I Confess...
I have a really bad habit.
I don't even mean to do it.
If I am having a conversation with someone who has an accent.
I start talking like them.
It doesn't matter how hard I try not to, sometimes trying hard makes it worse.
Like when I use to get my nails done.
And the girls would try and chat with me.
I would totally speak in broken English with a Vietnamese accent.
And, because I am stoooopid and love making a fool out of myself
I would speak loudly
You know, so they could understand me better.
I wanted to shed my skin and slither out of there,
EVERY week.
I Confess...
I 100% blame my Dad for this.
You should hear the man's Spanglish.
Even funnier is watching my mom DIE of embarrassment.
When he is standing there rolling his R's
LOUDLY
(again, so they can understand him better)
And of course using body language to get his Mexican point across.
Yep, my family is super special.
I Confess...
Sometimes I think I can speak Spanish.
I mean I DO know a few words
(mostly very unladylike naughty ones)
And I also know how to form a few sentences.
AND I swear if someone says something to me in Spanish
I TOTALLY understand what they are saying.
I think it is because my last name is Mexican.
It's like a superpower that I acquired when I married Big Daddy.
Cuz HIS dad is Mexican.
I Confess...
I still tear up laughing about the day Jordan realized she was 1/4 Mexican.
We were on our way home from Disneyland.
She was around 10 yrs old.
My mother in law was talking about her Grandpa Sam
(Big Daddy's dad who passed before J was born)
And how he taught Big Daddy some Spanish.
J could count to 10 in Spanish and could repeat any word in Spanish with excellent dialect.
My mother in law pointed out it was because her Grandpa Sam was Mexican.
So her dad must have learned it from his dad and passed it on to her.
She looked at Big Daddy and said, "Your dad was Mexican?"
He said, "Yes, I am half Mexican, so that makes you a quarter Mexican"
Her Eyes got BIG and she said, "How come no one ever told me?"
Hilarious.
I Confess...
I miss that kid.
The teenager that replaced her is not nearly as fun.
I hope "she" comes home someday.
That. Would. Be. Awesome.
So grab a button, add it to your confessions and link THAT post up. (by clicking the title of your post a new url will pop up in tour address bar. That is your permalink and the url you should add to mister linky) Please do not just link up your main url, thanks.
52 comments:
I'm giggling just thinking about you talking in broken English. You would start talking Southern if you hung around me.
I hope that J comes around....I have to say that I love teenagers, much to my surprise. The beginning is rough but then this amazing person emerges and it's really awesome to experience. My daughter is 15, she drives me crazy BUT at the same time she is showing signs of the person she is going to be and when she's not being hormonal, she is awesome to be around.
First, could you delete my first link? I'm a retard...and it's 3 in the morning. Kthanks.
Second, that story of you and the nail salon cracks. Me. Up. For reals. I love that you talk louder...so they can hear you.
Third, it makes me sad to think about Isaiah being a teenager. Frankly, I get depressed...like drive me to drinkin'. I'm holding out hope for the invention of some magic potion that keeps him a baby/kid...or at least a rewind button.
I do the same thing with people with accents. Sammer's family is Arabic & his mom, dad & his brother in law have VERY thick accents. I tend to do this too... oh & when I talk in Arabic (I don't know much) I try to do the correct sounds - you know the ones that sound like throat clearing... ohhh man i must really sound like an idiot. Although, I still do it every single time. Duh!
I love the story about J. The sister we just met 5 years ago was raised Cuban. You should have heard her comments when she found out she was Puerto Rican... ahhh haaa haaa priceless! She grew up making fun of the Puerto Ricans... ohhh boy did her PR friends have a field day with that discovery!
Oh this is too funny. My mother does the same thing with the accents but when she talks toa foreigner she ends up shouting at them and trying to do sign language (which she is learning) so random.
I used to learn Spanish - it's a lovely language. Wish I could remmeber some of it now though. Mind you I wish I could remmeber a lot more since having Youngling - still have baby brain after 2 years! Will it ever go? ;-) Take care xxx
I bet that is a sight to see (or hear?) when you try to speak in a different accent...I don't do that but I DO talk louder...ha!
I tell my girls I want my babies back all the time. The teens (tween) comes out and I do declare...I wanted babies, NOT teenagers! Jordan is precious though, I am sure she is a trip!
