his phone and calls a friend of ours, and in Swedish says something along the lines of "Hey, just checking if things are still on tonight, call me back when you get the chance, see you later." to her answering machine. We sat there in silence for maybe 5 seconds until one of the girls says, "And he speaks Swedish. How awkward." Then we made small talk for a bit with these girls, until they ran off the train at the next stop.
#34
I'm not fluent in the slightest but after a couple years of high school Spanish I was at the point where I could understand what people were talking about. I work in a small store that gets a few Mexican people in it and I can always tell if they're talking about me but I don't know to say anything back. So I just kind of give them the stair and they get really uncomfortable when they realize why I'm doing it.
#35
I was in downtown Seattle on the ferry to Bainbridge Island, sitting across from these two gorgeous Swedish girls. They were talking about how good looking I was for an American, and were debating inviting me back to their hotel with them to party and show them a good time. Now, I don't speak Swedish *per se*, so this interpretation was based entirely on my imagination.
Patrick van den Houten 1 day ago
That's usually not how Swedish girls think, but if it made you happy...
#36
Well I’m Samoan and I don’t look Samoan cause I’m also Puerto Rican...
I speak Samoan and Spanish.
I was helping a client in Spanish at the moment.
Right after these Samoan kids came into my office to get a print out of received benefits for their mother.
(I wore a T-shirt with Samoan tribal prints on it and a flower in my ear that day)
The two kids said in Samoan
“aisea na ia faia ai lena fugalaau e le o le poly”
Which basically means why is she wearing that flower she isn’t poly.
Poly as in Polynesian (which Samoans are )
I replied
“o le a lau tala? taʻu i lou tina sau sau iinei i le taimi nei!”
They were so shocked . I said “what did you say? Tell your mom to come here right now”
When their mom came I told them how disrespectful they were she was so embarrassed and she beat their asses In my office, and I sure did allow that!
Its so important to watch what we say around people you never know who is listening.
Mel in Georgia 1 day ago
Aw, no need to snitch on them - just explain that you could understand them and what they said was untrue and unkind. Their embarrassment would probably be enough to teach them a lesson.
What do you think ?
Sarah 1 day ago (edited)
Years ago we had a German colleague working in tourist gift shop with me in Ireland, so naturally he spoke in English. One of first customers he served this day just after opening hours , was a German couple, we hadn’t yet built up enough change in registers , so he was rooting through his register and mine to get the change .husband auf Deutsch says to wife.. now the idiot doesn’t have change. Stefan in his native perfect German said ..actually the idiot does have change ..
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 day ago
When I started teaching it was at an English school that was run and staffed mostly by Afrikaans people. I'm fluent in Afrikaans but never told anybody this as, whenever I would say something in Afrikaans, they would switch to English, so I stopped bothering. Anyway, we're at athletics and a child from an Afrikaans-medium school comes to offer me refreshments. I said, "As jy Sprite het, sal ek een vat. Ek drink nie Coke nie." (If you have Sprite I'll take one. I don't drink Coke.) I turn around to find my principal staring at me with his mouth open. I was like, "What is it?" He said, "I had no idea you could speak Afrikaans!" Reminds of of Charlize Theron telling how she and her mom were in America, but dissing some guy in Afrikaans. And he said, "Ek kan alles verstaan wat julle se^." ("I can understand everything you're saying."
Tabitha 54 minutes ago
Just don’t be an ignorant and arrogant a*****e and say nasty things about people, period. Doesn’t matter if they can or can’t speak your language, just don’t do it, because it’s mean. If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, then don’t do it to someone else. It doesn’t make you look cool. It just makes you look like an a*****e. Of course, there are always exceptions. You can talk absolute s**t about someone like Hitler, because he d****d well deserves it. But not everyone is that d****d bad.
Sarah 1 day ago (edited)
Years ago we had a German colleague working in tourist gift shop with me in Ireland, so naturally he spoke in English. One of first customers he served this day just after opening hours , was a German couple, we hadn’t yet built up enough change in registers , so he was rooting through his register and mine to get the change .husband auf Deutsch says to wife.. now the idiot doesn’t have change. Stefan in his native perfect German said ..actually the idiot does have change ..
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 day ago
When I started teaching it was at an English school that was run and staffed mostly by Afrikaans people. I'm fluent in Afrikaans but never told anybody this as, whenever I would say something in Afrikaans, they would switch to English, so I stopped bothering. Anyway, we're at athletics and a child from an Afrikaans-medium school comes to offer me refreshments. I said, "As jy Sprite het, sal ek een vat. Ek drink nie Coke nie." (If you have Sprite I'll take one. I don't drink Coke.) I turn around to find my principal staring at me with his mouth open. I was like, "What is it?" He said, "I had no idea you could speak Afrikaans!" Reminds of of Charlize Theron telling how she and her mom were in America, but dissing some guy in Afrikaans. And he said, "Ek kan alles verstaan wat julle se^." ("I can understand everything you're saying."
Tabitha 54 minutes ago
Just don’t be an ignorant and arrogant a*****e and say nasty things about people, period. Doesn’t matter if they can or can’t speak your language, just don’t do it, because it’s mean. If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, then don’t do it to someone else. It doesn’t make you look cool. It just makes you look like an a*****e. Of course, there are always exceptions. You can talk absolute s**t about someone like Hitler, because he d****d well deserves it. But not everyone is that d****d bad.
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