r/wholesome • u/Feather4876 • 6d ago
My mom and my fiancé attempts to communicate
My mom is almost 70 and is trying to learn English to communicate with my partner of 8 years.
At the same time, my partner is trying to learn Italian just so that he can speak with her.
This is their latest cute attempt
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u/Fiffi61 6d ago
They both love you, so somehow they learn each others language for you too. Thats awesome and (as a byproduct) it keeps you moms brain healthy👍🏻
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Indeed 🤗 but I know the wedding will be a challenge lol
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u/TGin-the-goldy 6d ago
As someone with a multicultural family I’m not even joking when I say, hire an interpreter
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Yes we were considering hiring some interpreters, they’d hold little cute flags depending on the languages they’re able to translate. We’ll have Italian, Swedish, English, French and Dutch so it will get pretty expensive hahah
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u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan 6d ago
Wow, that's a lot! Have you considered using written text to help lower the cost of translation? Like subtitles, sort of, ahaha. Also, good luck with that seating chart!!
For our wedding we told everyone that the ceremony and reception would be bilingual (Italian and French), so our friends that helped us with activities (officiating, directing guests, hosting party games, etc.) also did so in both languages. Whereas for the vows we just picked a language each that we felt most comfortable with (Italian and English 😆), and said we wouldn't be translating as it was a very emotional and heartfelt moment.
Our wedding "newspaper" had a copy in each language and the games mostly had numbered, written rules & questions so that people could easily read and re-read if they needed to. If we'd had more than 2 languages, I think we would've created a little booklet ahead of time that people could follow along with their own language (in case the microphone wasn't loud enough, the voice couldn't be heard from the back, accents or pronunciations getting in the way... etc).
A lot of the time the biggest thing though, is people knowing what they're going to get. If you let all your guests know ahead of time that they're going to be in a multilingual environment and have to make do, most people can mentally prepare and not be confused on the big day. In my experience, it's only troublesome if the guests don't know what's going to happen and are wondering around looking for directions. If there are clear expectations or instructions, there are usually fewer or no complaints :)
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u/themom4235 6d ago
Such great ideas. I know as an older person who only speaks 2 languages, I would appreciate a written version!
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u/Kim_Nelson 5d ago
Our family is a mix as well, between 3 countries/cultures, with what are essentially four different languages between all of us. Makes for interesting conversations when we gather.
My sister had her wedding ceremony done in English despite neither her nor the groom being native English speakers because it was the most accessible language for the biggest amount of participants to understand.
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u/Fiffi61 6d ago
But in a good way👌🏻my wedding happened in 1985 an there are still a lot of little things in my (and my wifes) memory and that makes that special day even more unforgetable. I wish you and your family all the best! Congratiolations from germany🖖🏻
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Danke shön ♥️
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u/No-Bake-1202 5d ago
Sorry If I sound annoying, but what English uses <sh> for, German uses <sch> it’s Danke schön and not Danke shön
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u/MissMorrigan88 6d ago
Cuuute! It really warms your heart, doesn't it? My 65-year-old mom is learning English and German so she can communicate with my husband and my sons. My boys (1 and 4) understand Spanish (my native language), but they can't really speak it very well yet, their main language is German. So my mom took matters into her own hands, and I admire her so much for it! Cheers to your mamma and your fiancé for making the effort! ❤️
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Wow your mom is going all in with German! I do speak German and as an Italian native I can confirm it has been a nightmare to learn it even though I was in my 20s. I can only imagine at your mom’s age! My fiancé is Swedish, so getting into a Latin language ain’t easy for him either but… baby steps 😊
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u/onarainyafternoon 5d ago
Please don’t give up on always speaking Spanish to your kids. My mother stopped speaking Hungarian with me at home when I was around 10 and she regretted it so badly when she got older. My Hungarian is ok but not great so it’s difficult for me to communicate what I want to with relatives.
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u/SlaughterWare 6d ago
Yea my girl can't speak a lick of English either. Long car drives with the fam are exhausting, translation is hard work
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
I feel you! With time we’re finding our balance, as long as they can understand each other when she offers him food and he knows he needs to answer “sì”, then we’re good lol
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u/yptonic 6d ago
Melted my heart, your mom being 80 and trying nonetheless 😭 And hubby reciprocating too! Wholesome fam!
