Someone Mocked A Russian Woman For Her Accent In English And She Delivered A Brutal Comeback
Learning a foreign language is seriously tough, it takes patience, dedication and courage and anyone who has been able to do it deserves respect. Can you imagine then, conversing with others in their language, and instead of appreciating your efforts they decide to mock your accent instead?
24 year-old Cody, from California, is a linguist, author and musician. As he speaks several languages himself, he can empathize with the effort that it takes to learn. He shared a story about a Russian friend of his, who was mocked for her way of speaking in English. Now, for a foreign speaker, English is not an easy language to master, it is a ‘mongrel’ language, consisting of Germanic, Celtic and Romance influences. The grammar structure is not consistent and there are many exceptions that don’t really make sense, they just need to be remembered. This Russian girl, obviously bright and capable and not to be messed with in English, let alone her native tongue, wasn’t about to be belittled by somebody who doesn’t have a clue what it means to communicate in a foreign language.
Scroll down below to check out her brutal comeback for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments. Do you speak another language? Have you experienced this kind of treatment before? Join the discussion!
Cody, 24 from California, shared a story about a Russian friend who was mocked for her accent when speaking English
It started a conversation about how under-appreciated people who make the effort to speak your language sometimes are
177Kviews
Share on FacebookShe made a mistake because in russian the articles are attached at the end of the word. It's really weird for russian (and other people) when they start learning english to separate the articles and place them before the word. Also one thing I've always found strange (and difficult) about english is the complete lack of logic or reason behind spelling and pronunciation- you write "queue", but pronounce it "ku:". Or just think about how you would pronounce these three different sentences: "Today I will READ a book", "Yesterday I READ a book", "The cover of the book is RED". English is completely bonkers, what I like about russian is that 90% of the time what you write is what you pronounce.
This sentence is grammar perfect -- "This exceeding trifling witling, considering ranting criticizing concerning adopting fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was displaying, notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling reasoning, respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting deceiving arguing during debating"
Load More Replies...Saw some video of a japanese guy making noodles. He was speaking english, but with his natural accent and words were a little hard to understand. There were lots of comments about his bad english, with some likes. And then there was a comment with allmost 1000 likes : "everyone who keeps complaining about how badly he speaks english, but keep in mind that he speaks english better than you speak japanese. " That was a life lesson for me.
@Jo Johannsen - I'm not speaking about 'flawless' delivery, which tends to be rare even among native speakers but a correct use of language. The original response indicates high level of fluency, so pointing out that a flaw, despite being minor from linguistic standpoint, may be construed as a significant lack of skill. This is valuable advice, not something you need to lambast someone for. @JDeer - I agree wholeheartedly, but as I said before, the quoted response shows a high degree of fluency and mastery of language, so it was not a beginner by any means. At that point it is immature to get upset if someone corrects you. Also, the critique was civil and pointed out a potential problem that can lead to embarrassment.
Load More Replies...I love the comment "They are speaking your language because you don't know theirs" <3
How many native speakers of the US speak Navaho or one of the other original languages? ;)
Load More Replies...Funny thing about english speaking people making fun of other people's english is most often they don't speak any other languages themselves.
Sad to see how nasty some native speakers -of any given language- can be, instead of appreciating bilingualism (or multi, for that matter).
I'm fluent in 4 languages: Croatian and Italian are my native languages, while I majored in English (and Italian, double major), and Korean is the default language I use here in Korea. Any time anyone comments about my pronunciation of either language, I start linguistics related conversations. ♥
I am very impressed! People who can fluently speak many languages are so, so cool in my book. I am bilingual only, boo (I'm a born and bred French, but I've lived in Scotland for 17 years). Well, I do remember bits of Spanish that I studied for 5 years during my school days, but at a level that would barely help me keep a conversation with a 2 year old... Seriously, I'd love to learn to speak Japanese. but my sorry a** is now too lazy to even start.
Load More Replies...Let's see... My mother tongue is Urdu. My education is in English. My official national language is Hindi. My state language is Marathi. My relegious text is in Arabic. I am not perfect in any of these.It is hard to translate words of a language that is not your native language in your mind to fully understand them.It takes practice and hard work to decipher a language such as English with its grammar,pronounciations,accent,etc.. fluently.Those who do not get English clearly,should be appreciated for their efforts and not be redeculed,especially in front of a crowd.
Having taught English as a second language for over ten years, I rest assured that the one thing that will sink you while learning ANY foreign language is the hard-to-kick habit of translating in your head. NEVER do this. While you're busy translating the first sentence of the conversation, your interlocutor has already begun his next sentence....ooops. Keep your brain busy during pauses by mentally repeating the last English sentence you just heard and love yourself enough to hire a tutor. You'll never believe how cheaply the inexperienced but motivated ESL students in any college or university can bring you up to speed. Picture a classroom with 20 student: when you're alone with your tutor, you will be learning twenty times faster than you ever thought possible, a bargain at any price.
This SO much, this comment needs to be further up. You can never learn a language as long as you're translating it. You HAVE to think in it, to make phrases from scratch, even if they're clumsy, and stupid, and end up with "and oh what's that one big round yellow thing in the sky called" parts. It's extremely hard at the start when you know nothing and basically have to think/talk like a toddler, mixing words with gestures and drawing, but it gets you going. Without it you're basically stuck forever.
Load More Replies...When I speak in a different language, I don't mind being corrected - especially if I'm a beginner in said language- if it's done to help. I'd go further, "Please correct me, so I don't make the same mistake twice".
To correct somenone as a help is one thing, to make fun of something completely different.
Load More Replies...I moved to a country 8 years a go where people speak my native language, but they also have their own language. Every time I tried to speak their language people made fun of me, even to this day, so I just stopped trying because everyone also speaks and understands my native language. Now people ask me why I still can't speak their language after all those years... *sigh*
All praise to people who manage to learn a foreign language --from school i learned pretty useless French and German I could ask for a cup of coffee in both languages not very helpful when you are lost in Hamburg
Load More Replies...What I usually do when someone comment on my English is to start talking in French. But I would be a liar if I said that it happened often. It didn't. People were mostly pleased that I made the effort to use their language. Or they just didn't give a damn, because maille inegliche ize so goude! Anyway, never ever judge someone who makes the effort of talking your language. Because that makes you look like an assh***.
