Foreign language speakers: Have you ever heard someone disparage you in a language they assumed you couldn't speak?

Not disparaging me personally, but the country I was in, often: Brazilians in Harrods or Miami bad mouthing London or Florida, English folk in France, Americans in Mexico, Argentines in Brazil. One listens in silence and then says something in their language to indicate you have understood it all. It is one of the minor joys of foreign travel. I only wish I had enough Japanese to easvesdrop on Japanese tourists in the same way.

No. Most of the people I converse with aren't sure how many languages I speak, or at least understand. Yesterday, on a short walk to the shops, people would have heard me speaking German, French, English, Turkish and Italian, although I only speak a few words of the last two languages.

No, although I have often understood their conversations and continued to pretend I didn't. It doesn't seem that common to disparage strangers unless the strangers are acting obnoxious in some way.

Yes. Occasionally

Yes, always.i speak 5 languages so nobody can guess that someone can speak so many and all different ones. I dont say anything - let them live

seen it happen all too frequently.

Yes

A few times, and i usually play along their ignorance and their lack of manners for some time.

That happened to a friend of mine years and years ago. Imagine their surprise when my friend (a big, hulking, powerful male) threatened them verbally in their own language, (After that, he turned around and walked away, of course.)

Yes - I went into a pub in North Wales once with three friends, all of us English.

We ordered our drinks in English, and noticed that the barman and the other patrons were all speaking in English.

As soon as we ordered they all started talking in Welsh and kept glancing across to our table, smirking and obviously making comments about us.

We drank up and as we left, I took our glasses back to the bar and in perfect Welsh thanked him and wished everyone good evening. The expressions on their faces was priceless!