PreTeena by Allison Barrows for November 04, 2022

iz dos azoy?

My father spoke only English. When he & my mother were getting married, they were married in her church, which was predominantly Canadian-French. They asked that the ceremony be in English; the priest forgot! My dad was shocked when the priest started talking, and it was in French. At one point my mother had to nudge him & say, “Say ‘oui’.”

My parents were fluent in Yiddish. They never wanted us kids to learn so they could talk about us (and other stuff) in front of us clueless children.

My mom and dad, may they rest in peace, could speak fluent Polish. They spoke English as Americans; no accent, but they’d speak Polish when they didn’t want us kids to understand what they were saying. My mom used to talk on the phone in Polish with older relatives who weren’t so fluent in English.

So thankful for diversity. It’s not just about new words added to our vocabulary. It’s about all those new foods…yummy!!!

My parents came from Germany, spent a summer over there, when I got back they couldn’t speak German at the dinner table anymore! Learned more in 3 months than I did taking German for 4 years!

https://notalwaysright.com/it-turns-out-that-i-do-speak-asian/272198/

My Grandmother (from Lithuania) taught me a 2 Lithuanian course word so we do not get in trouble in school. It took a long time to see how cool she really was. I mess her.