Swiss cituzen here. Born in the italian-speaking part of swirzerland. French is mandatory starting in 3rd grade. German jumps in as well in 6th grade and English in 7th grade. Add some (lors of) swiss-german and mix in spanisch as an add-on and there you are. As a Swiss citizen, eithet are you absurdely fluent in AT LEAST 3 languages or landing a good job remain a chimere for a loooong time. Often you do not spot a chance. Raised up in both italian and french, it has always been pretty easy to think and express myself in a language that was not italian, but most of my friends haven't been that lucky and they struggle a lot when they go abroad... in Switzerland! Yes. Where I live we speak Italian. 45 miles away is German and rumantsch. Add some othet 90 miles and it's french. English is an unofficial-official option on the job. Some company, 4 different languages. All in a nation of about 42k square kilometers (in miles... about 5k square miles). Okay, wrote in an emotional rush... sorry.
Your comment reminded me of a Swiss retort to an article about the small country of Switzerland. It went something along the lines of: "Why is everybody talking about the small country of Switzerland? Iron it out flat and you´ll see the true size of it!"
Load More Replies...Another point is that not everyone speaking a language that is not their native one has a chance to learn it in a proper environment. I mean, I've been learning English since the age of 5 but still struggle with the articles and grammar. I bet I'd have mastered it much sooner if I lived in an English-speaking environment and not in Russia, which is essentially monolingual.
С чего это Россия одноязычна? В России проживает более 190 народов
Load More Replies...When I meet someone attempting to speak English, I humbly point out that they speak TWO languages and I only speak one.
I speak a few languages and dont mind if someone starts laughing when I unintentionally say something weird, as long as they correct me afterwards! My english is decent, I always get lots of compliments (esp in the US :-D ) but its very frustrating that I'm never really able to talk about personal stuff or feelings for example. And sometimes I need a lot of time to describe things if I cant say it in proper english. You're just not the same if you speak another language than your own.
"You're just not the same if you speak another language than your own." True. When you learn other languages you will eventually get to the point where you will be able to think thoughts that are impossible to think in your native language because it has neither the concepts nor the words. It is quite fascinating.
Load More Replies...When I was in college I was placed in the Foreign Exchange student's dorm along with a couple other theater students to act as a dialect coach. Bit of background, our Dialect I class was about understanding accents and how to be rid of them - many students would take that course to fulfill the Public Speaking requirement of University Studies. I was in Dialects II, the followup class only the theater majors took in order to learn how to mimic accents. Anyway, I corrected people's grammar on a regular basis, but 1) I never interrupted them, 2) I always discussed the correction in private and 3) I only bothered to correct consistent, nagging problems. For example, one Mexican student who was always starting question replies with "Because" since in Spanish replies almost always start, "Por Que" (Off topic, why can't Bored Panda be bothered to register line breaks in replies. This one is best broken into at least 2 paragraphs, if not 3).
And I need to add emphasize - I was also assigned to assist these students in improving their English, so the invitation to correct them, at least at the dorm and on campus, was assumed. Correcting a total stranger is rude.
Load More Replies...People can never place where my accent comes from and are always surprised when I say France. My pronunciation is generally good (after 17 years in the UK, it should, right?), but a few words are dead giveaways when I don't say them correctly, however people never comment(ed) on them. I only know now about those infamous words because my son (he was born in the UK, so he obviously speak English fluently), loves nothing more than making fun of me and correct me whenever he can.The little bugger lol. At least, I don't make the same mistakes anymore :)
Load More Replies...Well English wasn't my second languange. Living In Indonesia means on top of using the national languange, I also learn the local languange which is Javanese.. On top of Indonesian, Javanese, and english I also learn Japanese as well.And yes, Even if I'd like to sy my english wasn't that bad, I do notice grammar mistakes or spelling, and sometimes I don't understand slang or complex idioms. While some people might kindly tell me the meaning of it, some people can be rude and said something along like "Well you've been learning English for a long time, looks like your effort was for nothing" and that hurts... A lot..
I speak a lot of languages, not all fluent, but before I travel somewhere, I try to learn some of the language - I never encountered anyone being anything other than happy with the limited vocabulary I have mastered. Apart from English speaking people in the UK and US. They expect that everybody speaks English fluently :)
My best friend had to go back to Brazil from switzerland (her family decided that because of work and she wasnt happy with that) so she went there for 5 years straight and came back. She is trying to study chemistry which is really hard for her despite her high degree in brazil, she always say she feel stupid because everyone is correcting her or she only knows the period system in portugiese which isnt really similar to the german one. She speaks fluently english, french and portugiese but dhe struggles with german, especially swiss german every day.
Schwyzer Dütsch is a group of different dialects - and very hard to understand, even for german native speakers :-)
Load More Replies...English is complicated, compared to Swedish - I learned to speak Swedish when I was a little kid. The fact that I am a Swede has nothing to do with it.
I am Dutch and learn Swedish in evening school. Its all great except that you guys all speak English so well, the moment i need to think about what I need to say, the conversation switches to English!
Load More Replies...As they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". When you go to a country where they speak a different language from your own, make an effort to pick up at least a few phrases. Let me recommend memrise.com, a great site for learning languages. Now, when you go to Paris, France, if you try to get directions or whatever even in terribly poor French, they will love you for it, and, seeing as they do that you are truly struggling trying to communicate in French, you will most probably be asked, in a heavy French accent "Do you speak English?". But if you go up to any Parisian, asking in a demanding tone, in perfect French mind you, "Parlez-Vouz Anglais?" I am sorry, but I do not think that you will have much of a success.
