Does anyone else have a partner whose family all speak another language?
My wife is Chilean, and when we’re with her family they naturally spend most of the day speaking Spanish. We actually live in Australia, and they’re here to learn English, but when we’re together they almost always speak Spanish with each other.
I completely understand why, and I genuinely want them to enjoy their time together. I would never want them to feel like they couldn’t speak their own language.
But I’ve realised that after spending hours surrounded by conversations I can’t follow, I end up feeling very isolated. It’s not that I want anyone to change for me. It’s more that I miss feeling like I’m sharing the experience with everyone else instead of just being present for it.
I’m curious whether anyone else has experienced something similar in a multilingual relationship. Did it get easier over time? If so, what helped?