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30 Native English Speakers Share The Funniest Thing They Heard Foreigners Say In Their Language
Learning someone's language is one of the best compliments you can give them. It shows you value their culture enough to invest a lot of time and effort in order to connect with them on a deeper level. It's basically like saying, "Your world matters to me," but with actions, which makes the sentiment even more powerful. So if you make a few mistakes, nobody will mind. In fact, sometimes those oopsies can lead to hilarious moments, as seen in a recent Reddit thread where native English speakers shared some of the funniest and most inventive uses of the language by foreigners.
Continue scrolling to check out their entries, and don't miss our chat with English teacher Georgie W., who has thousands of hours of experience helping people communicate with Anglophones—you'll find it between the stories.
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#1
I worked in a kitchen with a lady from abroad. She couldn’t remember what chicken was in English and pointed to the eggs and said ‘Which fridge do we keep their mum?’.
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#2
My partner is greek and couldn't remember the word "infinity" so just told me that she loves me until the "snoozy 8".
To gain a better understanding of what it takes to master this Germanic language, we reached out to teacher Georgie W. from English with Georgie.
"English can be difficult to learn for a number of reasons," she told Bored Panda. "The letters 'ough' can be pronounced in nine different ways, which can understandably cause confusion! Additionally, English grammar often has exceptions to its rules, making it tricky."
"Phrasal verbs and idioms are also widespread, and their meanings aren't always clear from the words themselves, which can add to the challenge."
#3
Not spouse but my Croatian dida (grandad) never quite got the concept of 'telling someone off'. He took the phrase completely literally and if he saw someone doing something bad, like if some kids were vandalising something, he would run up to them and yell "Off! Off! Off!"
He literally thought saying the word "off" to someone was the same thing as *telling someone off*.
RIP Dida, you were the best.
#4
A very good Spanish friend of mine was practicing her idioms in English. She wanted to say something about my flatmate who always does the same things over and over no matter the negative consequences. She wanted to say “a leopard can’t change its spots” but she goes “you know what they say, you cannot remove the dots from the large cat!” We were dying over that lol.
#5
Not my partner but a lovely Polish lady I worked with called a broom a "sweepy" and it makes me smile every time I think about it.
That being said, Georgie highlighted that English also has some advantages.
"Unlike languages such as Thai and Vietnamese, English doesn't rely on tones, and nouns aren't gendered as they are in languages like French or Spanish," she explained.
"Learners also don't need to navigate non-phonetic scripts, like those used in Mandarin or Japanese."
#6
Hearing the French president of our company pronounce "focus" with a strong accent that made it sound like he was saying "f**k us", and hearing him give a dry run of a speech where he was emphatically insisting "I need you to f**k us, we need them to f**k us, we need EVERYONE TO F**K US!"
Some poor sod had to go and tell him he needs to stop asking everyone to f**k us, and instead to f-ohh-cus.
Pandemonium 2 months ago
Our driver in Bali pronounced the "ark" sound as "uck", and his starting "p" would come across as an "f". So, I misunderstood his "I will go park the car" at first
#7
I love it when my Japanese wife tries to say "hippopotamus" but doesn't know when to stop.
So we get "hippoppo... popo...pop...pop.......pop??".
Brittania Kelli 2 months ago
They call me the hiphopopotamus Flows that glow like phosphorous Poppin' off the top of this esophagus Rockin' this metropolis I'm not a large water dwelling mammal Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve tell you that perchance? Steve.
#8
My wife is Vietnamese and personal pronouns are treated differently so he and she are unisex and interchangeable. It keeps me guessing.
On the flip side, she laughs every time I try to order beetroot juice in Vietnamese (we live there now). Because of the tonal language I manage to pronounce "beetroot juice" as "black penis".
Of course, there's no single answer to the question of how long it takes to learn English—it depends on your goals, determination, opportunities, and many other background factors.
However, according to Ben Knight, the director of ELT Research at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, who manages a team of researchers developing its courses and materials, motivated adults typically need between 100 and 200 hours of guided learning to progress from one CEFR level to the next.
As you move up the levels, more hours are required to advance: progressing from A1 to A2 typically requires 100-150 hours of guided learning, but moving from B1 to B2 can take 180-260 hours.
#9
My wife is Indonesian. She picked up the word "bollocks", but she uses it as an insult in the singular form.
I.e. You b*****k
It's now become my favourite insult.
#10
My French friend says “lonely child” instead of “only child”. Never corrected her.
#11
My Czech sister in-law calls Silence of The Lambs, 'Don't Speaking of Small Sheep'.
"The most difficult aspects of English can vary depending on the learner's native language," teacher Georgie said. "However, after teaching over 5,000 online lessons, I've found that pronunciation, prepositions, and tenses consistently pose significant challenges for many learners."
"Another difficulty is understanding native speakers in casual conversation, where features like glottal stops and connected speech make it hard to follow natural speech patterns."
