The changes that have happened to me so far:
1. you don’t have preferences anymore, especially when it comes to food. Nothing tastes familiar, thats for sure.
(Ex. Me gustan las papas y los pepinillos)
2. you spend a lot of time smiling, nodding, and pretending you understand what’s going on
(Ex. En las juntas del Club Rotario todos los lunes)
3. you sometimes use the excuse “Sorry, I don’t understand” to avoid answering a question….even if you do.
(Ex. Con ciertos maestros…)
4. you want to hug the people who attempt to speak your native language to you.
(Ex. Katya, y hasta ninios chiquitos… so cute!)
5. you’ll read anything in your native language just to have something to read…even packaging labels.
(Ex. La pasta dental)
6. you know the answer to a question in a class but don’t raise your hand because you don’t want people to expect to much from you.
(Ex. Fisica, Alegebra, Geografia, etc)
7. you’re better than your teacher in your foreign language class.
(Ex. “My minds”, “As usually”, “Intresting”, “I love your”, etc.)
8. you are a master of pantomime and circumlocution and still can’t have a conversation.
(Ex. Sign language ni se diga, pero si he tenido conversaciones ))))
9. you’ve ever mispronounced something in your native language (for example, names of products, TV shows, companies) because you know the others will understand it better if you say it with an accent.
(Ex. Decir “Amvay” en lugar de “Amway”, “Heor” en lugar de “Her”, etc.)
10. you’ve tried so many different foods due entirely to the fact that you cannot understand the person asking you what you want so you just nod your head, say “yes”, and hope to god it tastes half-decent.
(Ex. Ya no me importa que comida sirvan, hasta higado esta bien…)
11. you’ve gotten annoyed with said people that automatically answer you in English when you try to speak to them in their language.
(Ex. Freakin gente en la escuela que siempre dicen “Hello!”)
12. you watch television shows and movies that you know in your native language, just to understand it for once.
(Ex. The Time Machine)
13. you begin to enjoy foods that you had previously despised at home.
(Ex. Papas, Pepinillos…)
14. you’ve gotten upset because someone assumed you wanted to do something…and then were told you were asked if you wanted too, and you said yes!
(Ex. Effin pcards)
15. you’ve said something like ‘oh yes’ or ‘not thanks’ only to have everyone laugh because your answer made no sense compared to the question.
(Ex. “Te gusta nuestra clase?” [las personas]. “No” [Yo pensando que era la clase de Geometria].)
16. you actually got a high five when you understood what someone said to you
(Ex. Cada que hablo con Nastya, Sergei, Zhenya, Dennis, etc.)
17. you’re never sure if someone’s being your friend, flirting, seducing you, or sexually harassing you
(Ex. Always!!!!!!)
18. you get a little scared before starting a sentence with big words in it in another language.
(Ex. Maio? Maia? Mai?)
19. you do something wrong and people look at you weird, your excuse is “That’s how we do it in my country” even if it isn’t.
(Ex. Accidentalmente destruyendo el pan al ponerle mermelada)
20. you carry a dictionary and a camera in your bag.
(Ex. Nunca faltan)
21. you get so used to broken English you finish people’s sentences even though no one else can understand them.
(Ex. Always! Con los maestros, Katya, Sergei, Zhenya, Vika, Acya…)
22. you get into arguments with the foreign language teacher (English) over how to pronounce something.
(Ex. “My minds”)
23. you try to speak in the native language and everyone immediately knows “You’re not from around here”.
(Ex. “Are you American?” “Yes, how do you know?” ”Your accent & your teeth”)
24. you know every cuss word in your host language, but still cant conjugate into past or future tense
(Ex. Blyat! Ya lo estoy aprendiendo en las clases, I swear!)
25. peoples stares don’t bother you anymore.
(Ex. En los camiones)
26. a conversation is going fine, before it suddenly get stuck on some word or phrase which makes you completely forget what you were talking about.
(Ex. “Ella tiene 4 anios…”)
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