According to The Washington Post on Twitter today, “Nearly half of white Republicans say it bothers them to hear people speaking foreign languages.” How strange. I’m the opposite way. I love foreign languages. When I’m out and about, I’m usually not that interested in what the random strangers around me are saying to one another (i.e., I’m not nosy). But, if I hear a foreign language being spoken, my ears perk up. First I try to figure out what language they’re speaking, then I try to understand it. If I can’t understand it, I listen anyway, because I like the music of it. I also gawk at ASL conversations.
Am I rude in this way? Maybe, but I make no apologies. I am unabashedly curious about other languages and cultures.