I do the same thing with accents! It also depends on where I am too. I walked around the Houston airport speaking with a country 'twang. My favorite accents are Maori though :)
Oh! And I'm sorry for double commenting but I accidentally deleted your e-mail replying to the blog award comment (reading too fast, haha). I understand about posting about it. I just wanted you to know that yours is one of my favorite blogs ever!
Honey, when she was 2, used to pull her eyes to her hairline with her little fingers and "chatter" every time we were around anyone Asian...super!
She will return...I promise. Honey left at 12, she came back just recently {she's 16}. It was a long road but it's fun again...most of the time!
Happy Friday!
I was a pretty awful teenager but now, my parents and I get along really well. Actually, we started to have a different - better - relationship after they cut me off, surprisingly enough. I'm sure she'll return to you. ;) Happy Friday!
Too funny!!! I can't help but do the same :)
First time at your blog and am new follower. Have a great weekend.
I don't speak much Spanish or Spanglish. But man, I can rock from Franglais.
Have a great weekend!
I miss my 10 year olds, too. They'll be 15 in a few months. Can't believe it. I guess those days are over.
I'd love to have you start talking in a Texas accent with me!
What is it about talking louder when you're trying to converse with someone who speaks a different language? I do it, too!:) Too funny! Oh, I get the whole being replaced by a teenager thing. I often wonder where my sweet Abby with no "attitude" went. Like you...I hope she doesn't stay away forever!
Thanks Sweetheart about the tip on showing my email. I have already changed it. I would love for you to join my followers. Love your blog so very much!!! I will be joining the Friday confessional later today.
Thanks again for the help!
Amy's Life
Oh my goodness. I'm dying laughing, picturing you adopting an accent of the person who is talking to you. I'm going to go off and practice MY accents, because if we ever meet I want to try them all out on you to see if you do this peculiar habit with me. :)
Happy Friday, friend!
Girl, I can ROCK some Tex Mex since that was what was spoken in Tejas and I taught at predominately Spanish-speaking districts. I'm supa cool like dat.
And speaking loudly at the peeps probably just pisses them right off. They'll give you a nail disease if you're not careful.
Have a fabulous weekend my BBFF!
I did better this week than last time I participated in the confessional :) Maybe it kept me accountable?
This is hilarious!
Please tell me 8 yr old girls do not turn into teenagers! I am going into hiding soon. Seriously.
I can pick up accents easily to. I don't really realize I'm doing it, but there they are when we get home. Do you find yourself speaking louder and slower so foreign people will understand you? I tend to try to slow down as if speaking slowly will help.
I took Spanish for three years and for two semesters in college. The only thing I know how to say is "Donde Esta El Bano" - and that probably isn't right for all I know. Like you though, I can understand spoken Spanish fairly well...maybe?
My first Friday Confession....yay!
yes. it IS 100% dad's fault!
I can handle the spanglish, the worst one is definitely when he order's chinese food. I think that's why mom never wants to order it.
Slap me when I pick up the "fixin' to"
I miss jordan, too.
If I ever do meet you I'm going to use a British accent. Just for giggles.
I wonder why we do that....taking on the accent of those around us...I do the same thing...to funny that you speak louder I will speak slower and tend to over pronounce the words I am speaking like they can read my lips lol
My husband does the exact same thing with foriegn accents. When we were in Mexico on vacation, he would embarrass me so bad. He swears it's just me. Haha!
Roon and I can speak Spanish (well, he REALLY can, and I can fake it from 3 years of Spanish), so we do it when we don't want the kids to hear know what we are talking about.
This drives the kids CRAZY!
They run between us, cover our mouths, and say: "You're NOT DORA!"
I totally copy people's accents too. Mostly just the southern ones.
I love hearing different dialects. Especially since mine is so plain and boring.
I died laughing when I read this. I thought I was the only one who, ahem, adopted accents. I have a super theory to justify my heinous behavior. Human babies are imitators, which is how they learn to speak. I'm just keeping it human.
When I was in England a few years ago, I was celebrating new years' eve in a pub with some friends and I had to use the loo (see?! I'm doing it again!) There was someone else in there and I tried to Brit it up with her. She look extremely annoyed and asked in a snippier tone that the occasion called for, "You're American, aren't you?" I dropped the accent right away and washed my hands at lightening speed so I could run away.
