Speaking multiplelanguagesis like having a secret superpower. It broadens your horizons, sharpens your brain, and, best of all, lets you pick up on things others think you can’t.
ThisRedditorput that skill to great use when her hospital roommate threw some not-so-subtle insults about her appearance, convinced they would go unnoticed. A perfectly timed response made sure she knew otherwise.
Read the full story below.
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The woman threw out some rude remarks about her hospital roommate in a foreign language, assuming she wouldn’t understand
Image credits:DC Studio/Freepik (not the actual photo)
Until a single, polite response proved her wrong
Image credits:_opossumsaurus
“It felt like something out of a sitcom”
An experience like this could have easily been frustrating, butu/_opossumsaurus/found it more amusing than anything—just one of those oddly funny moments that life throws your way.
“When it happened, I was just surprised and taken off guard, like ‘Did this really just happen?’ because it felt like something out of a sitcom,” she toldBored Panda. As soon as she left the hospital, she shared the story with her Russian professor, and they had a good laugh about it.
OP has a habit of finding humor when it comes to language mishaps. While studying abroad, her host family once asked her to translate the user manual for their stove from English to Russian. “It was actually German, but I muddled through with Google Translate,” she admitted.
She still remembers sitting with the manual in hand, writing the Russian translation in the margins, when her host mom suddenly commented, “You hold the pencil weirdly when you write.” Before OP could respond, her host dad nudged his wife and said, “Don’t criticize her, she’s helping us!” They were, as she recalls, “such sweet” people, and she had the best time with them.
OP has found plenty of ways to make the most of her language skills. She works in Eastern European language and cultural studies, which comes with all kinds of perks. “Travel, friendships, understanding new music, finding an intellectual community with similar interests, translating new ideas, and getting a glimpse into another culture on its own linguistic terms,” she said.
Another bonus? The element of surprise. “I also very much enjoy surprising people with the revelation that despite the fact that my accent is relatively convincing, I’m actually American,” she shared. “I’ve had a few people do a double take when they find out, which is nice because it means I’m not immediately identifiable as a tourist when I travel, and people tend to be a bit more comfortable around me.”
Unexpected benefits of learning a new language
Image credits:Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels (not the actual photo)
There’s a lot of talk about how learning a new language opens doors: easier travel, newfriendships, and of course, the bragging rights of a solid Duolingo streak. And while those are great, sometimes it comes with unexpected bonuses, like catching a conversation you weren’t supposed to understand. But the benefits don’t stop there.
For one, learning another language makes you a better multitasker. When a multilingual person speaks, all thelanguagesthey know are active in their brain at the same time, even if they’re only using one.
“From research we know that as a bilingual or multilingual, whenever you’re speaking, both languages or all the languages that you know are activated,” Mathieu Declerck, a senior research fellow at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, tells theBBC. “For example, when you want to say ‘dog’ as a French-English bilingual, not just ‘dog’ is activated, but also its translation equivalent, so ‘chien’ is also activated.”
Of course, this also means that sometimes multilingual people mix things up—forgetting a word in one language but not the other or slipping into the wrong accent without realizing it. Still, the mental control needed to navigate between languages strengthens their ability to handle multiple tasks at once.Studieshave even confirmed that bilingual children are better at switching between activities and staying focused on important information compared to monolinguals.
Speaking more than one language also keeps your brain in top shape and may even delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.Researchshows that bilingual people develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s about 4.5 years later than those who only speak one language. This is believed to be due to a greater cognitive reserve, making their brains more resilient to damage.
As if that weren’t enough, speaking multiple languages alsoboosts creativity. For instance, when multilingual people forget a word, they have to think on their feet, rephrase their thoughts, use different words, or explain things in a new way. It’s a skill that naturally strengthens their ability to think outside the box.
So if you speak more than one language, congrats on having a brain that’s basically a superhero. And if you’ve been thinking about learning one, take this as your sign to start (even if it’s just so you can eavesdrop or be a little petty).
Readers felt sorry that the author had to go through that experience
And many chimed in with their own stories of catching people off guard in the most satisfying way
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