Warmest sympathies for the Russian(being a Russian myself:P) and nice comeback on her side. The comic(? Not sure how to call it properly) bugs me though, like someone here has already said "translating everything in your head" is the worst way of learning a language possible. I've seen sooooo many fellow Russians make that mistake and it's almost physically painful when you see how it ends up. Languages are different, often fundamentally(as is the case with Russian and English, for example), literate translations end up clumsy, silly, completely distorting the meaning and just doing more harm than good. Best thing my language courses did with both languages I've picked up was break that wall and make me start THINKING in the foreign languages, constructing sentences in them from scratch. You can and should do that from the very start. First few weeks or months are hell, yes, when you understand 0.001% of what's going on and end up communicating in gestures and drawings but then
*then that wall in your head finally breaks and you begin understanding it. Sure, you'll still sound silly and end up with stuff like "...and, uh...that big yellow warm thing in the sky came up" but this is heaps better than looking everything up and translating it on spot(not to say dictionaries are bad, of course, there's just more to speaking a language than being a walking dictionary)
Load More Replies...I personally was lucky never to be mocked for my english or german speaking skills. But I am curious about native english speakers (though not the ones like in the article): what do you honestly think about foreigners speaking english not very properly? I don´t have this experience of foreigners speaking my native language, because nobody outside our country is interested in learning it. :D
I don't care, but then I wasn't born in the US. I'm from Canada originally, and I'm pretty sure I can understand most accents. Ok. Glaswegian throws me for a loop, but I had a friend whose father used to tease me about it, so I can get it after a couple of minutes.
Load More Replies...I have to deal with a gentleman who's a developer for a software we support at my work. He has a very thick Indian accent that I have a hard time understanding , so we converse in chat. It would be very easy to dismiss him based on his accent, even though the man is a coding genius.. and his written/typed English is much better than mine.
Its interesting that some Americans mock foreigners for not speaking English properly, have you heard yourselves? YOU don`t speak English properly. Yaaaaal.
This is the most frustrating thing about being first gen american. the judgement when i have to translate for my relatives. they're brilliant, hell my grandmother is genius, in in italian. in english, she struggles to find her words. she struggles to remember all the rules and exceptions to the rules and exceptions to the exceptions. the i love lucy episode where ricky is trying to read a children's book but the same set of letters in one word is pronounced differently in another, that's exactly what makes english so confusing. have a little respect and patience. and don't think we don't hear you. the first gens understand both languages just fine. we know how cruel you're being to our family.
There would be some point to it if US citizens tried to speak the local language when going abroad ( usually the main approach to a local language is to yell in english slower). I can speak fluently English, Spanish, French and Italian and of course my native languange Portugese, but when a foreigner asks me for information on the street and isn't nice or at least polite, I answer them in Portuguese, smile, shrug my shoulders and tell them to take a long walk on a short peer (not using these actual words...).
When I was little, one time I got made fun of for speaking Slovak and after that I asked my mum to never speak Slovak to me in public again because it's embarrassing. She refused and kept speaking it, me responding in English. Today I'm so glad she didn't listen because I would have probably forgotten how to speak Slovak. Now I'm proud of my culture, heritage and language
At least, most non-native speakers know the difference between their, there and they're.
People making fun of a foreign accent, in this case Russian (which has a different grammar AND a different alphabet/script, keep that in mind), meanwhile I see native English speakers not knowing the difference between you're-your, their-there, to-too, lose-loose, etc. A little bit ironic, I would say.
I will never mock people learning english, because although I'm a native english speaker, I know that it's a horrible and confusing b*st*rd language. My friends and I have had many, in-depth conversations about this. I may internally smile a little, since I honestly find it cute and charming :) I may also GENTLY correct someone, but never in a mean fashion (the same for native english speakers). But I have a lot of respect for people who can learn other languages since I just CAN'T seem to learn other languages myself. Those of you who have learned or are learning another language; I'm proud of you.
I don't know but for me if they can't pronounce a word or have their native accent mixed when they speak, I'm not bothered with that as long as I can understand what they meant it's acceptable since I might also struggle like them when I try to speak in their language so I respect them on how they speak and how they pronounce.
I like the woman's response, & I think it's important to remember not to take yourself too seriously when learning another language. My fiance laughs at me when I say something a funny way, but then I laugh too. He still admires my attempt at Spanish, & I greatly admire his mastery of English.
My great grandmother was a language goddess. She spoke Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, French, Norwegian (not great there, but functional), Cree, and English. If she'd been able to travel more, I have no doubt that the list would be a LOT longer. It generally took her a week or so to get the heck of a language and speak it. ...////.... Sadly NOT ONE of the rest of us got that talent. Some of us used to refer to her as Universal Translator. She was also a genuinely good person who was able to charm just about anyone.
yes like messing with you, correcting your grammars in social media. Not everyone have a proper teacher.
Most of those grammar nazis are probably ignorant that you are speaking English as a second language. Their reaction is one of attempting to make themselves superior in the only way they can. It's a whole thing of correcting grammar that everyone does, it isn't because you are not a native English speaker,it's because everyone wants to feel internet smart.
Load More Replies...I think i'm kind of lucky because i know both Russian and English (my first and third foreign languages respectively) and it helps in quite a lot of situations.
Tá gaeilge agam. That is a complete and utter lie because I can only learn online and I'd die of shame & embarrassment before even thinking of attempting to speak with a real, live human being. There is SO MUCH bravery involved in learning another language. I'd rather go on stage in front of my entire high school graduating class and sing a song I just made up *again* than speak Irish or even Spanish (y sí lo hablo también) to a person standing right in front of me.
I had a Chinese national roommate who although was raised with English as a second language refused to accept he wasn't as fluent as he thought. Verbal phrases such as ought to do, should do, got to do, etc were often used in many nonidiomatic ways as to be confusing!
My Mother-in-law was born and raised in Russia, then after marrying lived in Egypt for 40 years. She came to the US as a 70-year old immigrant. She of her own volition takes English classes 3 times a week and requested that I help her by telling her when she makes grammatical mistakes. she is now 78 years old and is still trying and still taking English classes. She became a Citizen in 2016 studying everything she could get her hands on and taking a citizenship test preparation course. Does she still make mistakes? Of course she does, but at least she tries, one of her Russian friends here refuses to even attempt to learn English. Give them a break most Americans don't even try to learn another language they expect the world to speak English. So Kudos to this Gal and any other immigrant or foreigner that is trying to learn our language.
