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Prior to a trip to Poland I listen to some language tapes and learn how to say "I don't understand Polish" in polish (something like "nya rezumium popolski").

Almost everybody understood English and finally when I ran into somebody who didn't and used that Polish phrase, I realized I could have just said in English "I don't understand Polish" and it actually would have been clearer communication.

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I learned the same phrase in perfect BBC Polish and it backfired. I said it so well that the Poles just ignored it and continued to speak in Polish. Then I ended up with a Polish girlfriend back in the states and learned real fast. She was gorgeous.

That was exactly the response I got.

However, I did not end up with a Polish girlfriend. Your "She was gorgeous", is, I recall, redundant.

> Your "She was gorgeous", is, I recall, redundant.

Your recollection is accurate

I don’t understand why it would have been clearer to use a language they didn’t understand. Actually a lot of comments under this article aren’t making a lot of sense. A lot of claims of of paradox where I don’t see it.

By saying something in their language, you imply that you do speak a little bit of Polish.

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