Talking fast and my amusing experience

Question

I was writing a lot but I decided not to and started over. Basically, sometimes when I respond with the same talking speed (generally fast to very fast depending on your particular native speaker) as I have been spoken to, the listener doesn't understand.

This is funny to me because as a white boy I've always been very intimidated by the speed of spoken Spanish. Sometimes people even speak English too fast for me, and English is my native language >.<

Anyways, do you guys have any fun stories about how you surprised a Spanish speaker with your ability and caught them off guard? Or maybe just talked so fast that they couldn't possibly keep up? Obviously sometimes lack of understanding can be due to pronunciation or other problems, which I have plenty of, trust me, but I find it amusing/encouraging that even people speaking a language at the same level can lose each other in communication.

I think it's good to remember that, so maybe you'd like to remember here with me : D (Seriously, how many times do I ask someone "what?" every day? Not as much as I do in Spanish probably, but the numbers are getting closer together every day)

I said I wasn't going to write a lot but I did.

Answer 1

I don't have a story about Spanish, but a short one concerning Russian.

I have a friend who speaks faster than the speed of light in Russian. Even Russian speakers note her amazing speed.

Well, when she started speaking English, I thought I had her.

Think again. Her speech in English is as fast as in Russian!! You have to have your ears perked and be wide awake to follow this woman!!

haha that's a great story! some people just speak so fast, I can't believe it. also, thanks for sharing! - unMica, Aug 18, 2011

You're welcome, Mica, stimulating question! - territurtle, Aug 19, 2011