History Main / EloquentInMyNativeTongue

** Later on, a viral video of Izuku and Mirko talking to each other in rabbit-speak goes viral due to how cute they sound. Unknown to everyone but Izuku and Mirko is that the two are having a heated argument, with the former [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calling]] [[WhatTheHellHero out]] the latter for refusing to participate in the Yakuza Raid and rescue a little girl (Eri) because [[IWorkAlone "she doesn't do teamwork"]].

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When he has to give the opening speech as the Sports Festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and foot thumping. Mirko, the only one present who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears by how inspirational his speech was.

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When he has to give the opening speech as the Sports Festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and the occasional thumping of his foot. Mirko, the only one present who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears by how inspirational his speech was.

* ''Literature/TheLotterysMoreOrLess'': Luiz, the house guest The Lotterys are letting stay with them for the holidays, speaks Spanish much better than English, having grown up speaking the language in UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}.

* In ''Literature/TheStarBeast'', [[spoiler:Lummox]] speaks English like a four-year-old.

Except he's not, he's really a rather intelligent chap who simply hasn't learned the local tongue. Were you to hear him in his Native tongue, you'd find him rather [[SpockSpeak insightful]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness eloquent]], and [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe poetic]]. Sometimes it's used in conjunction with a [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels phrasebook]], where the subject uses said book poorly and winds up spitting out nonsense or using extremely broken English. Not solely restricted to a foreigner attempting to speak English.

* Caleb from WebVideo/CriticalRole speaks pretty simple Common with a Zemnian (real life German) accent most of the time, and often missed idioms in the early campaign (less so as time goes on). However, when he's in-universe speaking Zemnian to other Zemnian speakers, his syntax and grammar are very advanced.

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When he has to give the opening speech as the Sports Festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and the occasional thumping of his foot. Mirko, the only one who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears by how inspirational his speech was.

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When he has to give the opening speech as the Sports Festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and the occasional thumping of his foot. Mirko, the only one who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears at how inspirational his speech was.

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When he has to give the opening speech as the Sports Festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and the occasional thumping of his foot. Mirku, the only one who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears at how inspirational his speech was.

* Izuku in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/29961147/chapters/74618067#workskin Izuku Midoriya the Rabbit]]'' is, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a rabbit]] who needs a communicator to speak with humans. When Izuku has to give the opening speech as the sports festival without his communicator, most of the audience can't understand his squeaks, honks, chirps, and the occasional thumping of his foot. Mirku, the only one who ''can'' understand him, is driven to tears at how inspirational his speech was.

* Kuu Fei from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', despite her grades is ''not'' stupid; her physical/kinetic ability sits at a genius level. She also occasionally speaks in her native Chinese, at which she comes off as perfectly concise. However, she speaks Japanese in a stereotypical "Chinese person speaking Japanese badly" manner, which is translated similarly to Shampoo's speech in the above example.

* A written version in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Asuka fails her math exams at school. However, when Shinji is having trouble with a problem, she solves it in her head. When Shinji expresses his amazement at how she could possibly be failing math, she explains that she hasn't learned the kanji yet and just can't ''read'' the exam questions. Made more apparent by the fact that she apparently has university degree and is basically a child prodigy as well as an Evangelion pilot. It's likely that kanji is really the only reason she's in school at all while in Japan.

* Natalya in ''Comicbook/YTheLastMan''. Her attempts to speak English result in statements like the following:

* Reversed by the ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'' villain Simon Culp. He made a point to learn a very upper-class register of French as overcompensation for the perceived contemptibility of his native Cockney English.

* Kitty Pryde's "pet" dragon Lockheed doesn't make statements much more complex than "hmph" and the affirmative "yeh", but it's repeatedly mentioned through many ComicBook/XMen series that he is much more intelligent than any of the humans around, merely physically incapable of pronouncing human words. In fact, he's one of the smartest and most thoughtful members of the Comicbook/PetAvengers.
* Groot, badass tree (yes, tree) of the ''Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', never says anything but "I AM GROOT!" But [[http://i.imgur.com/rtMlvOv.jpg his inflection and tone matter greatly]]. He used to be able to talk normally.

