People Share Their “They Didn’t Know I Could Understand Their Language” Moment

Being multilingual has benefits. Those fluent in more than one language have a wider range of job opportunities, a greater number of individuals they can communicate with, and a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Likewise, these individuals have it easier when it comes to reading restaurant menus and navigating through certain foreign countries. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that knowing multiple languages is a good thing for us in many different ways.

However, there may be times where knowing more than one language has landed someone into accidental trouble. Maybe someone was gossiping about someone else in Spanish with their friend, only to realize that someone nearby can clearly understand what they’re saying. Or maybe a student asked another student in French if they could send them the test answers before they retake the exam…right in front of their teacher who they had no idea spoke even a lick of French! Talk about awkward.

With 43% of the world population being bilingual and another 15% being either trilingual, multilingual, or a polyglot, according to iLanguages, some of the latter situations are bound to happen. Of course, there are also happy and heartfelt moments that occur when someone knows more than one language, but truthfully, it’s the humiliating multilingual moments that always seem the most rememberable.

In these stories, people share the shocking situations when they realized another person presumed they weren’t able to understand their language (and in many cases, they spoke in their second language in front of them anyway, regardless of what they were saying was secretive or rude). Trust me, some of them are so cringy, you’ll turn red like a tomato from second-hand embarrassment!
30. I Helped Lost German-Speaking Foreigners Navigate My City

“My mum’s a linguist and speaks about 15 languages fluently and as such; I picked up a couple along the way. Most of my childhood was spent in Germany, so I have a firm grasp of the language…which doesn’t really seem to match my appearance.
I’m a 6’3, 220lbs, black man, who speaks German. Now, this isn’t too uncommon a sight in Germany, but in North America, I’m a ******* unicorn.

So, I was standing at the bus stop one day in the heart of downtown Toronto, and there were these two 60-something-year-old German ladies who were not having a good time. They were trying to find the Art Gallery and were fed up with the fact that they were having such a sh*tty time navigating because their English-speaking children had left them alone for the day.
I didn’t have anything particularly important planned for that day, so I turned to them and said something to the effect of, ‘You know, our city has a lot to offer if you know where to look.
Would you two like me to show you where the Gallery is and a couple of places you can get lunch along the way?’

They nearly fainted. They were sooooo happy that they found someone who spoke German and couldn’t stop taking pictures with me to show their family ‘the guy that saved their day.’ I walked them to the Gallery and gave them a bit of an impromptu walking/bus tour along the way.

That was the day I gained two Omas.” astro493
29. He Told Her She Can’t Say What He Did To Her Mother

“Though I can’t really speak it with much confidence outside of basic questions, I have worked in a predominantly Spanish speaking neighborhood long enough that I can understand the language quite well when it’s being spoken.
I’m also a pale skinned white guy with red hair.

My partner and I responded to a third party 911 call for a domestic dispute. When we got there, a man answered the door and told us everything was fine and that his wife wasn’t home. I asked to come in to check to make sure everyone was OK, and he allowed me to do so. His young daughter was on the couch in the living room, and his wife was nowhere in sight.

I asked the little girl if everything was OK, and she just stared at me, as if she wasn’t comprehending.
The man told me that she doesn’t speak English, then turned to her and said to her in Spanish ‘Keep your mouth shut or what happened to Mommy is gonna happen to you.’

Let’s just say my suspicion was raised. We found Mom laying in the shower bloodied up with the curtains drawn to hide her.” Deleted Reddit user
28. A Cashier Was Going To Charge Me Double Because I Was A Foreigner

“I’m white British but for various reasons have a fairly high level of Mandarin Chinese.

So, on my master’s degree, I was in a big WeChat (Chinese Facebook) group with the international Chinese students, and many of the local Chinese restaurants and cafes (of which there were many) gave heavy discounts for native Chinese speakers, but this was mainly all conducted in Mandarin to stop non-Chinese speakers from finding out.

So, after hearing about it on the WeChat group. I go in one of these cafes, and when she rings up the price, it is nearly double what my Chinese friends got charged, so asked if there was a mistake and if the discount still on (in English).
The lady at the counter then says no that offer finished a few days back. Just as I was about to argue the point knowing full well the offer is definitely on as I had the WeChat advert on my phone, another native Chinese customer jumps in and in Mandarin says ‘Oh, on the WeChat group, there is an advert saying it is still valid,’ to which the waitress says back in Mandarin, ‘Oh yes, it is still on, but we just don’t offer it to the foreigners.

We will still give it you and the other Chinese.’

I just lost my **** at this point and answered her back something like, ‘Awh well, isn’t that a shame. I was really excited to try your food, but at least now I know that you discriminate against the local British community. I’ll make sure to tell all my ‘foreigner’ friends to avoid this place in the future.’