I was mocked only once for getting a low mark in an English assignment. I was attending an English high school at the time to learn the language, and my classmate may not have realized how hard it can be to get the point of something when you're still learning the basics of the language, but I still wish I could have told him, "I'd like to see how well you'd do in a French class for French students." I guess I wasn't fluent enough to say even that back then. But I've made up for it since. My teachers told my parents that I should listen only to English radio, TV, and read only in English until I learned to think in English. Now I have a B.A. in English Studies with a Major in Professional Writing in English and graduated with a GPA between B- and B.
i can probably feel their pain. I've never had to deal with this situation since I only know English but it's hard to speak English because we have the most vowels and all the other things in grammar. AKA the world's hardest language
I love hearing different accents! Different languages have beautiful sounds
I have been in such situation as I am a frenchmen speaking english and 4 other more all with french accent, and my way to shutt them up is..... I just say I agree with you, my english is not so very well, so my apologie and lets talk in french, thats my mother language, and most of the time they just shutt up ;)
I think it's funny that an American...where people eat Tide Pods & snort condoms cuz some other person dared them to...would think a Russian's lack of a "the" makes her sound stupid. Just sayin'...
I'm from the US living in Mexico. The Mexican people, when they see you are honestly trying to learn the language, are kind and help you. The Americans who live here and are fluent in Spanish are the exact opposite--they are the ones who mock and ridicule someone for mistakes in the language. I've never, ever had a native ridicule me for trying to better my Spanish. The other Americans. ugh.
Neither English nor Russian are my native languages, but I manage in both. And guys, I have to tell you that Russian is much more difficult to learn then English. The grammar is more difficult, the language is very rich both in vocabulary and in expressions, the alphabet is different. I manage in about six languages, and I've discovered two rules that have helped me most: 1. Read loud, not only in your mind. That helps a lot in improving the speaking skills. And 2: Never try to translate from your native language when you want to communicate with somebody. Try to think in their language, though using the vocabulary you already have, it will make everything more fluent and a lot less unpleasant.
So damn related. Do you guys have any idea how different it is between Chinese and English? Chinese is fcking logographic. The whole system is not similar at all in any way...and I'm actually great at my own language, owning some medals of competitions. But when I started to speak English after I came to Europe, it was so frustrating in the beginning. So related. [sobbing]
When someone speaks with an accent or even a mix of accents, never laugh at them or ridicule them. Who knows the language he/she is trying to communicate with is his/her 4th or 5th or 6th or even more language.
I like most accents . I find them very sexy . As far as I can understand the meaning of what is being said , I am perfectly fine.
Anyone who can learn English as a second language is brilliant in my book. I can't even count to 10 in a different language.
Yep, my British ex was giving me c**p about my accent. As if he spoke any other language other than English :/
I'm a French Canadian. I was thrilled when we came across a fellow Canadian couple while sharing a taxi in London, UK. We had a friendly chat until I told them I was Canadian too. Reaction? "But you don't speak English!" What language were we talking in for the last 5 minutes then? My English may not be perfect but he could understand me just fine before that. Suddenly I could not speak English. Apparently his girlfriend agreed with me because I've never seen someone elbow someone else so vigorously before.
I don't even care anymore. I can speak Portuguese, Italian and English. I can understand Spanish. I'm learning Russian. If someone mocks me because I don't speak English very well, I just feel sorry for them :D
English is my second language... I mostly understand someomen speaking english, and I think that the english speaking people can understand me, but im not 100% perfect in it... But my native language is czech... And yeah, im not too good at english, but can you speak czech?
I like English and it’s phonetics always makes me wonder. Like, eg. different sounds in British English for the same double o spelling in “book”, “soon”, “door”, “flood”. 😂 Confusing as hell😁
The first time this was posted, they used a blurred picture of the first whore of the USA. As if a well done article like this would illicit sympathy for that gold-digging whore who has no business being here.
I think it incredibly impressive when others speak my language well enough to be understood. I tried to learn french, I tried to learn Mandarin. I found it so difficult. I always tell people they've done an amazing job at learning my language even if they don't think they're doing so good at it.
I think we should stop rolling out the red carpet. The fact is these people chose to go to an English speaking country so yes the onus of being understood is on them not the native speakers. I don't see why we should be so grateful that people are trying to speak English? It's nonsense. English wasn't my first language at one point but I learned and improved. I improved because people told me what was incorrect, and I found it very helpful. Having said that sometimes it does sound a bit funny when someone makes a mistake but I think it's endearing not something to ridicule over and certainly not necessarily a mark of intelligence or lack there of, mostly it's just cute.
Since your English isn't as fluent as theirs, I'd shut up if I were you.
Load More Replies...I've never been able to master a second language, even after 4 years of French in high school and 2 semesters of Spanish in college. I give mad props to anyone trying to learn English--they say it's the hardest language to learn, and if you really look at it, you'll find it's true. (There's a great "I Love Lucy" sketch that illustrates this perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAL9VD6Lz9Y)
Question for the American panda's: What other languages do you all learn at school? I'm asking because in the Netherlands, while in high school (when being aged between 13 - 15)you have to follow not only dutch and english, but also german and french (higher levels also get roman and greek). After one year, you have the chance to drop one of them. So basicly we are obliged to learn 2 foreign languages and if we choose 3! Do you people also have to do that? I mean speaking 4 languages before the age of 18 could be considered weird.
It differs in every school system, but I think I was required to take at least two or three years of a language. I took six years of Spanish, one of German, and two of French. Latin and Portuguese were also options in my school system. I grew up in New England so the language class options skewed European.
Load More Replies...Sorry , I can't relat . I do speak all ,the known and the unknown of the languages in the whole galaxy .
Come on guys. Have you not heard of irony! Why the downvotes?
Load More Replies...Excuse me, but this is not a 'brutal comeback' but rather an admission of linguistic inability. Use of articles is one of the simplest things in English, so anyone who learned English as a foreign language and speaks it fluently should thank for pointing the mistake out and start to use the articles properly. Getting irritated and calling the language 'dumb' is simply immature and cringeworthy. 'You sound dumb' is an important remark, because this means that the person in question does not feel language registers and thus their grasp on language is far worse than they might think (not to mention than equaling 'you sound dumb' with 'you are dumb' also suggests lack of critical thinking in either language). I'm not that keen to believe the story, because people showing the degree of fluency evidence by the response very rarely have problems with the most basic language rules.
