That is something my French friend told me about learning the language. It is a silly phrase but for me it cuts down on the embarrassment and helps me acknowledge and move on.

That is something my French friend told me about learning the language. It is a silly phrase but for me it cuts down on the embarrassment and helps me acknowledge and move on.

Despite that, I’ve stuck with it for ten years and am almost fluent. Hopefully with another long term trip there I’ll be confident in calling myself that. My German could use some patching up though; I’m losing it.

I'm in the Czech Republic now and am definitely have some trouble with this. One problem for me is that I haven't practiced nearly enough active listening to understand any response given back to me!

But to your point … so far I've experienced a few different reactions to my limited Czech.

1. The hotel receptionists who speak darned good English always smile and compliment me on learning Czech (especially since to them it's the hardest language in the world!)

2. The cab driver and I had a stilted conversation about Australia, our lovely beaches and the unfortunate sharks! He constantly corrected my pronunciation and declensions. I understood not one single reason behind any of his corrections but in order to keep things moving, I just repeated what he said and kept talking away.

3. I've had some waiters completely ignore me until I either pointed at something or succumbed to English. Maybe they're sick of the tourists learning 2 or 3 phrases and not trying anymore.

4. Now for the most awkward … I had one person (who I have been conversing via email with) meet me with a “translator friend.” She speaks practically no English. Her friend speaks ok English, and I speak darned awful Czech and understand even less.

After trying to speak to me at natural pace I asked if she could talk a little slower (please). She said that sentence slower and then proceeded to talk at full pace again. One more time of me saying that I didn't understand and she gave up. The rest of the conversation was and awkward performance of the two of us talking directly through her friend.

This may not have been pure rudeness but perhaps a disappointing realisation of how my spoken Czech is worse than my written Czech. But the lack of willingness to help really threw me off.

As for my embarrassing mistake … It's been hot in Prague lately so I'm constantly reminding myself to NOT say “Jsem teplý.” This translates as “I am warm” but means “I am gay.” I'm actually thinking of using it in a conversation to see if it can help “break the ice.”

So has anyone intentionally made an “embarrassing mistake”?

A different group of Italian friends came to visit me in the US. Same situation — we sat at breakfast, when one of them picked up the carton of milk, poured herself some, then said, “Andrea, would you like something to milk?” The rest of us immediately burst out laughing and starting making milking gestures. This happened about 15 years ago and we still joke about it every time we see each other.

I had my come-uppance with the same group of friends a few months ago, when my partner and I visited them. My partner used to be vegetarian, but now eats poultry and fish. Our Italian friends were trying to remember what she did and didn't eat. Trying to contribute to the conversation, I said, “Lei non mangia porca.” Intense laughter ensues. They explained the word I really needed was maiale (pork), that “porco” is pig, and “porca” is whore. I said, “Okay, but it's still true that she doesn't eat whores.” The best part was several days later when one of the friends was explaining to his mother and aunt — prime examples of the magical-tiny-Italian-grandma-in-the-kitchen — and they smiled and nodded enthusiastically saying in Italian, “Oh yes, that's a very embarrassing thing to say!” Totally adorable.

My partner, who is now valiantly learning German here in northern Bavaria (Franken!), has made a few now-storied faux pas:
We went into a store to look at beds and she asked, “Wir sind die Matrazen?” (We are the mattresses?)
She had an allergic reaction, went to the pharmacy, and said, “Ich habe Kranzen an mein Hals.” (I have wreaths on my neck) That got a look from the pharmacist.
Because she has simply pushed herself to speak whenever possible she has these great mistake stories, she constantly gets compliments from the German teachers at our school about how quickly she has learned (we work at an international school), and she has learned quickly. The course work she is doing helps, of course, but the real work is simply using the language.

Digging your site…

As for your original mistake: saying “geil” at the right moments in the right tone is something only natives or people who have lived in the country for a looooong time master. I advise everybody to avoid “geil” and just say “cool” instead.

I can still remember my first Spanish class in high school when we were asked to say Spanish words, names etc. we already know from soap operas, books or other places. I was really keen on repeating something I had heard in a South American telenovela, something I thought to be a male name. I didn't know what was the problem, tho, because the teacher seemed to ignore what I was saying… It turned out it was because “what you're saying is the slang for female genitalia.” Since then I try to use words wisely.

(Anyways, sorry if there are mistakes – English is only my second language. Trying to be better, tho. )