Well, actually... if you’re the only one who speaks the foreign language, they won’t even notice your mistake. They have no idea what you said—all they can do is gauge the reaction of the person you’re speaking to.

But they will notice if the other person doesn’t understand you.

There’s nothing worse than when your friends or family expect you to confidently ask for something simple—and then you mess it up.

You feel guilty.
You feel like a failure.
You feel like disowning your friends and hiding under a rock for the rest of the holiday… and maybe forever.

Sound dramatic? Maybe. But anyone who’s been the designated language speaker on a trip will get it.

Friends and family love to hype you up when you succeed.

“Wow! That was amazing! You sound so fluent!”

But the moment you stumble? The jokes and jabs begin.

I remember once, in Spain, I was confidently ordering ice cream. I asked for “un bolo de chocolate”, thinking I was asking for a scoop.

The lady behind the counter chuckled and corrected me:
👉 “Una bola!” (Not bolo!)

And then... she laughed again.

I was mortified. But I swallowed my embarrassment, repeated it correctly, and tried not to turn bright red.

A tiny mistake like that shouldn’t have been a big deal. I would have forgotten about it in minutes.

Except... my sister was standing right next to me.

My sister did not pretend not to notice my mistake.

And that was it—holiday ruined.

Even though, just minutes earlier, I had booked a camel trip in what the guide had called “perfect Spanish”, my sister latched onto the ice cream blunder and tormented me for the rest of the trip.

👉 “Maybe you should go back to the basics with Spanish; your accent obviously isn’t very good.”

Of course, she didn’t even know what my mistake was. All she knew was that the lady had corrected me on something—and that was enough ammunition.

I was really embarrassed. But you know what? Tough.

The truth is, your family and friends will be the worst people to make mistakes in front of—but you just have to put up with them and ignore their jibes.

Yes, you might feel like:

😫 Hiding in your hotel room
🚪 Locking yourself away until it’s time to go home
🏠 Quitting languages forever and never leaving the country again

But get over yourself, Kieran!

If you’re the only one in your group who speaks a foreign language, they don’t understand how hard it is.

And so, they mock you.

They make fun of your tiny mistakes.
They act as if one slip-up cancels out all your progress.
They don’t realize that just attempting to speak makes you braver and smarter than they are.

But here’s the truth:

They’re jealous.

If they weren’t, my sister wouldn't they wouldn’t care so much about a tiny ice cream mistake.

In summary: basically, you’re better than them and you shouldn’t let their mocking tones of jealously get to you—in fact, take it as a compliment.

Don't let it get to you, Kieran...😭😭😭