# Does this mildly irk anyone else? Language insecurity

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-mildly-irk-anyone-else-language-insecurity/537161>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 23, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-mildly-irk-anyone-else-language-insecurity/537161 "2010-04-23T23:35:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-mildly-irk-anyone-else-language-insecurity/537161/41 "2010-04-25T17:50:47Z")

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> [@HowieReynolds](#):
>
> Okay, some people are just annoying and show-offy, and a little thing like “but I do speak Spanish and German” can be eye-roll worthy coming from them. But from a normal person it would just be an interesting fact.

This is what I was trying to say, but this says it a lot better.

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**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-mildly-irk-anyone-else-language-insecurity/537161/42 "2010-04-26T16:59:06Z")

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> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> Also in this instance, Spanish is a close relative of French so there’s at least a possibility that he may be able to help answer her question even without knowing French.

I agree with this.

If someone asks me if I speak Chinese, I’m just going to say no. I can add nothing further to this query.

But, on the other hand, if someone asks me if I speak Russian, I might say, “no, but I do speak Bulgarian.” Russian and Bulgarian are similar enough that I can often pick out the gist, if not all the details, of a newspaper article written in Russian. It you need a translator, I can’t do it, but if you want to know what a single word means, there’s a pretty good chance I can. Depending on the language, I’d even give a shot at being a translator. (I can communicate pretty well with someone speaking Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.)

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