#12
Hungárian girlfriend.
English extremely good except for rarely used phrases.....such as bedroom talk.
"I'm your dirty little slug.".
Groundcontroltomajortom 2 months ago
Now I have some very weird role playing scenarios in my head.... 😳
#13
My girlfriend is Romanian. On our third date, she invited me to her house. We were talking about shopping when she announced that she had "Chicken tights"
I looked confused. She repeated " I have chicken tights" whilst rubbing her legs. I was trying to imagine what this article of clothing looked like, and said "That doesn't help!". She then opened the fridge and showed me the chicken thighs. It became our first in-joke.
Many other things she says that I don't correct because they are cute, are just mispronounced or slightly wrong words.
I love the way she says "Daffodiles" (rhymes with crocodiles), "Bubbles" (bulbs), "Casserole" (any tupperware type container), "Jardiniere" (any flowerpot), "SAL-mon" (with the L), "Sheddle" (schedule), and many others.
She also does the he/she gender mixing, but only usually when she is talking excitedly about something, or is tired.
Conversely, I have been trying to learn Romanian for 3 years, and she laughs hysterically at me every time I try to start a conversation. I believe I sound like the Allo Allo policeman.
Geoffrey Scott 2 months ago
Out with our Danish exchange student: "You want soup or salad?" in the quick midwestern style. "I don't know, how big is it?" (super salad)
#14
My Japanese husband once couldn't remember what fabric softener was called, so he called it "flavoured soap".
Edit: I can't believe I forgot my favourite! He was trying to remember the word for 'walkie-talkie' and cycled through so many different variations like talkie-walkie, walkie-wiccy, walkie-walkie, wiccy-wiccy.
Luckily, with the right mindset and strategy, you can maximize your efforts. "Immersion is the most effective way to improve fluency and confidence, but if that's not feasible, it's important to take advantage of every opportunity to practice," Georgie W. explained.
"Listening to podcasts, watching English TV shows, and making the most of any opportunity to communicate with native speakers all help. With one-on-one online lessons and group classes widely available, it's more convenient than ever to get plenty of practice and boost your confidence."
#15
They don’t do it anymore but they used to say ‘emotional backpack’ when referring to emotional baggage.
That was a treasure.
#16
One of my best friends is born and bred Spanish and still lives out there but her English is fluent. When we first met she would use the word ‘genre’ instead of ‘gender’ asking things like “what genre are they?” “Idk, sci-fi thriller?”.
DetriMentaL (It/That) 2 months ago
No no... They may have a point here.. I vote we drop the gender thing and describe people as thrillers, horrors, dramas and mysteries
#17
A Spanish friend years ago forgot the word for garage and said “ the place where you take your car for a drink”. I still think it’s great like 20 years later.
"A great tip is to record yourself speaking English, play it back, and repeat the exercise. This will help you identify areas to improve. One quick way to test your pronunciation is to speak to Google Translate, Siri/Alexa, or ChatGPT and see if they can understand you," the teacher added. "AI apps also make good language partners if you don't have anyone with whom you can practice."
At the same time, "be careful not to get caught in the trap of focusing too much on perfecting grammar, as this can hinder your progress. Instead, focus on fluency. Aim for small, gradual improvements, like getting 1% better every week. The key is to set realistic goals."
#18
Not got a foreign spouse, apologies for jumping in.
But used to work with an Israeli lady, she pronounced cucumber as cockumber.
Being young(ish) it used to make us laugh.
#19
My wife is Danish and once wrote an email to colleagues inviting them for "drinks and nipples".
#20
I’m the foreign spouse. I’m from New Zealand and my wife is English. I went into a grocery store in Sheffield, England, and asked for eggs. They said what? I said “eggs”. They said what are they? I said, “you know they come from hens”. They laughed and said “oh you means eggs”. I was like WTF? It turns out that it sounded to them like I asked for “iggs”.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 months ago (edited)
Stephen Fry said that when he was in South Africa people asked if he wanted "@rse cream". Apparently that's how we Mzansi peeps pronounce "ice cream"!!
Georgie W. mentioned that learners often get discouraged by aiming too high, such as wanting to sound like a native speaker or committing to studying for two hours a day, every day.
While it's good to challenge yourself, doing more than you can handle leads to frustration and failure, casting a shadow over the entire learning process. "Instead, keep it simple and consider using techniques like the Pomodoro method—short, focused study sessions," the teacher suggested.
"There's no one-size-fits-all method for learning English, but the most important thing is to find a way that you enjoy and will stick with. Consistency is key, and remember to be patient with yourself along the way and focus on what you do know. As Henry Ford said, 'Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right.'"
#21
My grandma was from another country and used to ask if her outfit was alright as she didn’t want to look like “mutton dressed as chicken”.
#22
One of my closest friends is Bulgarian and she says "you are cracking me" when she means "you cracking me up" and I'll never correct her, it's ridiculously sweet.