I got my meal and drink for free, and they gave me great discounts there all the time after that… They couldn’t have been more shocked/apologetic.” KingBooScaresYou
27. They Pretended That Our Credit Card Wasn’t Working To Try To Stop Us From Entering The Game Park

“I’m white but born in Kenya.
My dad (also white) was born in Uganda and went to school in Scotland and Kenya.

He’s fluent in Swahili, but I barely know enough to get by.

We moved to Canada when I was very young, but go back every 5 or so years since we still have family there. When I was about 14, we were there for Christmas, driving through one of the game parks heading to visit family friends.

(Now, in recent years, the Kenyan government had implemented some anti-corruption policies to stop funds from ending up in the game warden’s pockets. This included pre-loaded cards that you purchased beforehand, and the guard would swipe into the computer.
Therefore crediting the game park and not just putting cash into his wallet.)
We pull up to the hut, and the guard ‘swipes’ the card a couple of times, talking to his partner in Swahili and saying, ‘See, like this, pretend it doesn’t work.’

He then turns to us and says in broken English, “No it is not working.

You can just give us money and then get a refund at the exit gate.” My Dad replies in English telling him to try again, but he refuses. Then, the guard’s friend says in Swahili “Just let them go,” to which my Dad replies, also in Swahili, “He’s right.
Just ******* swipe the card properly and I won’t tell your boss.”

The look on his face was priceless. Never seen a black guy turn so white. He swiped it and waved us on without another word.

My Dad dressed the part of a tourist while we were there, and I always bugged him about it. After this happened he told me that that’s exactly why he dressed that way. He has the ace up his sleeve.” moose111
26. I Revised The Lease Agreement In Their Favor When My Clients Discussed Their Hesitation In Spanish

“I used to sell cars and I had a lovely Hispanic couple come in, and they just weren’t sure what they wanted.

I spent my entire Saturday with them going over the features of numerous vehicles and trim levels not only of our vehicles but the competitors as well.

I finally landed them on the perfect vehicle for them and we were working out numbers. Now to anyone unfamiliar with the car business, there’s a moment in every deal when the customer realizes they are about to buy a car. Naturally, they panic. That nice person you were just laughing with and getting along like old pals suddenly turns into a cold brick wall. It’s always something nagging in the back of their mind, perhaps rumors and tall tales they’ve heard from friends about the lot, or anecdotal evidence of all those particular models being lemons, or just the purse tightening up.
Whatever it is they never want to divulge it for whatever reason, perhaps pride or fear you’ll talk them into it.

Naturally, we hit such a moment. I am not fluent in Spanish by any means and can barely speak or write it; however, I can read and understand it to a decent degree. I had a lot of Hispanic friends growing up and took 6 years of Spanish class. They thought they could discuss their hesitation with each other in front of me without me knowing. Their fear was the lease agreement and mileage penalties. I told them I had to go check something and would be right back.
I came back with a revised lease agreement that added 2k miles a year without raising their payment. They were surprised and of course, agreed to it. My manager always joked I should have thanked them in Spanish after handing the keys over.” notimprezaed
25. They Spewed Out Racist Insults Towards My Japanese Coach, So I Stepped In

“I guess this is only tangentially related to being multilingual, but I think it still counts.

This happened more than 15 years ago, but the memory is still fresh in my mind. My father was managing an international baseball event in our rather small, Italian city.
This being a small, Italian city, pretty much no one spoke English other than my nerdy a**. It wasn’t even taught in school, back then – at least not in my area – I pretty much taught myself out of sheer stubbornness, wanting to play video games that weren’t getting translated in Italian and reading raunchy slash fan-fics.
So, my father roped me in, needing desperate help as some of the teams did not have translators. Surprisingly, one of these teams was Japanese. Being the giant weeb that I was at the time, I was absolutely delighted by this, and I ended up pretty much escorting the Japanese team all over the place, striking a friendship with them.

It wasn’t long before the surprisingly expansive coach gifted me with his team’s uniform. Where did he get a uniform that could fit a freakishly tall, 14-year-old teenager, since the team was composed of small kids, I have no idea.
I guess the uniform was what did them in, but either way, two boys fell for a trap I was unknowingly laying down while escorting the team to one of their games, happily chatting with the coach on our way. As we went past these two boys, they both started spouting racist insults and saying stupid gibberish (think of the sadly classical ‘ch*ng ch*ng’ stuff) and then laughing like they made the joke of the century.
This is the point were a record-scratch goes off in my mind because I knew these two boys well, as they also knew me.

They were part of the team my father coached. I could not believe they didn’t recognize me. I sort of froze because my parents didn’t raise me like a cave woman, and you bet you’re a** this kind of ******** would not fly with me.

