As we're getting to know more and more people here, a funny thing struck me today as I thought about inviting a few people over for dinner: In a trilingual culture and an even more multilingual expat crowd, I have to make sure that the guest list all has at least one language in common!
If everyone speaks French except one person who 'only' speaks English, Spanish, and German, that's not going to work. If everyone speaks English except the person who 'only' speaks French, Arabic, and Tamazight, that's not going to work. More likely, there will be a few people who all speak one language and a few who speak another, so everyone can find someone to talk to :)
This definitely comes up with just Cory and me too. If we have a guest over who speaks French and Arabic, but not much English, s/he has to have two separate conversations with us (if they want to go into any depth) because my Arabic is beginner and Cory's French is beginner.
We have tons of trilingual conversations in a given day. Often Cory's translating for me if the conversation gets over my head in Arabic, and vice versa in French.
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Oh, and we were videotaped sharing our thoughts on Valentine's Day this weekend! Cory gave his interview in Arabic, and I gave mine in French. Both of us are sputtering a bit because we didn't have a chance to think about what we were going to say before the camera started rolling, but it was tons of fun! Here's the link on the hespress website: Eid l'Hob.
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