English is the most ridiculously difficult language to learn that most people have ever me. The spelling is eccentric, to say the least, and the grammar has no apparent rules. People who speak Romance languages are flummoxed because their languages DO have consistent rules. ...///... English is my first language. I'm also an English teacher. Believe me when I say that English is a stupid mixed-up bugger of a language to learn and any non native speaker who masters it deserves a medal.
Load More Replies...She made a mistake because in russian the articles are attached at the end of the word. It's really weird for russian (and other people) when they start learning english to separate the articles and place them before the word. Also one thing I've always found strange (and difficult) about english is the complete lack of logic or reason behind spelling and pronunciation- you write "queue", but pronounce it "ku:". Or just think about how you would pronounce these three different sentences: "Today I will READ a book", "Yesterday I READ a book", "The cover of the book is RED". English is completely bonkers, what I like about russian is that 90% of the time what you write is what you pronounce.
This sentence is grammar perfect -- "This exceeding trifling witling, considering ranting criticizing concerning adopting fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was displaying, notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling reasoning, respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting deceiving arguing during debating"
Load More Replies...Saw some video of a japanese guy making noodles. He was speaking english, but with his natural accent and words were a little hard to understand. There were lots of comments about his bad english, with some likes. And then there was a comment with allmost 1000 likes : "everyone who keeps complaining about how badly he speaks english, but keep in mind that he speaks english better than you speak japanese. " That was a life lesson for me.
@Jo Johannsen - I'm not speaking about 'flawless' delivery, which tends to be rare even among native speakers but a correct use of language. The original response indicates high level of fluency, so pointing out that a flaw, despite being minor from linguistic standpoint, may be construed as a significant lack of skill. This is valuable advice, not something you need to lambast someone for. @JDeer - I agree wholeheartedly, but as I said before, the quoted response shows a high degree of fluency and mastery of language, so it was not a beginner by any means. At that point it is immature to get upset if someone corrects you. Also, the critique was civil and pointed out a potential problem that can lead to embarrassment.
Load More Replies...I love the comment "They are speaking your language because you don't know theirs" <3
How many native speakers of the US speak Navaho or one of the other original languages? ;)
Load More Replies...Funny thing about english speaking people making fun of other people's english is most often they don't speak any other languages themselves.
Sad to see how nasty some native speakers -of any given language- can be, instead of appreciating bilingualism (or multi, for that matter).
I'm fluent in 4 languages: Croatian and Italian are my native languages, while I majored in English (and Italian, double major), and Korean is the default language I use here in Korea. Any time anyone comments about my pronunciation of either language, I start linguistics related conversations. ♥
I am very impressed! People who can fluently speak many languages are so, so cool in my book. I am bilingual only, boo (I'm a born and bred French, but I've lived in Scotland for 17 years). Well, I do remember bits of Spanish that I studied for 5 years during my school days, but at a level that would barely help me keep a conversation with a 2 year old... Seriously, I'd love to learn to speak Japanese. but my sorry a** is now too lazy to even start.
Load More Replies...Let's see... My mother tongue is Urdu. My education is in English. My official national language is Hindi. My state language is Marathi. My relegious text is in Arabic. I am not perfect in any of these.It is hard to translate words of a language that is not your native language in your mind to fully understand them.It takes practice and hard work to decipher a language such as English with its grammar,pronounciations,accent,etc.. fluently.Those who do not get English clearly,should be appreciated for their efforts and not be redeculed,especially in front of a crowd.
Having taught English as a second language for over ten years, I rest assured that the one thing that will sink you while learning ANY foreign language is the hard-to-kick habit of translating in your head. NEVER do this. While you're busy translating the first sentence of the conversation, your interlocutor has already begun his next sentence....ooops. Keep your brain busy during pauses by mentally repeating the last English sentence you just heard and love yourself enough to hire a tutor. You'll never believe how cheaply the inexperienced but motivated ESL students in any college or university can bring you up to speed. Picture a classroom with 20 student: when you're alone with your tutor, you will be learning twenty times faster than you ever thought possible, a bargain at any price.
This SO much, this comment needs to be further up. You can never learn a language as long as you're translating it. You HAVE to think in it, to make phrases from scratch, even if they're clumsy, and stupid, and end up with "and oh what's that one big round yellow thing in the sky called" parts. It's extremely hard at the start when you know nothing and basically have to think/talk like a toddler, mixing words with gestures and drawing, but it gets you going. Without it you're basically stuck forever.
Load More Replies...When I speak in a different language, I don't mind being corrected - especially if I'm a beginner in said language- if it's done to help. I'd go further, "Please correct me, so I don't make the same mistake twice".
To correct somenone as a help is one thing, to make fun of something completely different.
Load More Replies...I moved to a country 8 years a go where people speak my native language, but they also have their own language. Every time I tried to speak their language people made fun of me, even to this day, so I just stopped trying because everyone also speaks and understands my native language. Now people ask me why I still can't speak their language after all those years... *sigh*
All praise to people who manage to learn a foreign language --from school i learned pretty useless French and German I could ask for a cup of coffee in both languages not very helpful when you are lost in Hamburg
Load More Replies...What I usually do when someone comment on my English is to start talking in French. But I would be a liar if I said that it happened often. It didn't. People were mostly pleased that I made the effort to use their language. Or they just didn't give a damn, because maille inegliche ize so goude! Anyway, never ever judge someone who makes the effort of talking your language. Because that makes you look like an assh***.
