AITAH for shaming an American for only knowing English after he mocked me for mispronouncing an English word?
A trilingual French individual recounts an incident with an American friend, Max, who only speaks English. Max mocked the poster for mispronouncing the English word “awry,” despite the poster learning English through reading.
Frustrated by his persistent jokes, the poster called out Max’s lack of multilingual skills and warned they would only converse in French if the mocking continued. Max stopped but accused the poster of being mean and flaunting their language abilities. read the original story below…
‘ AITAH for shaming an American for only knowing English after he mocked me for mispronouncing an English word?’
I’m French, living in Paris. My parents are both from Spain and raised me speaking Spanish. And I taught myself English through reading novels and news in English. So I’m perfectly trilingual. My American friend Max, who’s spending one year studying at La Sorbonne, only speaks English.
He often uses me as a French translator for him; he tells me in English what he wants to say, and I repeat it in French to his interlocutor. Today, I said “awry” like “Ow – ree”, Max found it to be the most hilarious thing and kept making (in my opinion mean) jokes about “oh em gee can you imagine being so bad at English that’s how you pronounce awry?!!”
So after a few minutes of him laughing his b**t off at my expense, my patience ran out and I told him: “We are both speaking English because it’s the only language YOU know. I learned English by reading it, rarely hearing it spoken, so of course my prononciation won’t always be flawless.
How flawless is YOUR French prononciation? If you don’t cut it out right now, I will speak to you exclusively in French and only acknowledge your answer when you say it in French, and it better be flawless. If you make any grammar or pronunciation mistake, however tiny, I will mock you endlessly.”
He did stop mocking me but he pivoted to “Geez, get a sense of humor… There was no need to be so n**ty to me… Why would you dangle your multiple languages in front of me, that was mean…”. AITAH for saying what I said?
Here’s what people had to say to OP:
Automatic-Term-3997 − Max is an a**hole. When I hear anyone mispronounce a word, even in their native tongue, I assume they learned it by reading it and not hearing it. That is absolutely nothing to ridicule, let alone in another language! My French is so poor I will only speak it in Quebec, I speak English in France! 😂😂😂
Danny_Mc_71 − No. Max is a d**k. You can pronounce that any way you like.
jensmith20055002 − My family and I were just discussing how many words we mispronounced until we heard someone else say it. I literally looked up how to pronounce prescient today. (It is kind of like ESP.)
I wish I spoke any other language. English beats up other languages in dark alleys, then rifles through their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary.
Fem-Panic − NTA. That guy is a huge j**k and worse, he is totally unaware and oblivious of how much of an a**hole he is being.
jahubb062 − “OMG, can you imagine being a student in a country and not bothering to learn the language? Can you imagine nitpicking someone’s pronunciation in their *third* language when you’re barely proficient in your one native language?”
HellaWonkLuciteHeels − You’ve learned how easily American men pivot from “I’m right”, then proven wrong, to “you can’t take a joke”.
chez2202 − NTA. He’s American. He pronounces half of the English language incorrectly.
LamuneRain − NTA Il est juste jaloux le boug, donc il venait te chercher dessus parce que pour une fois t’es pas aussi bon en langue que tu n’y parais. Fin clairement t’as rien fais de mal
JFCMFRR − I saw this one time, it stuck with me. From a bilingual speaker…. “You have to speak English because it’s the only language you know. I have to speak English because it’s the only language you know.”
UnseasonedChicken96 − NTA, but this does not sound like a good friendship to maintain. It’s your life and only you can choose what you tolerate but in my opinion, it might be time to shorten your interaction/time spent around him.
Calling out hypocrisy, especially when you’re being unfairly ridiculed, is often necessary, but it can ruffle feathers. Was the poster’s response justified, or did it cross a line? Share your perspective below!