David Sedaris Quotes

For me, at least, much of the German I see and hear sounds stranger than Swedish, a language of which I unfortunately understand very little.

It took me a year to really learn the American lingo. I really feel for people who are coming here and don't speak English at all. It must be hell.

When I went to Germany, all I knew were German swear words.

When I first went to Japan, I was wrestling under my real name. The Japanese people have a great amount of difficulty with the letters f, r and l. So three out of the six letters in my first name they couldn't say. It was a bit of a mouthful for those guys.

When I came to Korea for the first time, I couldn't understand the language.

all the French speak French - even the children. Many Americans and Britishers who visit the country never quite adjust to this, and the idea persists that the natives speak the language just to show off or be difficult.

I studied German at school. I lived in Berlin for two years and had a German girlfriend for five years, so I don't find speaking German particularly difficult. Singing was slightly more difficult.

I've never lived in an English-speaking country, ever, but I lived in Austria. So, my second language is German. And when I went to school, I had a lot of classes in English.

In Buenos Aires, I have a very close friend who speaks very good English, and she taught me. It was quite difficult because the muscles of your mouth are used to your language, and then when you want to speak another language, they don't go to the place they need to go to make the sound.

I only saw one English-speaking person all the way across Siberia.

At least when it's in French, I won't know what the heck they're saying.

When you arrive in L.A. as an Englishman, you might as well be on the moon. People just don't understand you if you speak too fast, and most people there think you're Australian. Ordering was incredibly complicated. I was speechless.

Japanese is a very strange foreign language for European people.

I began thinking there should be an American phrase book, 'cause I've got an Italian phrase book, and an Arabic one... now a British one. I think it'd be pretty good to have an American phrase book.

Humor is the first of the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue.

When I moved to Bombay, it was very harsh. I was nothing like what I am today. I couldn't speak a word of English. In England, people might be very understanding about that, but in Bombay, they're not very forgiving. 'If you don't speak English, how do you expect to work in Hindi films?'

I'm very proud that I have learned German and Russian. Especially Russian, because of how difficult and beautiful it is and because of how much I struggled in the beginning to get my head around how it works.

I tried to learn the Finnish language, which is really, really, really hard, and I realized that if I want to really learn it, I need to move to Finland.

In Italy, you're in your comfort zone when it comes to language, lifestyle, your habits and preparations, and moving abroad is not easy. It's not easy to carry over your own ideas about football, your own methods. You have to get everything across in a different language, and that wastes a lot of energy.

I can speak a bit of German.

My French is terrible, and my Spanish is even worse. I find Spanish really difficult. They speak so quickly, whereas in German, it's very clear what they're saying. It's easier to repeat.

The fact that I didn't speak English I think was the most difficult thing for me.

It's hard to explain to my parents what's going on. You can't compare Hollywood with Cuba. I didn't even know I could dream this.

When you go to school in Holland you learn to speak English and write in English - but English is different from the Scottish language!

Moving to France is not the hard part. Living here is more difficult. Of course there are many benefits but it's not always easy especially if you don't speak the language.