Swiss cituzen here. Born in the italian-speaking part of swirzerland. French is mandatory starting in 3rd grade. German jumps in as well in 6th grade and English in 7th grade. Add some (lors of) swiss-german and mix in spanisch as an add-on and there you are. As a Swiss citizen, eithet are you absurdely fluent in AT LEAST 3 languages or landing a good job remain a chimere for a loooong time. Often you do not spot a chance. Raised up in both italian and french, it has always been pretty easy to think and express myself in a language that was not italian, but most of my friends haven't been that lucky and they struggle a lot when they go abroad... in Switzerland! Yes. Where I live we speak Italian. 45 miles away is German and rumantsch. Add some othet 90 miles and it's french. English is an unofficial-official option on the job. Some company, 4 different languages. All in a nation of about 42k square kilometers (in miles... about 5k square miles). Okay, wrote in an emotional rush... sorry.
Your comment reminded me of a Swiss retort to an article about the small country of Switzerland. It went something along the lines of: "Why is everybody talking about the small country of Switzerland? Iron it out flat and you´ll see the true size of it!"
Load More Replies...Another point is that not everyone speaking a language that is not their native one has a chance to learn it in a proper environment. I mean, I've been learning English since the age of 5 but still struggle with the articles and grammar. I bet I'd have mastered it much sooner if I lived in an English-speaking environment and not in Russia, which is essentially monolingual.
С чего это Россия одноязычна? В России проживает более 190 народов
Load More Replies...When I meet someone attempting to speak English, I humbly point out that they speak TWO languages and I only speak one.
I speak a few languages and dont mind if someone starts laughing when I unintentionally say something weird, as long as they correct me afterwards! My english is decent, I always get lots of compliments (esp in the US :-D ) but its very frustrating that I'm never really able to talk about personal stuff or feelings for example. And sometimes I need a lot of time to describe things if I cant say it in proper english. You're just not the same if you speak another language than your own.
"You're just not the same if you speak another language than your own." True. When you learn other languages you will eventually get to the point where you will be able to think thoughts that are impossible to think in your native language because it has neither the concepts nor the words. It is quite fascinating.
Load More Replies...When I was in college I was placed in the Foreign Exchange student's dorm along with a couple other theater students to act as a dialect coach. Bit of background, our Dialect I class was about understanding accents and how to be rid of them - many students would take that course to fulfill the Public Speaking requirement of University Studies. I was in Dialects II, the followup class only the theater majors took in order to learn how to mimic accents. Anyway, I corrected people's grammar on a regular basis, but 1) I never interrupted them, 2) I always discussed the correction in private and 3) I only bothered to correct consistent, nagging problems. For example, one Mexican student who was always starting question replies with "Because" since in Spanish replies almost always start, "Por Que" (Off topic, why can't Bored Panda be bothered to register line breaks in replies. This one is best broken into at least 2 paragraphs, if not 3).
And I need to add emphasize - I was also assigned to assist these students in improving their English, so the invitation to correct them, at least at the dorm and on campus, was assumed. Correcting a total stranger is rude.
Load More Replies...People can never place where my accent comes from and are always surprised when I say France. My pronunciation is generally good (after 17 years in the UK, it should, right?), but a few words are dead giveaways when I don't say them correctly, however people never comment(ed) on them. I only know now about those infamous words because my son (he was born in the UK, so he obviously speak English fluently), loves nothing more than making fun of me and correct me whenever he can.The little bugger lol. At least, I don't make the same mistakes anymore :)
Load More Replies...Well English wasn't my second languange. Living In Indonesia means on top of using the national languange, I also learn the local languange which is Javanese.. On top of Indonesian, Javanese, and english I also learn Japanese as well.And yes, Even if I'd like to sy my english wasn't that bad, I do notice grammar mistakes or spelling, and sometimes I don't understand slang or complex idioms. While some people might kindly tell me the meaning of it, some people can be rude and said something along like "Well you've been learning English for a long time, looks like your effort was for nothing" and that hurts... A lot..
I speak a lot of languages, not all fluent, but before I travel somewhere, I try to learn some of the language - I never encountered anyone being anything other than happy with the limited vocabulary I have mastered. Apart from English speaking people in the UK and US. They expect that everybody speaks English fluently :)
My best friend had to go back to Brazil from switzerland (her family decided that because of work and she wasnt happy with that) so she went there for 5 years straight and came back. She is trying to study chemistry which is really hard for her despite her high degree in brazil, she always say she feel stupid because everyone is correcting her or she only knows the period system in portugiese which isnt really similar to the german one. She speaks fluently english, french and portugiese but dhe struggles with german, especially swiss german every day.
Schwyzer Dütsch is a group of different dialects - and very hard to understand, even for german native speakers :-)
Load More Replies...English is complicated, compared to Swedish - I learned to speak Swedish when I was a little kid. The fact that I am a Swede has nothing to do with it.
I am Dutch and learn Swedish in evening school. Its all great except that you guys all speak English so well, the moment i need to think about what I need to say, the conversation switches to English!
Load More Replies...As they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". When you go to a country where they speak a different language from your own, make an effort to pick up at least a few phrases. Let me recommend memrise.com, a great site for learning languages. Now, when you go to Paris, France, if you try to get directions or whatever even in terribly poor French, they will love you for it, and, seeing as they do that you are truly struggling trying to communicate in French, you will most probably be asked, in a heavy French accent "Do you speak English?". But if you go up to any Parisian, asking in a demanding tone, in perfect French mind you, "Parlez-Vouz Anglais?" I am sorry, but I do not think that you will have much of a success.
Warmest sympathies for the Russian(being a Russian myself:P) and nice comeback on her side. The comic(? Not sure how to call it properly) bugs me though, like someone here has already said "translating everything in your head" is the worst way of learning a language possible. I've seen sooooo many fellow Russians make that mistake and it's almost physically painful when you see how it ends up. Languages are different, often fundamentally(as is the case with Russian and English, for example), literate translations end up clumsy, silly, completely distorting the meaning and just doing more harm than good. Best thing my language courses did with both languages I've picked up was break that wall and make me start THINKING in the foreign languages, constructing sentences in them from scratch. You can and should do that from the very start. First few weeks or months are hell, yes, when you understand 0.001% of what's going on and end up communicating in gestures and drawings but then
*then that wall in your head finally breaks and you begin understanding it. Sure, you'll still sound silly and end up with stuff like "...and, uh...that big yellow warm thing in the sky came up" but this is heaps better than looking everything up and translating it on spot(not to say dictionaries are bad, of course, there's just more to speaking a language than being a walking dictionary)
Load More Replies...I personally was lucky never to be mocked for my english or german speaking skills. But I am curious about native english speakers (though not the ones like in the article): what do you honestly think about foreigners speaking english not very properly? I don´t have this experience of foreigners speaking my native language, because nobody outside our country is interested in learning it. :D
I don't care, but then I wasn't born in the US. I'm from Canada originally, and I'm pretty sure I can understand most accents. Ok. Glaswegian throws me for a loop, but I had a friend whose father used to tease me about it, so I can get it after a couple of minutes.
