Language and Holidays: Back home

Back home

By Anonymous - 30/12/2012 19:21 - Germany - Neunkirchen

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

I agree, your life sucks 28 045

You deserved it 5 367

Thanksgiving: Turkeys and Skids
Family meals that turn absurd, because Thanksgiving is also about laughing at little disasters. More…

Previous FML Next FML

Same thing different taste

By lostforwords - 06/08/2011 19:10 - Ireland

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

I agree, your life sucks 28 083

You deserved it 6 303

No comprendo

By Anonymous - 26/02/2023 16:00

Today, I got lost in a foreign city while on vacation and couldn't communicate with anyone, because I didn't speak the language and no one seemed to be able, or even wanted, to speak to me in mine. FML

I agree, your life sucks 333

You deserved it 992

By traveling - 09/07/2013 11:18

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

I agree, your life sucks 47 979

You deserved it 6 415

By Anonymous - 05/05/2012 21:16 - New Zealand - Auckland

Today, my husband and I went on vacation. We got lost and had to ask the locals for directions to our hotel. Neither of us could understand their accents, and we ended up wandering around blindly for hours until we made it back on our own. FML

I agree, your life sucks 11 820

You deserved it 20 820

By Jan - 27/02/2013 04:50 - United States - Ann Arbor

Today, a German guy came into the place where I work. Eager to use the German that I'd learned from my immigrant mother and her family, I started a conversation. Things were going well until the term I grew up thinking meant "Africa" turned out to be racist, translating as "Ape Land." FML

I agree, your life sucks 33 288

You deserved it 4 324

Scheiße!

By Xerfox - 03/07/2016 18:05 - Germany - Löwenstein

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

I agree, your life sucks 13 504

You deserved it 1 986

By nolinguist - 22/11/2009 17:39 - Austria

Today, I arrived in Austria. Within about an hour, I realized that I couldn't understand any "German". Turns out they have a totally different dialect here to anything I was taught in school. I'm here till May. FML

I agree, your life sucks 28 316

You deserved it 18 792

By Anonymous - 25/11/2009 06:06 - United States

Today, while on a vacation, I tried to step out of myself and flirt with this boy who I thought was cute. He was going along with it and nodding so I thought it was working. Then he opened his mouth and I realized he didn't speak English. FML

I agree, your life sucks 29 213

You deserved it 6 663

By nullroute - 16/02/2016 11:34 - Switzerland

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

I agree, your life sucks 20 147

You deserved it 2 813

Better out than in

By Rachael - 03/07/2021 06:01 - United Kingdom

Today, I had my German oral exam. It was going well, until halfway through I did the biggest burp I could have ever imagined. I don't even know how to say sorry in German. FML

I agree, your life sucks 674

You deserved it 216

pheebs314 17

Monday 31 December 2012 3:21

I'm friends with a girl who was an exchange student from Germany in high school and after a few months of being surrounded by English all the time, she even had a hard time talking to her parents on the phone.

DocBastard 38

Monday 31 December 2012 3:23

I often fumble over my words when I've been studying broads.

Comments

jd9697 6

Monday 31 December 2012 19:14

Didn't u have ur phone or GPS?

simoncat 11

Monday 31 December 2012 21:30

Mi llamo dogface to the banana patch?

gman90210 18

Tuesday 1 January 2013 5:50

Returned? Then you should have some of the language skills I only spent three weeks there the first time and picked it up about The third day. I know some people pick things up quicker than others not saying your dumb or anything like that. But it is beautiful place with some damn good food and beer

captain__jj 5

Thursday 10 January 2013 5:53

OP is German; she was returning to her OWN country for a break. So I assume she knows the language, but after studying abroad she's probably just so used to speaking the language in the country she studies in that she blanked.

schalk 12

Wednesday 2 January 2013 13:08

South Africans would never say that - we have 11 official languages (google it- no bullshit)

gunnercrazy 1

Thursday 3 January 2013 23:59

I live in the Netherlands just across the border of Germany. Every day thousands of Germans cross the border to go and shop. Very rarely do any of them speak Dutch. Yet most Dutch speak decent German. So I really get annoyed when they expect foreigners to speak German.

dspolleke 19

Wednesday 15 May 2013 13:19

Ik worked at an international helpdesk, Helping German clients, speaking to my colleagues in in English, trying to speak French to Walons, and returning home to speak Dutch.. I would pick up the phone and answer in any of those languages..

Hazamachi 12

Saturday 23 November 2013 22:45

All of you guys saying how rude it was for them to not learn it or they should be better at it if they're returning, you read it wrong. The OP is German and they're studying abroad, naturally you'd get a bit confused with the languages after using the other for so long.