Bridging Words & Hearts: Overcoming Language Obstacles in Romance

Dating is fun, but what do you do when there’s alanguage barrier involved? There sure are communication problems in every relationship at some point. Even Daenerys and Khal Drogo had their issues before she learned to communicate in Dothraki. I mean… we’ve all been through that “what did he or she mean by that?” phase, didn’t we? And imagine having amultilingual relationship ! That must be 10 times tougher!

Jokes aside (or not), life is meant to be lived. If your love is as strong as the legendary Nokia 3310, no language barrier can destroy it. Besides, Mondly has your back with a wide range of languages you can learn for love . 41 – to be more specific.

Back to the fun side of datingsomeone who doesn’t speak your native tongue , here are 10 funny or just downright real situations you’ll understand only if you ever dated a foreigner.

1. You get frustrated. A lot

If your name is not Harry Potter, chances are you won’t magically wake up one day knowing a foreign language. So, dating someone who doesn’t speak English can get really frustrating sometimes. Especially in the beginning, things can get really complicated because you are never sure if you got them right.

And it’s all fun and games until someone asks, “what are you thinking about?”. If answering this mythical question was hard before, imagine how challenging it becomes now that you are dating someone with bad English or no English at all. So take it from me and don’t go there! Abort mission! Practice some more and only then you’ll be ready for this quest. But you knew that already, didn’t you?

2. You never run out of things to say to each other

On the other hand, you never ever run out of things to say to each other in a multilingual relationship. That’s because both of you are constantly trying to teach the other your native tongue.

“Spoon! This is a spoon! Repeat after me! Spoon!” – sounds familiar?

You either go through the entire dictionary or use the brilliance of Mondly to learn the language before one can say Jack Robinson.

3. You deal with a lot of unfortunate translations

Overcoming language barriers in a relationship can be hard when there’s no humor involved. So don’t hesitate to make the most of your funny and unfortunate translations! For example, if you are flirting and there’s a Spanish language barrier between you two, don’t forget that “molestar” actually means “to annoy” in Spanish and not “to molest” (hahaha!).

The same goes with “embarazada”! “Embarazada” means “pregnant” in Spanish and not “embarrassed” – as one might think. So be careful with that one! Really tricky!

4. You eventually become bilingual

And that’s not a bad thing at all! If love is strong, so is your desire to learn a new language . You know it. You probably did it already.

But if that’s not the case,Mondly – the amazing language learning app – has an entire Romance category dedicated to your love. Just take it from there and see where you can get in just a few months.

5. Your fights are… sooo fun to watch

Well… obviously! Do you know what a hullabaloo is? Because that’s how you’ll look like if you fight in public. What can I say?! An absolute delight for strangers.

6. The idea of meeting “the friends” suddenly becomes way more intimidating

That’s especially true if you are in a long-distance relationship with the language barrier tangled in your romance to make it tougher. That daunting moment when you know you have to meet his or her foreign friends is only maybe surpassed by meeting the parents.

Good Lord! It sends shivers down my spine only when I think of it. Good luck with that!

7. You come up with a sign language of your own

If there’s no language bridge between you two, you have to come up with creative ideas. That’s how your secret communication code got created.

8. You focus less on words and more on action

Language barriers are not actually barriers. You know that, don’t you? They are actually the absolute and ultimate cure for overthinking. “What did he or she mean by that?” becomes “well, I can’t put up with all that thinking now. Let’s make up… or out?”

9. You absolutely love hearing him or her speak

Everything sounds better in French and everything sounds better with an accent. That’s a generally accepted truth.

Pro tip: if you want to hear more of that A-mazing accent, ask your S.O. to read the Game of Thrones books to you. That will be one looong reading session.

And since we are here, here’s a group of charismatic foreigners trying to say “I love you” in more than 30 languages.

Watch at your own risk! They might steal your heart!

10. You constantly get the reassurance of being truly and honestly loved

Being in a multilingual relationship is a hard business. You either go big or go home. There’s no in-between. If he or she is still there, there must be an enormous quantity of love involved. That’s your reassurance.

“Sunset lovers” by Stéphane Delval©

And… there you have it! These were our top 10 relatable situations about dating a foreigner. Language barriers don’t seem as scary anymore, do they? In fact, a multilingual relationship can be way cooler than a “conventional” one. Just don’t take yourself too seriously and let love overcome all odds or… barriers!

If you are ready to commit and declare your love forever, we recommend you learn your S.O.’s native language.

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• Download Mondly

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