Is it a bad sign when there’s a lot of language barriers on a first date? Granted, the one I was just on was over the phone and the other person was speaking quietly because they didn’t want to wake the other people their house. We spoke for an hour and a half but the it was difficult to hear through the muffledness and her accent.
Advice seeking
2 comments
If you click, language barrier is nothing. It can even become more interesting with it.
It really depends on the type of person you are. I live in an area with a large Chinese population. Most of them speak English well enough as they came here for school. A few things I’ve picked up dating a few over the years are things like:
A) You really can’t read too much into texting. People who don’t speak English as a native language usually don’t have a total grasp on the nuances of things like sarcasm in texting so it can be hard to tell what exactly they are going for in a message unless you know them really well.
B) You’ll probably have to repeat yourself a lot. Especially if you talk at a fast pace like me. I’ve had a couple dates/girlfriends where I would say something that required a response and they would just nod their head and smile – clearly indicating they had no idea what I was really saying.
C) In a similar vein you’ll have to explain a lot of common phrases/slang/jokes.
There are other barriers but those are more cultural than they are language and will probably vary by the culture and many other factors. It’s not a bad sign unless you hate repeating yourself.