{"id":1794,"date":"2011-05-25T12:21:27","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T19:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=1794"},"modified":"2011-05-25T12:21:27","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T19:21:27","slug":"spring-forward-day-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-67\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Munich
\nMay 18, 2011\u00a0<\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Maybe<\/a>
Maybe dubbing it into German would help it?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I always feel ignorant being monolingual.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I really think I\u2019m past the age where acquiring new languages comes easy.\u00a0 The fact is, I\u2019ve always been fascinated by languages without having any talent for them at all.<\/p>\n

But when I\u2019m in somewhere as multilingual as Europe I REALLY feel ignant.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m interacting with Europeans, I see two behaviors that amuse me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

People in service occupations are used to customer walking up and addressing them in any number of tongues.\u00a0 It\u2019s fun to watch them mentally click on a dropdown list and pick the language they think they\u2019ll need.\u00a0 They are usually correct, also, for whatever reason.\u00a0 I assume they always know I\u2019m American because I look like I don\u2019t believe in evolution by natural selection, or something like that.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The subways are empty early on weekend mornings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second reaction is funnier to me.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I approach them and say, In my best German or French (or Russian), \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I don\u2019t speak _____.\u201d\u00a0 I then get this look from them.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an unkind look , really\u2026 the thought bubble I imagine I see over their heads reads something like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, don\u2019t scare him.\u00a0 Speak softly and reassuringly.\u00a0 Hey, Marcel!\u00a0 Looks like we\u2019ve got another escapee from the Care Facility for the Victims of Profound Head Injuries.\u00a0\u00a0 Ignatz, distract him with something shiny while I pull out my dart gun.\u00a0 He\u2019s just going to hurt himself out here.\u00a0 The sooner we can get him back to the home, the better it will be for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frankly, I have trouble even imaginging what it must be like to be able to mentally juggle all those different vocabularies and gramamars and even slang.\u00a0 I really admire them.<\/p>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

Last night my colleagues and I went to a Jewish\/Israeli restaurant.\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0 A Jewish restaurant in Munich?\u00a0 The birth of the Third Reich?\u00a0 Why not open a nice deli in Damascus?\u00a0 It boggles the mind.\u00a0 Why, ifyou were a Jew, would you want to go anywhere NEAR Germany?\u00a0 For that matter, I\u2019ve never understood why Jewish people bought Mercedes and BMWs, but that\u2019s just me.\"frieze\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Oh, the food at the restaurant?\u00a0 Meh.<\/p>\n

Languages I\u2019d Be Most Interested in Learning If I Was Less Stoopid<\/h4>\n
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  • Italian<\/li>\n
  • Latin<\/li>\n
  • Arabic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Average Rating: 4.8<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 188<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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