Language (English) in our own Homes.

Balls in their Court

He who laughs last, comes to mind.
Sometimes a mans gotta do, what is wrong. but then he has a beer and all seems fine so off I go

JP

 

Get 4 or 5 together no one is lissening they all are talking at the same time. i have never see them breath in sometimes i wonder if they have some secret air intake we dont know about

 

Completely understand where yous are all coming from, I felt the same way for a while, sometimes still do.....But we have to remember that we have come to their country, so I think the onus is really on us.......I have heard it plenty of times here (aus) and have said it plenty of times myself, if you want to live in aus you should learn the language before you come here..... so I can understand their point of view....

 

H

Jack,Jack,its your house..House rule..."when the master is at home, English will be spoken' !..End of discussion...

 

Jack, good post!

 

Wow, I disagree so much with most of the posts. My glasses are neither rose colored or do I think I should bend entirely to the local way of thinking. The "it's my house so it is my rules" does not work, maybe we paid for it but we do not own it; honest facts and if we did not trust our loved ones then we would have never put the time, effort and cost into it. Does it mean we should be given a bit of respect for that, yes and in my situation with Cherry's family and friends I think it is pretty good.

I would never, ever tell visitors, in their own country they need to speak only English around me. That would make me to be an *sshole, which I normally am not and would drive family and friends away. Our significant others do need to speak to their families and friends, that is what it is. Not everyone that comes by my house can speak English well and many are shy to speak; how can I make a rule that could never be enforced without alienating them?

If the wife, family or friends have something to say that would include me then Cherry will translate or if a sister is around (they all speak decent English) then I will be let known. If not I assume it is not my business and will drink a beer and handle the BBQ grill.

Perfect example is today, we wanted to check on the sugar cane harvest (should be finished up tomorrow) and ended up spending a number of hours at the in laws house; mostly girl talk and the TV get's 2 channels...other than drinking some Beer na Beer, my only true interactions were with the nieces and nephews. We took our son, after summer school so he keeps me up to date on what games the kids are playing as they have some truly unique games they come up with.

In my opinion, and this is my opinion, is that many of us expats get bored with not having another expat to talk with on a consistent basis. We all love our wives or partners, but the conversations may not be the same as what we would have with another person that has been around and with maybe similar experiences.

Shawn

 

I agree, not the least bit interested in listening to a bunch of insipid gossip and I long ago gave up having any degree of fluency. Not worth the effort and, anyway, I have a pair of Bose earphones that works wonders.
Let them prattle on but what really gets under my skin is what happened at a Globe office a couple years ago. Went in with the wife and asked some question to the young woman. She completely ignored me and proceeded to address my wife while she tried to translate. I put a dead stop to it and politely explained to the woman that I was the acct holder and I was paying the bills so I would appreciate if she would address me directly in English or get someone who could. She wasn't very happy about it but she did.