Load More Replies...I have to deal with a gentleman who's a developer for a software we support at my work. He has a very thick Indian accent that I have a hard time understanding , so we converse in chat. It would be very easy to dismiss him based on his accent, even though the man is a coding genius.. and his written/typed English is much better than mine.
Its interesting that some Americans mock foreigners for not speaking English properly, have you heard yourselves? YOU don`t speak English properly. Yaaaaal.
This is the most frustrating thing about being first gen american. the judgement when i have to translate for my relatives. they're brilliant, hell my grandmother is genius, in in italian. in english, she struggles to find her words. she struggles to remember all the rules and exceptions to the rules and exceptions to the exceptions. the i love lucy episode where ricky is trying to read a children's book but the same set of letters in one word is pronounced differently in another, that's exactly what makes english so confusing. have a little respect and patience. and don't think we don't hear you. the first gens understand both languages just fine. we know how cruel you're being to our family.
There would be some point to it if US citizens tried to speak the local language when going abroad ( usually the main approach to a local language is to yell in english slower). I can speak fluently English, Spanish, French and Italian and of course my native languange Portugese, but when a foreigner asks me for information on the street and isn't nice or at least polite, I answer them in Portuguese, smile, shrug my shoulders and tell them to take a long walk on a short peer (not using these actual words...).
When I was little, one time I got made fun of for speaking Slovak and after that I asked my mum to never speak Slovak to me in public again because it's embarrassing. She refused and kept speaking it, me responding in English. Today I'm so glad she didn't listen because I would have probably forgotten how to speak Slovak. Now I'm proud of my culture, heritage and language
At least, most non-native speakers know the difference between their, there and they're.
People making fun of a foreign accent, in this case Russian (which has a different grammar AND a different alphabet/script, keep that in mind), meanwhile I see native English speakers not knowing the difference between you're-your, their-there, to-too, lose-loose, etc. A little bit ironic, I would say.
I will never mock people learning english, because although I'm a native english speaker, I know that it's a horrible and confusing b*st*rd language. My friends and I have had many, in-depth conversations about this. I may internally smile a little, since I honestly find it cute and charming :) I may also GENTLY correct someone, but never in a mean fashion (the same for native english speakers). But I have a lot of respect for people who can learn other languages since I just CAN'T seem to learn other languages myself. Those of you who have learned or are learning another language; I'm proud of you.
I don't know but for me if they can't pronounce a word or have their native accent mixed when they speak, I'm not bothered with that as long as I can understand what they meant it's acceptable since I might also struggle like them when I try to speak in their language so I respect them on how they speak and how they pronounce.
I like the woman's response, & I think it's important to remember not to take yourself too seriously when learning another language. My fiance laughs at me when I say something a funny way, but then I laugh too. He still admires my attempt at Spanish, & I greatly admire his mastery of English.
My great grandmother was a language goddess. She spoke Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, French, Norwegian (not great there, but functional), Cree, and English. If she'd been able to travel more, I have no doubt that the list would be a LOT longer. It generally took her a week or so to get the heck of a language and speak it. ...////.... Sadly NOT ONE of the rest of us got that talent. Some of us used to refer to her as Universal Translator. She was also a genuinely good person who was able to charm just about anyone.
yes like messing with you, correcting your grammars in social media. Not everyone have a proper teacher.
Most of those grammar nazis are probably ignorant that you are speaking English as a second language. Their reaction is one of attempting to make themselves superior in the only way they can. It's a whole thing of correcting grammar that everyone does, it isn't because you are not a native English speaker,it's because everyone wants to feel internet smart.
Load More Replies...I think i'm kind of lucky because i know both Russian and English (my first and third foreign languages respectively) and it helps in quite a lot of situations.
Tá gaeilge agam. That is a complete and utter lie because I can only learn online and I'd die of shame & embarrassment before even thinking of attempting to speak with a real, live human being. There is SO MUCH bravery involved in learning another language. I'd rather go on stage in front of my entire high school graduating class and sing a song I just made up *again* than speak Irish or even Spanish (y sí lo hablo también) to a person standing right in front of me.
I had a Chinese national roommate who although was raised with English as a second language refused to accept he wasn't as fluent as he thought. Verbal phrases such as ought to do, should do, got to do, etc were often used in many nonidiomatic ways as to be confusing!
My Mother-in-law was born and raised in Russia, then after marrying lived in Egypt for 40 years. She came to the US as a 70-year old immigrant. She of her own volition takes English classes 3 times a week and requested that I help her by telling her when she makes grammatical mistakes. she is now 78 years old and is still trying and still taking English classes. She became a Citizen in 2016 studying everything she could get her hands on and taking a citizenship test preparation course. Does she still make mistakes? Of course she does, but at least she tries, one of her Russian friends here refuses to even attempt to learn English. Give them a break most Americans don't even try to learn another language they expect the world to speak English. So Kudos to this Gal and any other immigrant or foreigner that is trying to learn our language.
I was mocked only once for getting a low mark in an English assignment. I was attending an English high school at the time to learn the language, and my classmate may not have realized how hard it can be to get the point of something when you're still learning the basics of the language, but I still wish I could have told him, "I'd like to see how well you'd do in a French class for French students." I guess I wasn't fluent enough to say even that back then. But I've made up for it since. My teachers told my parents that I should listen only to English radio, TV, and read only in English until I learned to think in English. Now I have a B.A. in English Studies with a Major in Professional Writing in English and graduated with a GPA between B- and B.
i can probably feel their pain. I've never had to deal with this situation since I only know English but it's hard to speak English because we have the most vowels and all the other things in grammar. AKA the world's hardest language
I love hearing different accents! Different languages have beautiful sounds
I have been in such situation as I am a frenchmen speaking english and 4 other more all with french accent, and my way to shutt them up is..... I just say I agree with you, my english is not so very well, so my apologie and lets talk in french, thats my mother language, and most of the time they just shutt up ;)
I think it's funny that an American...where people eat Tide Pods & snort condoms cuz some other person dared them to...would think a Russian's lack of a "the" makes her sound stupid. Just sayin'...
