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Diamond_Dog

(39,397 posts)

2. When my sister and I were kids

Reply to electric_blue68 (Original post)

Sun Nov 23, 2025, 03:05 PM

Nov 23

and we were at my Polish grandma’s house, she would converse with her Slovak neighbor in Polish when they didn’t want us kids to understand. Apparently Slovak and Polish are very similar??

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electric_blue68

30 replies

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Highlight:

Deb's 'say thank you...' suddenly reminded me of...How many of Your Parents Spoke in their Other Language so you... [View all] electric_blue68 Nov 23 OP

My parents both spoke Slovenian, as did my grandparents and both of their extended families. So if they switched.... FadedMullet Nov 23 #1

Lots of Slovaks and Hungarians in Cleveland back then! Diamond_Dog Nov 23 #3

Yes there were. Drive a few blocks and you'd go from a Polish neighborhood, through a German one, then Italian. FadedMullet Nov 23 #5

So true. Diamond_Dog Nov 23 #6

Often true in NYC, too. Batches of majority ethnic neighborhoods... electric_blue68 Nov 23 #12

Ty.... electric_blue68 Nov 23 #10

When my sister and I were kids Diamond_Dog Nov 23 #2

TY. I guess...enough? electric_blue68 Nov 23 #11

My mother and grandmother would speak Polish in front of me MIButterfly Nov 23 #4

Ty. Hmmm, probably my mom and her mom occasionally spoke Greek in front of us. electric_blue68 Nov 23 #13

My mother and vrandmother sis the same with German. soldierant Nov 23 #17

Aha! electric_blue68 Nov 23 #20

My grandparents immigrated to America from Spain. My parents, aunts, and uncles spoke Spanish to one another. skylucy Nov 23 #7

TY. I took Spanish in HS. electric_blue68 Nov 23 #14

My mother could speak Polish with her sisters and parents. My dad could speak Italian. Srkdqltr Nov 23 #8

Ty. electric_blue68 Nov 23 #15

No secrets in my family. CrispyQ Nov 23 #9

TY. 😄 electric_blue68 Nov 23 #16

Wouldn't Have Worked ProfessorGAC Nov 23 #18

That's pretty funny. You probably had some natural ability. electric_blue68 Nov 23 #21

Don't Know ProfessorGAC Nov 23 #23

Still, natural ability. I was often hearing my mom, and her relatives speaking Greek but didn't catch it.... electric_blue68 Nov 23 #24

Yeah, I Don't Remember It Either ProfessorGAC Nov 24 #25

My gradeparents did. But I spent alot of time with my grandparents and understood Ukrainian some Yiddish.The swear words debm55 Nov 23 #19

Good for you. Hahaha - tbe swear worlds... I only know one mild one in Greek... electric_blue68 Nov 23 #22

sometime around the teddy roosevelt administration rampartd Nov 24 #26

My sister-in-law and my son-in-law COULD have done that DFW Nov 24 #27

all my family has been here for generations so no other strange language besides my samnsara Nov 24 #28

My mom spoke Polish to her sister over the phone & dad sure let the Serb swear word a fly SheltieLover Nov 24 #29

I am umpteen generations away from the first ancestors who arrived here. yellowdogintexas Nov 24 #30