Subconscious sense of humour

Yes, I apparently have one.

Despite trying to learn Swedish (and avoid all other tempting languages to prevent confusion) I found myself reading , Mauss the other day... and not bothering with the English translations for the phrases which were deliberately left untranslated. Now, I'm not saying they were particularly complicated pieces of French, but when you suddenly turn into that horrid person who reads French philosophy in French it mostly fucks with your head.

Doing it in Sweden just takes it to a whole new level.

To then continue on to Wittgenstein and understand the German as well, well you can understand my bewilderment.

Considering I have not developed a penchant for thick lenses (contacts, ta very much), starched blouses and ballooned trousers I can only come to one sickening, awful conclusion.

My subconscious brain has a somewhat sick sense of humour.

Yes that's right, Broca's area, ignore the wishes of the conscious mind to speak Swedish fluently and instead decide in your infinite wisdom to activate indiscriminately the various language memories stored away. Excellent.

Which brings me, not at all neatly, onto my thoughts on being a native English speaker abroad. English is the common language amongst all people here, as despite a huge wealth of language ability the majority of people are about to speak English to a very high standard.

As an English speaker this does have numerous benefits. People switch to my language automatically when I struggle in Swedish. It's easier for me than for a native French speaker for example, who must switch to another second language when struggling with Swedish, rather than his own native tongue.

The downside though, aside from people assuming that you are indeed the gospel on all things English, is that people become reluctant to talk. They seem to be worried that I might judge them or their ability in English. As a result, often I feel like an unwanted guest to a conversation, that perhaps my native tongue acts as a shackle for the ideas and thoughts of others present.