I'm from the US living in Mexico. The Mexican people, when they see you are honestly trying to learn the language, are kind and help you. The Americans who live here and are fluent in Spanish are the exact opposite--they are the ones who mock and ridicule someone for mistakes in the language. I've never, ever had a native ridicule me for trying to better my Spanish. The other Americans. ugh.
Neither English nor Russian are my native languages, but I manage in both. And guys, I have to tell you that Russian is much more difficult to learn then English. The grammar is more difficult, the language is very rich both in vocabulary and in expressions, the alphabet is different. I manage in about six languages, and I've discovered two rules that have helped me most: 1. Read loud, not only in your mind. That helps a lot in improving the speaking skills. And 2: Never try to translate from your native language when you want to communicate with somebody. Try to think in their language, though using the vocabulary you already have, it will make everything more fluent and a lot less unpleasant.
So damn related. Do you guys have any idea how different it is between Chinese and English? Chinese is fcking logographic. The whole system is not similar at all in any way...and I'm actually great at my own language, owning some medals of competitions. But when I started to speak English after I came to Europe, it was so frustrating in the beginning. So related. [sobbing]
When someone speaks with an accent or even a mix of accents, never laugh at them or ridicule them. Who knows the language he/she is trying to communicate with is his/her 4th or 5th or 6th or even more language.
I like most accents . I find them very sexy . As far as I can understand the meaning of what is being said , I am perfectly fine.
Anyone who can learn English as a second language is brilliant in my book. I can't even count to 10 in a different language.
Yep, my British ex was giving me c**p about my accent. As if he spoke any other language other than English :/
I'm a French Canadian. I was thrilled when we came across a fellow Canadian couple while sharing a taxi in London, UK. We had a friendly chat until I told them I was Canadian too. Reaction? "But you don't speak English!" What language were we talking in for the last 5 minutes then? My English may not be perfect but he could understand me just fine before that. Suddenly I could not speak English. Apparently his girlfriend agreed with me because I've never seen someone elbow someone else so vigorously before.
I don't even care anymore. I can speak Portuguese, Italian and English. I can understand Spanish. I'm learning Russian. If someone mocks me because I don't speak English very well, I just feel sorry for them :D
English is my second language... I mostly understand someomen speaking english, and I think that the english speaking people can understand me, but im not 100% perfect in it... But my native language is czech... And yeah, im not too good at english, but can you speak czech?
I like English and it’s phonetics always makes me wonder. Like, eg. different sounds in British English for the same double o spelling in “book”, “soon”, “door”, “flood”. 😂 Confusing as hell😁
The first time this was posted, they used a blurred picture of the first whore of the USA. As if a well done article like this would illicit sympathy for that gold-digging whore who has no business being here.
I think it incredibly impressive when others speak my language well enough to be understood. I tried to learn french, I tried to learn Mandarin. I found it so difficult. I always tell people they've done an amazing job at learning my language even if they don't think they're doing so good at it.
I think we should stop rolling out the red carpet. The fact is these people chose to go to an English speaking country so yes the onus of being understood is on them not the native speakers. I don't see why we should be so grateful that people are trying to speak English? It's nonsense. English wasn't my first language at one point but I learned and improved. I improved because people told me what was incorrect, and I found it very helpful. Having said that sometimes it does sound a bit funny when someone makes a mistake but I think it's endearing not something to ridicule over and certainly not necessarily a mark of intelligence or lack there of, mostly it's just cute.
Since your English isn't as fluent as theirs, I'd shut up if I were you.
Load More Replies...I've never been able to master a second language, even after 4 years of French in high school and 2 semesters of Spanish in college. I give mad props to anyone trying to learn English--they say it's the hardest language to learn, and if you really look at it, you'll find it's true. (There's a great "I Love Lucy" sketch that illustrates this perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAL9VD6Lz9Y)
Question for the American panda's: What other languages do you all learn at school? I'm asking because in the Netherlands, while in high school (when being aged between 13 - 15)you have to follow not only dutch and english, but also german and french (higher levels also get roman and greek). After one year, you have the chance to drop one of them. So basicly we are obliged to learn 2 foreign languages and if we choose 3! Do you people also have to do that? I mean speaking 4 languages before the age of 18 could be considered weird.
It differs in every school system, but I think I was required to take at least two or three years of a language. I took six years of Spanish, one of German, and two of French. Latin and Portuguese were also options in my school system. I grew up in New England so the language class options skewed European.
Load More Replies...Sorry , I can't relat . I do speak all ,the known and the unknown of the languages in the whole galaxy .
Come on guys. Have you not heard of irony! Why the downvotes?
Load More Replies...Excuse me, but this is not a 'brutal comeback' but rather an admission of linguistic inability. Use of articles is one of the simplest things in English, so anyone who learned English as a foreign language and speaks it fluently should thank for pointing the mistake out and start to use the articles properly. Getting irritated and calling the language 'dumb' is simply immature and cringeworthy. 'You sound dumb' is an important remark, because this means that the person in question does not feel language registers and thus their grasp on language is far worse than they might think (not to mention than equaling 'you sound dumb' with 'you are dumb' also suggests lack of critical thinking in either language). I'm not that keen to believe the story, because people showing the degree of fluency evidence by the response very rarely have problems with the most basic language rules.
English is the most ridiculously difficult language to learn that most people have ever me. The spelling is eccentric, to say the least, and the grammar has no apparent rules. People who speak Romance languages are flummoxed because their languages DO have consistent rules. ...///... English is my first language. I'm also an English teacher. Believe me when I say that English is a stupid mixed-up bugger of a language to learn and any non native speaker who masters it deserves a medal.
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