I find it's just weird. It can take me up to 2 hrs to clue into spoken language. But one time when I was younger I was hanging out with a dutch friend. Their grandma only spoke dutch. I listened for maybe 1/2 hr. Then my friends grandma said to her "does she know what I'm saying?" My friend told her I don't speak dutch but then asked me if I grasped any of it. I said "I'm not sure is she talking about some Vicar who heart broken jumped off a bridge and commited suicide?" And she looked startled and said yes. Then she told her grandma that yes I understood. I said though to tell her I can't talk to her in her language though.
Something similar happened with a german friend. Growing up I was around her family for many years. They spoke german around the house but also would speak english for my benifit or if dealing with english speakers. So when I was around I'd hear mix of german and english. Eventually they got I knew what they were saying. I think they were amused even though I couldn't answer them.
With my one swedish uncle his relatives came over from sweden. By then I'd not spoken swedish in at least 9 yrs. I hadn't really read any in that time either. But they noticed I was paying attention to the conversation. Only one relative could speak english(he also spoke german as did the others). He asked me if I understood. I told him what I thought they were saying. He said I was right and asked if I could speak with them. I explained I couldn't. But I did say in german I spoke a little german. Unfortunately they spoke german way too fast and it was high german in formal. I couldn't respond right so gave up. Instead I just translated for others.
It's handy when languages click tho sometimes they just wont(even my own native one). I think it must be my high reading ability and pattern recognition that lets me translate. Too bad it's onesided and I can't respond in things.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 11:21 pm (UTC)Something similar happened with a german friend. Growing up I was around her family for many years. They spoke german around the house but also would speak english for my benifit or if dealing with english speakers. So when I was around I'd hear mix of german and english. Eventually they got I knew what they were saying. I think they were amused even though I couldn't answer them.
With my one swedish uncle his relatives came over from sweden. By then I'd not spoken swedish in at least 9 yrs. I hadn't really read any in that time either. But they noticed I was paying attention to the conversation. Only one relative could speak english(he also spoke german as did the others). He asked me if I understood. I told him what I thought they were saying. He said I was right and asked if I could speak with them. I explained I couldn't. But I did say in german I spoke a little german. Unfortunately they spoke german way too fast and it was high german in formal. I couldn't respond right so gave up. Instead I just translated for others.
It's handy when languages click tho sometimes they just wont(even my own native one). I think it must be my high reading ability and pattern recognition that lets me translate. Too bad it's onesided and I can't respond in things.