Corvus 2 months ago (edited)
Some Bulgarian phrases and idioms sound really weird when translated into English, e.g. "how do you drive her" (how is it going), or "everything is electricity and wires" (everything is going well), or "he butchers and hangs people around here" (he is in charge around here), or even "I'm eating the cuckoo waffles" (I am going nuts), and finally "the horse went into the river" (the situation got seriously messed up). There are others too, but I can't remember them right now.
#23
>Alice on the Wonderwall
Today is gonna be the day that I'm fallin' down a rabbit hole...
#24
I have never let my French wife forget the time she called the cheese grater a cheese “raper” (pronounced rather unfortunately!)
The translation of ‘to grate’ being râper.
MaximumKarmaSaint 2 months ago
You should see the looks you get whenever you say "Rapier" to anyone who doesn't use the word often.
#25
My wife is from Taiwan. When she first heard ‘Jamming’ by Bob Marley she thought it was a song about chow mein. To this day we still sing “and I hope you like chow mein too!”.
Planb Shamone 2 months ago
Pyjama's, Pyjama's, Pyjama's Pyjama's. I hope you like Pyjama's too
#26
An Eastern European friend was telling me about how her dog got nervous about all the people when she took him to the supermarket. She started with the phrase "When I park him outside Tesco...." She's sort of accurate.
#27
Many years ago I had a Spanish colleague who instead of saying “you’ve really opened a can of worms” used to say “you’ve really opened a tin of beans”. Love that!
#28
My wife is Polish and despite speaking near fluent English has a couple of blindspots that she just can't seem to fix.
Tarmac == Tamrac
Menu == Meni
Seat/Sit - this results in "take a sit" and "we were seating".
#29
My Moroccan husband gets confused with ‘too many’ vs ‘a lot of’… mortifying if we see a large group of Asians or a large group of women!
#30
My Polish fiance says "taking A p**s" instead of "taking THE p**s".
What do you think ?
troufaki13 2 months ago
Not a foreign language mistake, but I find it cute and I thought I could share. My 7o nephew didn't know how to say "air-quotes" in greek (we don't really have a word for that) so he came up with his own phrase "ironic bunnies" 😂
Brittania Kelli 2 months ago (edited)
I have so many because I used to volunteer at a music charity for refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. One Pakistani lady was told by her social worker 'not to put all her eggs in one basket' meaning not to put all her hopes on her court case, but she started keeping a couple eggs in the fridge, a couple eggs in the cupboard, a couple on counter, until we explained it to her. There was the time the Pakistani women thought our Scottish choir leader was trying to teach them a naughty song because it was in Gaelic and the first line was 'Fok A' Do'. One Chinese friend had her Chinese birthday (because of our different calendars) and we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant with our Turkish friend who hadn't understood why she would have a Chinese birthday and an English birthday so thought it was China's birthday and wished a happy birthday to every single Chinese waiter and server at the restaurant.
PFD 2 months ago
I don't know about / get the Chinese birthday thing - an anniversary is the same day each year regardless of the calendar, surely...?
Load More Replies...
GirlFriday 2 months ago
We had an intern from Pakistan and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day came around, and I explained that the office would be closed for the holiday. He did some research on the day on his own, and on the Friday before the holiday weekend, he brought in cupcakes and hats and wished everyone a Happy Martin Day because he thought this was how all birthdays were celebrated. Years after our intern left and returned to Pakistan, we still brought in cupcakes and hats for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
troufaki13 2 months ago
Not a foreign language mistake, but I find it cute and I thought I could share. My 7o nephew didn't know how to say "air-quotes" in greek (we don't really have a word for that) so he came up with his own phrase "ironic bunnies" 😂
Brittania Kelli 2 months ago (edited)
I have so many because I used to volunteer at a music charity for refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. One Pakistani lady was told by her social worker 'not to put all her eggs in one basket' meaning not to put all her hopes on her court case, but she started keeping a couple eggs in the fridge, a couple eggs in the cupboard, a couple on counter, until we explained it to her. There was the time the Pakistani women thought our Scottish choir leader was trying to teach them a naughty song because it was in Gaelic and the first line was 'Fok A' Do'. One Chinese friend had her Chinese birthday (because of our different calendars) and we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant with our Turkish friend who hadn't understood why she would have a Chinese birthday and an English birthday so thought it was China's birthday and wished a happy birthday to every single Chinese waiter and server at the restaurant.
PFD 2 months ago
I don't know about / get the Chinese birthday thing - an anniversary is the same day each year regardless of the calendar, surely...?
Load More Replies... GirlFriday 2 months ago
We had an intern from Pakistan and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day came around, and I explained that the office would be closed for the holiday. He did some research on the day on his own, and on the Friday before the holiday weekend, he brought in cupcakes and hats and wished everyone a Happy Martin Day because he thought this was how all birthdays were celebrated. Years after our intern left and returned to Pakistan, we still brought in cupcakes and hats for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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