I look at the coach. I knew that he got what was going on, even if he didn’t speak a single word of Italian. I look at the way he smiles at me, with that sort-of-sad light in his eyes, and I think, ‘**** it.’
I turn on my heels.
Call the two idiots that were still laughing by name. They freeze and turn around to face me with the most comical horrified expressions on their faces. I look at them, and flatly say ‘Mo’ avete fatto ‘na cazzata’ (roughly translatable to, ‘You’ve done ***ed* up now.’) and then turn back and keep walking the Japanese team as if nothing happened.

Later that day I told my father. The two idiots didn’t get to play the rest of the tournament.

A couple of days later I happened to overhear the coach of the Japanese team speak with one of the other coaches in Japanese and caught the words ‘[my name]-san’ and kind of died inside because, for my limited web knowledge of Japanese, I was aware that -san is a rather big honorific that I doubt would ever be attached to a teenage girl in any other circumstance, especially if said by an adult man, but I guess I must’ve left an impression.
I still get a well-wish card from this man every new year, no exception.” Nohaljiachi
24. My Boyfriend Insulted Me In Spanish, Thinking I Wouldn’t Understand

“I started dating a guy whose native language was Spanish and had told him I spoke little Spanish.

After a lot of joking about how I don’t really know Spanish, he started to say phrases I knew were intended to test my understanding.

So, I played dumb. Eventually, he began to believe I understood little to nothing.

One day we were laying in bed. While gazing into my eyes, he began:

‘You have the most beautiful eyes.’

I smiled. He continued:

‘And you’re not that smart kind of a low-class girl.
Not to mention, crazy, and we won’t be dating long. And it’s so nice that you don’t understand the things I’m saying.’

His seductive speech was littered with kisses and a few other insults that I only understood a few words of.

And he said this with the sweetest grin. I just smiled sweetly and said in English, ‘I do. You can go now.’

I’m still not sure if he knows how much I understood.

It was enraging.” chill_sunflower
23. A Dad Spoke In Spanish About His Abusive Parenting And Kidnapping Plans

“I’m a foster care therapist in a smallish town, and I was doing family therapy with a bio father, his 3 kids, and the interpreter.
I can’t really speak Spanish, but I can understand the majority of it, but the family and interpreter didn’t know that.

We start doing therapy, and I’m asking questions in English, and I notice the interpreter isn’t asking the exact questions I was asking. I asked about dad’s discipline techniques (kids were in care for a mix of neglect and physical abuse) and Dad responds in Spanish that he hits the kids until they behave. The interpreter turns to me and says, ‘He says he puts them in time out or takes away their toys.’ This continues for the rest of our session; I asked questions, and the interpreter’s answers were very different from what dad was actually saying.

As the session ended and the family was leaving, Dad tells the interpreter he hates family therapy, that I’m a sh*tty therapist, calls me a privileged white ****,* and then says, ‘I can’t wait to start unsupervised visits again, so I can go back to Mexico with the kids and start a new life.’

I looked directly at Dad and told him he was describing kidnapping, and I have to report his plan to the state worker (the children’s legal guardian and the person making decisions about when the kids could return home) and the judge. Dad’s whole face dropped. Turns out the interpreter was Dad’s second cousin or something who happened to work for the state and got lucky in getting assigned to that case.
I got subpoenaed in the termination of parental rights hearing, and it was fun testifying about everything Dad had said thinking I couldn’t understand him.

The kids did not return to dad and have since been adopted.” ItalicSlope
22. The Lady Behind The Counter Judged How Much Food We Ordered

If they’re paying, who cares?!

“Nothing crazy, but a few years ago my wife and I bought a new apartment in Elmhurst, NY. We decided to explore nearby areas and ended up in Jackson Heights. As most people know, New York is diverse, but the borough of Queens holds a lot of diversity. I’m of Vietnamese descent but was born in New York and was raised speaking Vietnamese.
My wife is British but of Indian descent.

We entered a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to order our usual dishes, large portion of Cha Gio (fried spring rolls), a plate of Goi Cuon (summer rolls), two bowls of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup), and a couple of iced coffees to boot.

I ordered in English so that my wife can follow and make sure I didn’t miss anything or screw the order up.

When we checked out our tab, the woman behind the counter starts saying in Vietnamese to her colleagues about ‘how much we ate,’ ‘we ordered so much’ and such. It’s also worth nothing Vietnamese has three main dialects and several smaller regional dialects.
The dialect the woman spoke happens to be the one my family speaks. But the way she said things were in a mocking manner.

I paid the bill, and while she was talking, I interjected in Vietnamese asking if she could break a fifty and that’s it’s really silly for her to openly talk about customers in an area with so many Asians. She was pretty shocked and embarrassed and started mentioning how my Vietnamese was good.

I handed the tip straight to our waiter and walked out.” antlovesraj
21. I Went On A Date With An Arab Man And My Basic Understanding Of Arabic Paid Off…

True colors show through one way or another!

“I’m an American traveling abroad in the Middle East and went on a date with an Arab guy.
He asked me if I spoke Arabic, but since I’m not comfortable speaking it, I just said no. I can understand most things, though, and can speak if pressed. Dinner was great, we got along well, and then went to smoke shisha at a local cafe. The owner, who was my date’s buddy, asked who I was in Arabic. He smiled at me sweetly, squeezed my hand, and told his friend in Arabic, ‘An American wh*re who I’m going to **** later.’ I kept a stupid, docile smile on my face.

When the owner took my order, I told him in Arabic, ‘And one tea for the American wh*re who he will not **** later.’ The look on both of their faces was priceless.
Needless to say, I ended up taking a cab home.” pizza-khaleesi
20. The Car Salesman Said We Were Wasting His Time

“I grew up in an area of the Canadian Prairies with pockets of German-speaking people. We spoke it at home but were always respectful to not use it to exclude others.

My Dad and I went car shopping one such German enclave.

Dad was talking to a salesman in English when the sales manager came by and asked him in German if we were going to buy anything. The salesman said we were just looking and generally wasting his time before he resumed trying to get dad to buy.

At the end of the sales pitch, Dad said the car sounded good, switched to German, and told him he’ll never put 5 cents into a place that disrespected customers like that.

Then said to me, ‘Come on son, we’re going somewhere else,’ and I responded back in German.

We bought a car later that day, down the street.” Captkap
19. A Man Tried To Lie About Being At-Fault For A Car Accident…He Failed

“I’m American, with a German mom and American Dad. We were stationed back in Germany when I was 14-22. We have unique license plates only issued to Americans.

There was a multi-car pileup on the A5 between Mannheim-Darmstadt.
I’m driving my girlfriend, and we stop in time and avoid the collision. Seconds later, we get rear-ended. I get out to look at everything, and the driver behind me is telling the driver in front of me to tell the polizei that he felt two bumps so that his insurance company only pays for one car’s damage (mine) instead of both since he was responsible for both collisions.

I waited until they told the polizei the lie and then explained in perfect German that their story was ********; we had stopped in time before being rear-ended and were pushed into the other car.
A car next to me confirmed my story with the polizei, and the driver behind me started getting nervous when the story started falling apart. He got a nice talking to by the Polizei officer.” darmstadter
18. We Low-Balled Ring Shop Owners When They Tried To Unfairly Mark Up Prices On Us

“My husband grew up in multiple countries and, though his English is pretty heavily accented, it’s a sort of unidentifiable hybrid of all the countries where he learned it in school. (He didn’t move to the US until he was in his late 20s.)

When we went for our wedding rings and in walks super-white me and my very Latino looking (then) fiancé.

It’s a tiny little shop and the two proprietors begin to talk amongst themselves in Hebrew (one of my husband’s ‘first’ languages) about how much they should charge. The first says, ‘it should be at least $650,’ the second says, ‘Tell him it will be $700 at least,’ ‘Maybe, $750, I can try that.’ My husband says, in Hebrew (but with a smile), ‘I’ll give you $500.’ They just froze, and everyone laughed, and we went into a more open negotiation. We paid $600 and I think everyone was happy.” Dorothy Crist
17. They Threatened To Kick Us If We Left A Gap In The Line Again

Way to get the line to move “faster…”

“When my family was in Disneyland many years ago, and I was around 11, my mom almost got into a fight in line for the Peter Pan ride.

I had stopped to show my little sister the Snow White witch peeking out of the window of a castle.

A woman loudly said in Spanish that she was going to kick my sister and I if we made another gap in the line for stopping to look around. She didn’t know my mom was Mexican, so she didn’t expect her to say, ‘Why are you in such a hurry, do you have your beans cooking at home?’ The other woman answered, surprised but quick
, ‘Yes, to feed to you, señora.’ Now, my mom had a razor-sharp tongue that could be extremely cruel but accurate.
She quipped, ‘I won’t eat your ****. Feed it to your albondigas con patas!’ The other lady was also with her family which included two girls that were top-heavy with skinny legs.

My mom basically told her to feed her (translated) meatballs with animal legs the beans because she wouldn’t want something so gross. They all gasped and went from red to white to blue and didn’t make a peep for the rest of the wait or ride. My mom was ******* brutal but protective as h*ll.” Dingerys
16. They Called Us Lazy Americans For “Not Wanting To Carry Our Own Suitcases” 

“I am a way-too-light-skinned Latina, as is my mom.
I speak both English and Spanish. When I was 12, my mom and I were going to Mexico to visit family, and the plane had been delayed twice, so we were in the airport sitting / standing / walking around with our carry-ons and both had small suitcases.

Needless to say that when our plane was finally ready and we were boarding, our arms were sore and we were tired.

Being tired, my mom put her suitcase on the ground and started using her leg to push it forward when the line would move. We weren’t blocking anyone or bothering anyone, but an older Hispanic man thought he should tell the woman beside him to ‘Look at those lazy American girls, can’t even carry their own suitcases.
What are they expecting, for someone to help them with that?’

I looked at my mom, and she shook her head in a mom way of saying ‘don’t,’ but I honestly didn’t want to hold my tongue. So, in Spanish, I asked him if he would like to help us with our suitcases. His eyes opened really wide and turned away clearly embarrassed, and honestly, it gave me the strength to keep on carrying those d*mn suitcases.” KnotJenn
15. She Was Shocked That I Was Able To Communicate With Her To Return A Missing Hat 

“I’m a former restaurant server.

I speak Spanish and French (and English).
I had a table once of a college-aged girl with her French-speaking parents who clearly didn’t speak any English. She was translating for them and relaying everything to me in English. This kind of thing happens a lot, and I usually opt not to rock the boat unless someone is struggling and needs help. Sometimes people want to translate, there might be other reasons someone doesn’t want to talk directly to a server, etc.
Anyway, they finish up and leave. After the table is bussed, I notice a hat on the bench. By this point, they’re probably long gone, so I grab it and throw it in the lost and found.
It’s a busy night, so I don’t notice the parents coming back in a little later without their translating daughter and coming back to the front from taking an order from a large table, I see the couple miming unsuccessfully to two of my coworkers (most of whom speak Spanish and English but not French).

I run up and switch to French: ‘Are you looking for a hat? I found one at your table, one sec…’ and pick it up from the lost and found to hand it to them. They both freeze and stare at me. The woman says: ‘You speak French?!’ ‘Well, not that often these days, but yes, I speak a little.’ ‘You speak it really well! Thanks so much!’ And they left.
I turned back to my coworker to tell her something about table 6, and she just looks at me: ‘Wait… What were you just speaking?’ ‘…French.’ She looks at one of our other coworkers who just say ‘Woooow.’ At that time, I was feeling really self-conscious about my Spanish being around all these native speakers when I’ve lived in the U.S.

my whole life, so I guess I earned some points. Everyone was always nice about it, though.” probablenormalcy
14. She Complained About Young Americans And Their “Obsession With Taking Pictures”

“I posted this somewhere else but… I’m from the states and was studying abroad for winter session at the Dominican Republic.
We visited a famous cave with beautiful lakes called “Los Tres Ojos.” And we were in a group of 6 of clearly young and clearly American college students. And most of us were taking picture after picture by the lakes and with each other. And this Dominican group walked past us and one of the women said in Spanish, ‘Como los jóvenes de aya aman los photos.’ Which, being Mexican, I knew meant, ‘Oh, how young Americans love taking photos.’
Eventually, we saw them at one of the other lakes, and they were taking pictures.

Now I could have played this very rude as her comment was, but it would probably be best if I played it more comedic, so the image of ‘rude, photo-loving Americans’ diminishes a little.
So, I went up to them and asked in Spanish, ‘Do you want me to take a picture of you guys?’ They all happily said yes except the woman who made the comment and completely avoided eye contact with me. And after they all thanked me, except the woman, and then I looked right at her and said in Spanish (jokingly), ‘You’re gonna love these pictures almost as much as us Americans love ours.’ And then all her friends were laughing, and she clearly felt embarrassed.” ExcelBravo
13. Two Men Made Plans To Cheat My Dealer In Front Of Me

“When I was in my mid-20s, I used to work in the Diamond District in NYC.

There were many Orthodox Jewish men there at the time (probably still, today). I didn’t live in a traditional Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and, while I dressed Jewish, it wasn’t the usual code – like wearing black. I looked young for my age and no one suspected that I was fluent in Yiddish, the cultural language.

I went to a dealer, for my boss, to drop something off. As I waited, two religious men were in the reception area as well. They were talking in Yiddish about how they were going to make a lot of money cheating the dealer by selling him bad diamonds.
One looked my way and asked his partner what he thought of me. He said in Yiddish, ‘Looks like a shiksa (non-Jewish girl) thinking she can pass herself off as a Jew.’
I’ve been a long-time card player so I kept my poker face on.

The men decided they would sell low-quality diamonds to the dealer and mentioned the color and cut.

I had all the information I needed. The dealer came out and I gave him the package from my boss. I left and he invited the two guys in. I rushed to the nearest pay phone and called my boss. Come down here with your best H color rounds, I said.
Your dealer friend is about to get ripped off by two crooks. How do you know? I heard them talking in Yiddish -they thought I was a shiksa.

My boss raced down with his goods. He not only saved the dealer from being ripped off, he made a nice profit for himself. As the men were arguing and screaming, the two who were trying to pull off the scam came out of the dealer’s office, shaking and sweating.

There I was in the reception area. They looked at me. I looked at the wall and said ‘Zeit gezunt, schlemeil und schmazal. (Be well fool and luckless.)”
They looked at each other then one asked in Yiddish, ‘You speak the language?’ I didn’t look at them but answered back in Yiddish, ‘It’s against Jewish law for Jewish men to speak to a Jewish woman.’ I made it very clear that I not only spoke the language, I knew Jewish law.
I was clearly no shiksa. They ran out. I knew the word would get around about me (and it did). But my boss had a great day. (He gave me a $100 bonus.) And it put everyone on the alert to be careful what they said – you never knew who knew the language.” Helena Humbridge
12. He Introduced Me As His Girlfriend To Show Off To His Friends – We Weren’t Dating

In his defense, maybe he truly did believe they were dating!

“I lived in Japan when I was little and retook Japanese in college, so I didn’t sound like a child when I spoke.

To solidify my new language skills, I went to my ‘hometown’ for about 6 weeks a summer in college. It was a small town, so most people remembered me or my family, but some people I stayed with (6 weeks, 11 families that at least wanted me to spend a night in their home) were new to the area since we left 15 years or so earlier.

One of these families had a high school-aged son who wanted to borrow me for his high school’s International Festival. No problem. I’d go and let other high schoolers practice their English with me and do carnival games and stuff.
However, the guy apparently did not get the message that I spoke Japanese and proceeded to introduce me to all his friends as his girlfriend. I let him have his moment for the night (without leading him on), but on the train ride back to his home, he was talking to his friend in Japanese, and I joined in on the conversation.

Also in Japanese.

The embarrassment on his face was worth knowing all his friends thought I was his girlfriend.” squiggledot
11. They Made A Game Plan To Get Free Dental Work

“So, I was working at a dental clinic in Germany, and these two guys walked in and started speaking in Arabic, not knowing that both I and my supervisor can understand it.
The first guy (actual patient) was nervously telling his friend that this would never work, and his friend was telling him to shut up and play along, so the supervisor, and I tried to figure out what kinda game they were trying to play.

Apparently, they were trying to lie about the patient’s age to get his dental treatment done for free. (I don’t know how that worked, I was just an intern.)

Unlucky for him, his teeth told the truth.

(You can’t fake being 16 when your wisdom teeth are ALL THE WAY out.)

So, my supervisor and I shut up about it.
I was in actual pain trying to hold back from laughing as the friend tried convincing the patient that we’re idiots who don’t speak Arabic and can’t understand their trick.

That is until I can’t anymore and decide to discuss the case with my supervisor. Right there in front of them. In Arabic.

I have never seen someone turn so many different colors so fast.” AgentBunBun
10. They Called Me A Brat For Being “Too Young” To Have A Cell Phone

“I learned Spanish in middle school and I’m fluent in it now. When I was younger, my mom worked at a hotel, so often I would be in the lobby playing, or trailing her around, or sometimes even doing basic hosting things when I was about twelve.

One day, this Hispanic couple came in, and they asked to speak to the manager about some of their child’s allergies. My mother was the manager, and she came out to talk to them.

They spoke for a while (the couple in broken English) and my mom went back to bring the chef out for some of the food issues. While she was gone, I sat on a couch in the lobby and played on my phone. I was thirteen. I looked about nine though because I’m a late bloomer.
So, the woman says in Spanish to her husband, ‘Why would they get her a phone? She can’t be older than ten.’

I heard that but said nothing.
I wasn’t completely fluent, so when the man spoke, I couldn’t understand some of the words. He said: ‘******* these days.

Buying ***** children things they **** need.’

I could understand enough that the words I couldn’t understand were most likely “Parents” “their” and “don’t”. I rolled my eyes and looked up at them, smiling, feigning innocence.
The woman smiled back at me and hissed, ‘Stupid brat. She ******, she’s such an angel.’

My smile faded, and the husband said in English, ‘You look very nice today.’

I responded in Spanish with one of the first statements I had learned, ‘Thank you. If you didn’t know, I’m bilingual.’

They taught us that first so that if anybody asked if we spoke more than one language, we could tell them that.
The woman looked horrified and the man looked angry at his wife. I just smiled.

Needless to say, they didn’t look happy for the rest of the time they stayed there.” Luna Rose Williamson
9. They Made Fun Of Me Because Of Where I’m From

“Once in a café in Paris, I was quietly reading a book and drinking an espresso on a chilly November morning before my flight home.

A group of locals came in, saw me and my book, sneered, and went off to talk about how awful American tourists were, how they speak more loudly in English when the French don’t understand, and how ridiculous our leader was.
As I walked up to pay my check, I stood waiting uncomfortably close to the Parisian men who had been mocking me and my country. As the waiter arrived and asked me how my meal was, I remember saying, ‘On n’a pas les mêmes poules au Canada, parce que les vôtres produisent des merveilles. Merci de ce repas délicieux.’

I smiled politely at the Parisians who realized with looks of shock and awe at what had just happened.

The French: We do not have the same chickens in Canada because yours produce wonders.

Thank you for a wonderful meal.

I still love Paris. C’est la vie.” Kyle Smith-Laird
8. They Planned On Murdering And Robbing Me

The moment when knowing a small amount of Spanish literally saves your life…

“So, I wouldn’t consider myself fluent in Spanish, but I do speak and understand enough to know when people are talking about me and the general topic.
Had a f*cked up story happen a few weeks ago.

So, I was servicing an ATM in a rather sketchy neighborhood. While loading the machine a school down the street must have just let out and a whole group of teenagers came in, all speaking Spanish talking about teenager things. Well a few of them noticed the $5k in fives I had in my hand and started loudly talking to his friend how that was the most money he’s ever seen.

Now I get this reaction a lot, so I was going to ignore the kid, but right after that, his friend started talking about going home to get his dad’s pistol to put 2 in the back of my head, steal the money, then use it to buy a bunch of weed and video games.
Of course, these kids don’t think I understand them at all (white guy in a Hispanic neighborhood, most don’t think I understand their language in my experience). So, I calmly lock everything up while they continue making plans to kill me and rob me, finish with the machine, then turn to them with my hand resting on my gun and tell them in Spanish to go home and don’t talk about murdering and robbing a person right in front of said person.

It’s quite rude and could possibly get them killed in the process. They* nearly *** themselves, and I walked out of the store laughing about it.” ryman719
7. The Japanese Nail Artists Made Fun Of How Her Feet Looked

“My stepmother grew up in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese.
She looks Italian and white. She has an olive skin tone, and since she is only a quarter Japanese, she doesn’t look like she is from any east Asian speaking country.

One day, she and some friends went to get their nails (both hands and feet) done at a salon for some girl time.

The ladies who were doing the work were speaking fluent Japanese and were mostly gossiping about men and other things until they got to the feet part of said procedure.

My stepmother’s friend is a little overweight, and she doesn’t have a runway model’s pair of feet.

Well, the ladies who work at the salon just started to make fun of her in Japanese.
Laughing and giggling; enjoying themselves in someone else’s misfortune and looks.

My stepmother said she let this go on for too long.

It was about five minutes of them talking crap before my stepmother replied in Japanese.

Her comment to them: ‘I didn’t realize that we needed to look like princesses to get service here.’

The ladies stopped and looked at my stepmother with extreme guilt. They apologized in English and were silent the remainder of the time my stepmother and her friend were there.” crazyfeet
6. They Made Fun Of The Color Of My Skin

“When I was in Spain (as a Kenyan, in my late teen years, very recently) I was at a local Spanish restaurant, seemingly a fast-food chain.

I looked like a pretty typical tourist, shades and a bunch of touristy stuff like a hat with a cross between the Spanish and the Kenyan flag on it and these tacky huge sunglasses. I basically screamed that I was a tourist.

As I was standing in line, a couple of Spanish guys came in, maybe in their 30s, and gave me a warm smile before queuing behind me. Promptly, I hear one of them say:

‘God, black people make me sick.’
‘I know! Why the heck are they in our country? ****** animals.’

This went on for a few minutes until I ended up managing to order my food.
What they didn’t know though was that I had mandatory Spanish classes as a kid (had to choose between French, Mandarin, and Spanish, and I chose Spanish) and loved the language and ended up studying it all through high school and plan to continue in college.

I’m almost entirely fluent in the language.

Rather than confronting them upon getting my food, I simply said, in perfect Spanish, ‘Come on now, we’re not all bad, you know.’ I smiled and walked off.

They were mortified, the looks on their faces were absolutely priceless. I wasn’t at all offended, and it was actually an experience I was glad to have.” DwightKSchrute007
5. A Mom Told Her Daughters Not To Sit Next To Me On The Plane

“I’m Brazilian and was flying to Rio from Atlanta.
There were these two very attractive girls with their mother speaking English very fluently and one of them had their seat right next to mine.

We exchanged some courtesy in English as I just assumed they were American and so did they. They were Brazilian-Americans, and so they did not have an accent, and I started speaking English from a young age, so as long as I don’t talk too much, I can go unnoticed.

So, they start putting their carry-on luggage in the bin overhead, and the mother says to her daughters, in Portuguese:

‘Coitado, tá achando que vou deixar uma de vocês sentar do lado dele.’

Which means, ‘Poor thing, he thinks I’ll let one of you sit next to him.’

So, I just turn to her and say, in Portuguese, ‘Don’t worry, ma’am, I’m just being polite.
I do have a girlfriend, and it’ll be a pleasure to share this flight with you.’

