I’m sure some of you have seen this before, but it is just too good (and sad but true) to not look at it again (and again and again and again…). Courtesy of europelanguagecafe.
- The ‘mental block’ becomes your daily torture (in native and learned languages alike)
Brain: Knows more than one language –> refuses to find the correct word for the language you are speaking in.
- You have to decide between sounding pretentious or pronouncing it wrong when you order foreign food
You refuse to pronounce it ‘choriTSo’ but your beautifully pronounced
‘chorizo’ with a rolled ‘R’ will leave the waiter silently judging you
- All roads lead to teaching
As much as you try to avoid it, at some point, you will become a
teacher of your native or studied language. In fact, when people find
out you are multilingual, they are likely to assume that teaching is
your profession. On the bright side, you’ve always got that to fall back
on!
- Monolinguals don’t appreciate the struggle
Your compatriots think it’s a hobby, and native speakers of the
languages you have learnt make your life difficult; JUST SLOW DOWN.
- The subjunctive
‘Nuff said.
- You have several keyboards activated on your smart phone, making conversation-switching a nightmare
- You find yourself constantly on the move
Speaking languages makes you travel; travelling makes you learn more
languages; and so the circle continues, endlessly. Your mother will have
something to say about it.
- You become a habitual eavesdropper
It can happen anywhere. You’re just casually grabbing a coffee and
then BAM; someone speaking the language you’ve learnt sweeps by, and you
freeze, listening in. Whoever is having a coffee with you will be
confused by your blank expression and coffee mug hovering halfway
towards your face.
- Friends and family use you as a translation resource
“Could you just have a read through my CV in English?” “I want this
part to be in French as well, can you just quickly translate it?”
PEOPLE. This stuff takes time and effort!
- You suddenly find your native language inadequate to express yourself
So many words are required to describe something for which there is
not a term in your native language. It gives your speech a certain je ne
sais quoi.
This is the fate you have chosen for yourself. But hey, when they
said that languages would open doors for you, they weren’t wrong!
In fact, you can find a job with Europe Language Jobs and your languages will take you traveling.