Today, I was reading a book in German, which I don't know very well. Suddenly I reached a passage I had no trouble understanding. Excited, I showed my husband, saying I was finally getting the hang of it. He laughed and patted my head. Turns out, that particular passage was a quote. In English. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Same thing different taste
Back home
Today, I returned to Germany for a break from my studies abroad. I got lost while out for groceries, so I tried asking a guy for directions. I went totally blank and strained to think of the right words, prompting him to mutter about rude foreigners not bothering to learn the local language. FML
Today, I found out that my German wasn't as great as I thought it was. Trying to give directions to some German tourists, I tried to say, "I hope I don't get you lost." Turns out I actually said something closer to, "I hope I don't seduce you." FML
Today, a friend told me that when I read, I make all the expressions the characters in the book are making. Apparently, I have been doing this since I was a kid, and no one ever told me. FML
What word was it?
Today, a tourist from an English-as-second-language country taught me a new word. In English. FML
Graded
Today, I got my language final exam back. It was a 10-page essay front and back, and I saw that I received a D. The teacher told me the plot was too hard to follow and it jumped all over the place. It turns out he forgot to read the back of every page. FML
Scheiße!
Today, I found out the German I've been learning for nearly a month is a dialect only spoken by people in a small area of the country. This means I'll need to re-learn most of what I thought I knew. FML
Today, I found out that while on foreign exchange for over six months now, I have been pronouncing the word for "night" in German wrong. Apparently, this whole time, the way that I have been pronouncing it in German means "naked". This explains a lot. FML
Today, I arrived in Germany for a summer-long stay. The family I'm supposed to stay with had said they spoke fluent English. They don't. I don't speak German. It's going to be a quiet two months. FML
Today, I was in an Austrian bar, making polite conversation in my broken German with a slightly odd middle-aged man. He said, winking, that he was near to his pension. I smiled and nodded, thinking he was talking about retirement. My friend later informed me that 'pension' is German for 'apartment'. Ew. FML
Today, I finally convinced my mom to read Fight Club. As English isn't her first language, she occasionally asked me to translate some of the words. Her latest question: "What's a dildo?" FML
Top comments
kickazz16 15
What did you expect? A cookie?
Grimmerie 31
Did you recently suffer a sharp blow to the head?
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Comments (167)
chels1994 11
Congrats?
Addy414 12
Gratulieren :)
FreshBeatz 0
??
breadfruit 0
In OP's defense, when learning another language (or if already bilingual) it's easy to accidentally switch between languages. Therefore, either OP is an idiot and really couldn't distinguish between German and English, or she was engaged enough in the German that the transition came naturally, which means she's making progress. I speak Spanish at home and I often throw in Spanish phrases when talking with my friends in the morning and don't realize it until they point it out to me.
nefertiti89 6
it reeking blonde here
rldostie 19
I do the same thing if I've been using one language more than another. It actually is natural if a person is that comfortable or engaged in a language. I've broken out in Japanese to English speakers before, particularly when I lived in Japan, or called my mom in the US and told her how my day was in Japanese without even knowing it. It simply happens. Those who don't get that clearly don't speak another language well enough to have experienced that.
drummerchic14 0
LOL you guys are retarded. I speak 4 languages and yes sometimes when I'm trying to think of a word it comes to me in another language but I never actually burst out in a foreign language when I'm talking to someone in English, and can definitely always tell if the language I'm reading all of a sudden changes. but hey everyones different..
Zehla 7
It's not fair to call her a retard, or anybody who makes that mistake a retard, because she mistook an English sentence for German. I had to learn Spanish for high school, and often when I was focused on translating the different language, I really wouldn't notice that the English side notes were actually in English, since I could read both languages rather well at the time. Your brain, as an adult, does not catch on to learning new languages as easily as it would if you were a child. That's why kids are so good at learning to be bilingual. So if OP is focusing all of her mental energy on translating German to English, no matter how it looks ON THE PAGE, in her MIND she is reading it in her native language. So it would make sense that when she reads one sentence out of a thousand perfectly, she wouldn't notice right away, and probably be excited if it was an unusual occurrence to translate a sentence without having to think. Those of you who are fluent in 2+ languages and have spoken them for years have no place to judge her: she is just learning, while you have all trained your minds and practiced endlessly to remember phrases and words, etc. It's like making fun of a 16 year old because they can't drive very well yet. You've had years of experience - she's just learning. Don't be such a douchebag to her about her mistakes.
Marcowalker95 3
Ok. Good for you. No need to be a jerk. Ever notice the fact that English came from German? And that a lot of words are alike such as hallo-hello. Wilkommen-welcome
michellenKG 5
Yeah I see where shes coming from. Except with me, when I read in Spanish and theres a sudden switch to English, I find I have difficulty reading the English because my mind is still in Spanish. Still it should only take a second of confusion to recognize the language difference.
xNephilim 19
It can be tough knowing two or more languages. I'm German but now live in the US, meaning I don't use German as much anymore. Every time I talk to my mom, it takes me a while to get back into German and I struggle with remembering certain words. Like rent. The German word for rent is Miete, but Rente means retirement. It's confusing and my mom always laughs at me for switching the words. Another time, I was trying to read something in Dutch, I think, which is somewhat similar to German, and all of a sudden, there was a German sentence in there. My mind read it in a ridiculous accent. Stuff like that happens. It's no biggie.
leadman1989 16
What book were you reading? "Wie nicht scheitern"?
cestplat 5
"Wie nicht scheitern" is a grammatical train wreck. If you dont speak German, you have no business making a comment like yours. And, stay away from Google translate.
humorizer 14
Darn... my German's getting weak. "How not" something. Fuuuuuu
ddinspire6 10
Atleast you got a Pat on the head.
Okayitwasme 0
Oh see, you got 3 +s ha ha :)
Nolnah 14
*hive five*
maryam8869 7
hahahaha thats cute ^_^
VDubbGrrl 4
Your poor husband. FHL.
faith94m 5
This reminds of a time I used the word pedophile and my friend said "I don't speak Spanish." -_-
VDubbGrrl 4
Reminds me of the time I called my uncle a pedophile, and he was all "well now, that's a mighty be word for a 6yr od"
VDubbGrrl 4
*big word, not be word.
frankboy 0
Hahah aww you guys are cute with your jokes and stuff
Zoranius 6
Are you dumb or just dumb?