The DU Lounge
In reply to the discussion: What forgeign language would you like to learn? Why? [View all]DFW
(54,465 posts)Last edited Mon Mar 25, 2024, 06:10 PM - Edit history (1)
("You're welcome" in Tagalog)
Here's a story you'll like:
About 25 years ago, I was having coffee with an American friend in a café in Brussels, when three college-age women from Sweden started practicing singing madrigals in perfect three part harmony. They were REALLY good, professional level. Between songs, they were conversing with each other in Swedish, which I happen to speak very well. When they stopped, I remarked to my friend, "I wonder what we have to do to get them to do an encore."
One of them turned to me and said, in English, "we don't do encores." I said, "oh, you only do encores if we ask in Swedish?" She said, "yes, that's right." I replied, "sjung oss någnting vackert, alltså," which means, "then sing us something pretty." That stopped all three of them in mid-sentence, since their jaws had dropped simultaneously to the floor. They interrogated me for the next twenty minutes how in the world it was that an American spoke fluent Swedish. We never got our encore, but the looks on their faces when they heard me answer them in Swedish was worth it.