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Old 11-28-2018, 09:44 PM
 
12,340 posts, read 26,022,073 times
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Inspired by a thread on the non-romantic relationship board.

In NYC, has anyone ever assumed you speak a language that you don't? Does it bother you? How do you respond? I've been mistaken for Polish a few times in Greenpoint and my Arab friend has been spoken to in Spanish in Jackson Heights. Neither of us are bothered by it. More amusing than anything else

If they are trying to have a conversation with us, we just answer in English. In Greenpoint I assumed I was being asked directions or other information. My Arab friend sometimes is greeted in Spanish, so there's no need to inform them he doesn't speak Spanish. He knows enough to be able to reply "Hola."
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Old 11-28-2018, 09:52 PM
 
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Yes quite often people speak spanish to me. I only know the basics so I'm of no help. Luckily I can say "No hablo español."
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Old 11-29-2018, 03:52 AM
 
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Since foreigners these days don't respect our country and don't assimilate, especially Asians, yes, quite often I will be spoken to in their language but they are probably cursing me out because I told them to speak the Queens English in the first place.

My go to language is always GERMAN. It scares them as soon as I get loud (even though I barely speak it).
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Old 11-29-2018, 06:39 AM
 
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I have had people speak in Russian to me which I reply to English that I don't speak/understand Russian.
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Old 11-29-2018, 07:00 AM
 
Location: Central New Jersey
2,516 posts, read 1,678,760 times
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Unless your a complete homebody that is fearful of the public, this happens all the time in every city. Just go out there and explore and you'll see it's no biggie
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Old 11-29-2018, 08:49 AM
 
192 posts, read 185,976 times
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I always get asked if I am of native descent, and have been greeted by some native americans in a different language. I love it. When I get convinced that the people of ancestry.com won't use my DNA to frame for a federal crime I will take the heritage test
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:23 AM
 
Location: New Jersey!!!!
18,848 posts, read 13,733,945 times
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When I worked in Brooklyn I got this a lot. My Middle Eastern side apparently has me resembling Hispanics and all sorts of Arabic/Middle-EAstern nationalities, along with some of the far-Eastern Europeans as well.

So I would get Spanish all the time, Arabic and all of their assorted languages, Yiddish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. Sometimes people would get mad when I told them I didn't speak their language, especially Mexicans who figured I was of Puerto Rican or Spanish heritage trying to act better than them.
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:33 AM
 
7,759 posts, read 3,830,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NeedThatApt View Post
When I get convinced that the people of ancestry.com won't use my DNA to frame for a federal crime I will take the heritage test
Yeah I'm not getting it for that same reason. Let's say I visit another city ONCE. They have 55 people's DNA at the crime scene and bump it up against ancestry.com to track down your identity. They question you over some crime that happened 2 weeks after you left the area. The potential legal complications are endless. You basically can't travel because they will try to subpoena you to back to every place you've been. Crime is everywhere and there's a good chance you stayed at a hotel the night before someone was murdered there the next day at some point in your life. Hell to the no.
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:35 AM
 
7,759 posts, read 3,830,738 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Airborneguy View Post
When I worked in Brooklyn I got this a lot. My Middle Eastern side apparently has me resembling Hispanics and all sorts of Arabic/Middle-EAstern nationalities, along with some of the far-Eastern Europeans as well.

So I would get Spanish all the time, Arabic and all of their assorted languages, Yiddish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. Sometimes people would get mad when I told them I didn't speak their language, especially Mexicans who figured I was of Puerto Rican or Spanish heritage trying to act better than them.
What I don't understand is the concept of walking up to random people in a foreign country assuming anything. This is America. They do know their own nationality has children born here. And not all of those kids speak the native language. Common sense is lacking for a lot of travelers seemingly. Is it really that unfathomable that there is someone that looks like you in NYC but does not speak your language? I mean it's not 1765 where everyone is "fresh off the boat". I'm sure they have taken a history lesson about Ellis Island.
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Old 11-29-2018, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Beautiful Pelham Parkway,The Bronx
9,239 posts, read 23,975,930 times
Reputation: 7748
People in my neighborhood babble at me in Albanian all the time and I have no clue what they are saying.
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