language versatility

A friend was just telling me about an episode that happened at her work today.

A Swiss coworker came over and started talking to the guy next to her in French, at length and in detail. Her neighbor, an Indian immigrant, didn't bat an eye, and answered in French as well. Finally, the Swiss guy said, "Oh my god. I've just been speaking to you in French, haven't I? I'm so tired today."

I thought that was really cool. It seems very European to be so comfortable with multiple languages, that you can be accidentally speaking the wrong one for several minutes.

I was also curious as to how the Indian coworker had been able to respond so well in French, and it turned out that he had taken French in high school, and then Spanish and Italian in college and later. If only I had learned French that well in high school...