I'm nervous because I confessed about my serious blog where I write articles seriously and not just personal stuff so I hope people check it out. I really love to write so I'm nervous about "performing" in front of others.
Oh my goodness! So funny! I think I would have to pick a different nail salon every week! How on earth did you ever go back? lol!
i <3 this blog hoppy!!
I like to think I can speak French. But I can't. Really, I can't. *sniff*
Your daughter cracks me up! Too cute! I hope she comes back too! And I hope mine doesn't ever go away. But I think it's happening now at 4.
I bet your daughter is hanging out with my daughter somewhere.... We have a girl in our office and I can tell what client she has been to that day... she comes back talking like them. We have the Spanish, the good ol' country voice and the yank. Would that be considered multiple personalities? LOL
OMG You're absolutely HILARIOUS! SO glad I found you!
-Nicole
www.craftmysoul.blogspot.com
Oh my gosh, i want to hear you speaking in an accent! That is hilarious.
Don't worry about the picking-up-the-accent thing, it's very common. I always worry about others taking offense, but to date, no one has. So probably they don't care, and maybe are even touched that you're trying to communicate with them in the same way. :)
The Spanish thing, though....my first German teacher once told us that some people have an innate ability to understand a language, even if they don't speak or read it. Something about picking up body language cues and vocal inflection. So there ya go....you're a Spanish...er...listener! ;)
Don't worry, the teen years are always temporary. Or so I'm told. Hrm....
Happy Friday!
Oprah talks like her guests' accents too!
When we went to Mexico to pick up my brother from his mission I was a senior in high school and had taken four years of Spanish, so I totally knew how to speak it right!? Yeah until we got lost (before we picked up my brother who could speak it) and went it and asked for directions-my dad brought me in to listen as well I spoke Spanish.. needless to say I did not help us find our way.
I have three girls. Two eight year olds and a three year old. All of them with upcoming birthdays. I am terrified of the teen years. Just terrified. Mojo and I are planning on running away from home!
You BETTER speak dirty Spanish to me when I come visit you!! And then I can yell at you for trying to push your Mexican Heritage on me! LOL
I find myself doing that with accents too! I tend to mimic people's expressions or gestures too when I'm around someone for any length of time. I'm always so embarrassed when I realize what I'm doing! I always wonder if they've noticed and what they think.
This had me seriously giggling! It reminds me of the time I told my kids they were part Hawaiian; my oldest, 6 years old at the time, scoffed and said, "I'm not Hawaiian; I'm American!" ;-)
ha! I would LOVE to go to the nail salon with you. I usually have no idea what anybody is saying because i'm a little deaf.
Love it I get to go to "confession" today. Hmmm how honest shall I be???
My accent will change too when I am talking to someone with a southern accent.
If I go to Texas my drawl comes back! So funny that we do that. But I am sure you sound a lot better then you think. Thanks for your confession made me laugh. Have a great weekend girl :)
I totally do the accent thing, too! I have a friend from West Virginia and she has the slightest southern accent (which gets worse when she talks to or about her family) I suddenly become very southern when I talk to her!
I love your daughter's reaction! You'd think she just found out you found her on your doorstep, wrapped in a blanket in a crate! awesome!
I find myself speaking up over the phone when someone calls in with a thick accent. Why do we do that? Love your confessions. It made me laugh. The 10 year old daughter will return some day! It takes awhile, but then she will be a young adult.
I was gonna say something about it in my Friday confessional but forgot, I also totally mimic accents...more southern and northern than spanish or a different language. Also when I was like 6 or so, I was young my friends mom was def, I actually thought I knew sign language cause i always saw my friend sign with her mom, so I would talk to her mom with my hands like I was signing, but I wasn't....her mom told me to stop......
Thanks for the Friday Confessional.... I LOVE your blog!
usmcconrads.blogspot.com
That is hilarious. My husband has the same adopted accent issue. I cannot help but laugh about it.
LOL! Nail salons crack me up they always have to ask me what color 2x at least and I know that is going to be the 1st thing they ask when I hit the door. This is my 1st time to link up and I only confessed 1 Big thing...but believe me if I confessed it all you would be reading for a year! I'll do better next week!
Linked up! :]
Love the accent confession! I was on a road trip in Kentucky with a couple of my friends. They decided to speak "southern" the whole trip. Every where we went. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. So I laughed. So did every one we met. :]
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