hobielover
01-03-2008, 03:58 PM
What do you call someone who speaks three languages?
Trilingual
What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
Bilingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language?
Monolingual
No--American
Have you ever heard this before? Well, I'm sick of it. :chair:
I'm tired of feeling the need to prove myself. Everyone seems to think that Americans are all monolinguals with a superiority complex. Everybody stares at me when I start speaking in their language. What is so strange about an American knowing more than one language? If you walk into any college around here, you can find a large flock of otaku reading mangas in Japanese and typing away in Japanese on their laptops. So what if I know Spanish and want to learn Mandarin?! Why do people have to look at me funny when I play Jay Chou songs in my car when I go through the car wash? I'm not crazy, just smart.
Most Spanish-speakers I meet need to hear me hold a conversation before they decide that I really do speak Spanish. I took five years of Spanish in high school, and I tell them that, but they think that if they talk too fast, I won't understand. I don't want people to talk slowly to me, as if I were a retard. I'm not--I'm just an American! I'm an almost trilingual American!:rasp:
Trilingual
What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
Bilingual
What do you call someone who speaks one language?
Monolingual
No--American
Have you ever heard this before? Well, I'm sick of it. :chair:
I'm tired of feeling the need to prove myself. Everyone seems to think that Americans are all monolinguals with a superiority complex. Everybody stares at me when I start speaking in their language. What is so strange about an American knowing more than one language? If you walk into any college around here, you can find a large flock of otaku reading mangas in Japanese and typing away in Japanese on their laptops. So what if I know Spanish and want to learn Mandarin?! Why do people have to look at me funny when I play Jay Chou songs in my car when I go through the car wash? I'm not crazy, just smart.
Most Spanish-speakers I meet need to hear me hold a conversation before they decide that I really do speak Spanish. I took five years of Spanish in high school, and I tell them that, but they think that if they talk too fast, I won't understand. I don't want people to talk slowly to me, as if I were a retard. I'm not--I'm just an American! I'm an almost trilingual American!:rasp: