Comments on: Conversations in two languages http://wolfangel.calltherain.net/archives/2004/11/29/conversations-in-two-languages/ this is a wolf angel & it eats the people it's supposed to help. A wolf angel is not a good angel to have looking out for you. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:48:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 By: ianqui http://wolfangel.calltherain.net/archives/2004/11/29/conversations-in-two-languages/#comment-1730 ianqui Mon, 29 Nov 2004 23:22:09 +0000 http://wolfangel.calltherain.net/archives/2004/11/29/conversations-in-two-languages/#comment-1730 There's this anecdote that a friend told me that I just love. I used to live in Barcelona, so negotiating language is always an issue. This (Spanish) friend of mine has an American mother, a Catalan father, and for some reason, speaks to his sister in Spanish. So as he describes it, their dinnertime conversations go something like this. If the father or kids address a comment to the table, I think it's usually in Spanish. If my friend addresses someone directly, it's English to the mother, Catalan to the father, and Spanish to his sister. The mother, however, only contributes in English, but the father speaks English to the mother and Catalan to both of the kids. When I'd have conversations with people, they'd usually address me in Spanish, assuming I didn't speak Catalan. And even after many people learned that I do speak Catalan, they'd continue on in Spanish during subsequent encounters, because it's kind of inconceivable that a foreigner would speak Catalan! There’s this anecdote that a friend told me that I just love. I used to live in Barcelona, so negotiating language is always an issue. This (Spanish) friend of mine has an American mother, a Catalan father, and for some reason, speaks to his sister in Spanish. So as he describes it, their dinnertime conversations go something like this. If the father or kids address a comment to the table, I think it’s usually in Spanish. If my friend addresses someone directly, it’s English to the mother, Catalan to the father, and Spanish to his sister. The mother, however, only contributes in English, but the father speaks English to the mother and Catalan to both of the kids.

When I’d have conversations with people, they’d usually address me in Spanish, assuming I didn’t speak Catalan. And even after many people learned that I do speak Catalan, they’d continue on in Spanish during subsequent encounters, because it’s kind of inconceivable that a foreigner would speak Catalan!

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