She just went, ‘Oh.’ And then she sat there in silence for the whole flight.” mhdesimon
4. My Masseuse Called Me Ugly

“For context, I’m Vietnamese, born in Canada. I don’t apparently look Vietnamese, so people in the homeland always assume I am of another Asian descent.

Anyway, I was vacationing in Vietnam with my family, and it coincided with my friends’ trip to Vietnam.

My parents suggested I bring them to a foot massage parlor for a nice and relaxing time, so I did. My two friends were also born in Canada.
One of them is Chinese and the other is Korean. We speak in English to each other. We definitely look like a group of tourists. Consequently, we were served in English.
During our massages, the masseuses were having a conversation amongst themselves in Vietnamese, a language in which I am fluent but not fluid. They were trying to figure out our nationalities when one of them said she thought I looked Japanese. Her coworker then said she thought I was ugly. I was P*SSED but I kept my trap shut and just kept my cool.

When the massage was over, the masseuse who called me ugly ended up being the one who rang us up at the cash.

She spoke to me in English, asked how the experience was, what the total was, yadda yadda. I stared her straight in the eyes and proceeded to tell her, in Vietnamese, that it was great and that my friends and I very much enjoyed the experience. She was visibly flustered and offered us some fruit on our way out. I just smiled, dropped a fat tip on the counter, and left.” kwongbu
3. A Lady Talked Smack About Our Ethnicity At The Grocery Store

“My family is composed of white people and white-passing mixed race (black/white) people and my Hispanic stepfather. We grew up speaking Spanish in our home and were heavily influenced by the culture.
Basically, most of us look like mayo/Wonder bread sandwiches but in actuality, we have a lot of flavors.

So, my mom and I were in the grocery store recently, and we were just chatting about what we were buying and what not in Spanish.

This lady and her kids were in line in front of us and she kept making nasty faces at us and we had no idea why. Then her husband showed up with an arm full of whatever they forgot to get, and she starts talking. Very. Loudly.
‘I hate these God d*mn Mexicans. They come into our country, steal our jobs, and refuse to learn English.’ At this point, my mom and I were both looking at her and she said, ‘Yeah! I’m talking about you! No espeaka de English? Learn!’

The husband just looked MORTIFIED.
Like this man wanted the ground to swallow him whole, and he was gonna take the kids with him.

As they were leaving the clerk started ringing up our stuff and asked, ‘How are you today?’ I smiled and said as loudly as I could, ‘Well and blessed by the Lord to be speaking any language I want in a free country.’

She didn’t look humbled as I would have liked, but she looked a little humiliated, so I’ll settle for that.” charlottedhouse
2. They Would Talk Trash About Me In Korean…Until I Gave A Speech In Their Language

“I lived in South Korea for three years, but I never learned too much of the language.
A friend of mine is 100% Korean but is very tall and was educated in America and New Zealand, so she has an American accent. Her co-teachers at her school all assumed she couldn’t speak Korean so they would talk crap about her constantly while she would listen on and feel terrible.

She said nothing for a whole year until she had to speak at the end of year ceremony.

The school offered her someone to translate but she refused and in front of 800 or so students and faculty members she delivered her address in perfect Korean. She subtly called out the coworkers that had spent an entire year calling her a foreign pig.
Apparently, one started crying from the shame of it. I wish I had gotten to see that.” mattypatty88
1. She Asked Her Friend If I Was A Boy Or A Girl

“I am Greek but study in Belgium. Greeks are notorious for talking about people loudly when abroad. The language is rare enough that most people including me usually feel comfortable doing that. The only problem with that logic is, there are so many of us around the world, it’s generally not a good idea.

So, I get on the tram one day and there’s this woman (30s) sitting across from me who says to her friend very loudly and in Greek: ‘What is that supposed to be, a boy or a girl?’ (Context for non-Greeks: we have a third, neutral gender that we use for objects, animals, or when talking about someone in a very rude and derogatory way.
That is what she used, and in a very mocking tone as well). So, I very calmly validated my ticket, and as I was walking away, I reply, also in Greek. ‘It’s a girl. And it speaks Greek as well.’
Her face was hilarious. She just made a mortified ‘Ah’ sound and didn’t utter another word until she got off a few stops later. I love this story, but it kind of terrifies me as well.

I avoid talking about other people, but I do tend to have very personal conversations with my Greek friends in public places, confident that nobody understands, even after being proof myself that it’s not very safe.” Kakinapotiti
After reading these stories, it’s clear that learning a new language can help you avoid a lot of messy situations including getting ripped off at the jeweler’s, witnessing a bank robbery, or getting screwed over by your date.
However, it’s important that we don’t take our multilingualism for granted and assume that people around us don’t know our second language. If you thought these stories were juicy, make sure to share them with your multilingual pals!