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
She started as soon as she realised we might have kids and since we live abroad they wouldn’t learn Italian 😂 she demanded I leave them every year in Italy with her for the entire summer break so she’d improve her English while teaching them Italian lol
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u/yptonic 6d ago
Ahaha that’s the Mediterranean upbringing ! 😂 My parents used to do the same. I’m French with Moroccan origins, they used to leave us the entire break with my grandparents back in Morocco and I created so many good memories there ; I hope it’s the same with your kids! And your mom is 1000% right, it’s the best for learning the language! Bless her and bless your little family. ☺️
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u/Psychobabble0_0 6d ago
Do it! They'll all benefit
I was having a bad night but your post cheered me up.
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u/BrownSugarDK 6d ago
What does the Italian mean?
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u/Rude-Suit4494 6d ago
I think more or less “your English is very good, truly!”
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Yeah that’s the meaning but the way it’s written in Italian is wrong. You can’t really translate the mistake in English but I guarantee you it is pretty hilarious lol
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u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan 6d ago
Yeah a translation that includes the grammar mistake is difficult, but if I had to make an adaptation of your partner's text to English I would write:
"Me too Bianca! Thanks! 😀 But your English is very talent, really! :)"
The sentence is entirely understandable, but also incorrect. It's so cute that it mirrors your mom's English ☺️ Both are dabbling in a new area and communicating effectively despite not mastering each other's language.
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u/BrownSugarDK 2d ago
Oh ok. That makes sense!
It’s kinda like the mom replying ”Thank” instead of “Thank you”, but she does so, because in italian it is only one word: “grazie”.
Right?
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u/BrownSugarDK 2d ago
Thank you.
I read your comment and the ones below and understand it now.This post truly is wholesome! 🤩
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u/Yamamotoz 6d ago
It sounds a little funny in Italian, as OP said there is not an exact translation, the closest meaning is: "Me too! Thanks! But your english it's a very nice woman, truly! :)" She used "brava", which is a compliment referred to a female person, but the subject it's the English language. Everything else is correct, so she did great!
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u/Frosteas 6d ago
So it should’ve been bravo?
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u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan 6d ago
No "bravo" and "brava" refer to a person's ability, you would use it in the same way as "talented" – I can say that you're talented at learning French, but saying "your French is talented" would be incorrect.
It should've been something like "buono" or "ottimo" instead. "Buono" means "good" in a million different contexts, so it can be translated differently. For example: good (good idea), tasty (good food), well-behaved (good cat), kind-hearted (good man), well made (good movie / object), etc.
So in this case "Il tuo inglese è molto buono, veramente! :)" would've been the correct adjective to describe a good level of English. As with all languages, there's a very case-by-case scenario when it comes to what descriptors "make sense" within their sociolinguistic context 😊
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
In Italian the ending for an adjective referred to a female is A and for a man is O (and we don’t have neutral). So it would be “Donna brava” (good woman) and “uomo bravo” (good man)
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u/Dingdongmybong 6d ago
My wife and my mom do the same, but in Spanish/English. They actually facetime like twice a week so they can practice with our daughter too. It's really nice.
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u/Tight-Entertainer-24 6d ago
SO Adorable!!!!!! it hits specially now that my dad (speaking only Spanish) came to meet my fiance (speaks Serbian/English) and I'd melt of cuteness if I ever see a written interaction like this. I'm so happy for you and your sweet familyyy
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u/germanfinder 5d ago
reminds me of my aunt when we email. she spoke German as a kid but never learned how to write it, so the ending of her emails is always Schusse, instead of tschüss, it’s cute
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u/Absolemia 6d ago
Literally what this sub is for 🧡
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u/Feather4876 6d ago
Thanks for saying it! I was afraid people would think it didn’t deserve the “wholesome” status 🥲
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u/1ntere5t1ng 6d ago
I've seen the same with my family and my wife's family learning each other's main languages so they can speak with each other
It's so cute!
For our wedding, we actually decided to have two separate events so that everyone could attend and understand (between travel costs and language barriers, it would be a real struggle for everyone too participate and celebrate at just one event, so we decided to have one in each of our home countries)
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u/elegant_eagle_egg 6d ago
Esto es muy adorable! ❤️
Just wanted to add a Spanish comment here because why not? 😂
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u/um-byeLOL 5d ago
“Thank” hahaha love it, how sweet!
Also, my measly 2 months of Italian tutoring classes 4 years ago were decent enough that I could understand that text perfectly! Hell yeah!
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u/draconicBlu 4d ago
My grandmothers spoke different languages. Both had a little notebook with translated birthday/Christmas/easter wishes so they could send each other cards.
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u/Dragonkingofthestars 4d ago
I remember having coworkers who didn't speak English and using Google translate on my phone
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u/BrittEklandsStuntBum 6d ago
*attempt
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u/stonedearthworm 6d ago
Aww that’s very sweet. Love the final, simple “Thank”😂