* Xavin of the Comicbook/{{Runaways}} often came off like an arrogant, overly masculine jerkass. When called on it, she has insisted that her words would have sounded much less arrogant in her native language.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* In ''{{Literature/Cerberon}}'', when the eponymous unicorn from England takes human form and speaks in Aramish, it's pretty broken but not difficult to understand, while in English he can be very eloquent and occasionally poetic. The Prince of Aeronweyir, a dragon from Arumara, is noted to have the same ability to communicate telepathically as Cerberon and understands what people are saying in English, but he avoids this trope by refusing to speak in the foreign language, using Cerberon to provide translations of what he says in Aramish.

* In ''[[{{Literature/Uglies}} Extras]]'', Hiro's English is slow and basic, and Aya finds it a bit excruciating to listen to; Aya herself is fluent. The author shows Hiro's lack of fluency mainly through short sentences with basic grammar & vocabulary. This contrasts with his intelligent, idiomatic speaking style when he speaks his native Japanese.

* ''Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft'' does this at least once with a Murloc quest hub in the Borean Tundra. Well, it's not quite the same since we never hear them try to speak a language the players can understand, but when the player is magically given the ability to understand what they're saying, they're surprisingly eloquent. For example, during the quest "Grmmurggll Mrllggrl Glrggl!!!" which asks you to kill Glrggl, translates to: "he who swims against the tides of fate -- eradicating the hope of life for all those who hear the siren song of death upon the waves!"

-->'''Heavy:''' Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe... ''*sniff*'' ... maybe. [[BoringButPractical I have yet to meet one who can outsmart]] ''[[MemeticMutation bullet]]''.

* There is an interesting version of this in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}''. If you make a character with Intelligence less than 4, he is effectively, ahem, mentally handicapped. There is a character named Torr in one of the very first towns that is likewise handicapped, and normal players are unable to get much information out of him. Approach him with your own handicapped character and the ensuing conversation, while looking like two drooling men shouting random gibberish and nonsense at each other to the casual observer, is actually, when translated through the subtitles, a meeting of two great minds, with superbly polished manners and high level thought. Hilarity ensues.

* Brother from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyX'' isn't precisely eloquent in Al-Behd, but he at least uses proper grammar. When he starts trying to impress Yuna by learning her native language, he starts out exactly as one would expect: a limited vocabulary composed mostly of simple nouns and present-tense verbs. He gets better in the sequel, to the point that he could probably be considered functionally bilingual.

* In ''Videogame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'', due to playing a Professor Xavier parody, Timmy is able to telepathically communicate with others without PokemonSpeak. He turns out to be very eloquent and reasonable. However, when speaking normally he's still only capable of repeating his name.

** While in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', Princess Leanne of the heron tribe spoke solely in the ancient tongue (we're informed by Hawk King Tibarn that the same was true of Prince Reyson when he first found him, but you'd never know that to hear him speak now), by ''[[Videogame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' she's begun to learn the modern tongue. It comes out very hesitantly and [[PoirotSpeak interlaced with the ancient tongue]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The 1997 ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' film does this when George speaks in "Ape" to his kinsmen. [[FunWithSubtitles The subtitles have stylized, "fanciful" lettering]] and read in YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe.

* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Nathan 'Frying Man' Petrelli and other characters initially underestimate Hiro due to his poor Engrish. (Of course, even in Japanese he's still a geek…) This is also used to indicate where he is on his hero's journey. In the beginning, he's an utter loser, obsessed with comics, and his only plus is that he can stop time, otherwise, sucks to be him. Later, when he meets and falls in love with Charlie, he matures and grows, hence he learns better English. By the time he's completely fluent, he's a total badass and carries a samurai sword.

* Omnipresent among the Chinese characters in ''Series/Warrior2019''. Its translation convention is that when the Chinese characters are speaking among themselves in Chinese, the actors all just speak American-accented English -- fluently, colloquially, and occasionally even poetically. When white people are present, the actors speak subtitled Chinese to one another, and broken or heavily accented English to the whites (with the exception of Ah Sahm, whose English is flawless).

* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has the wild men of the Drúadan Forest; they have no contact with outsiders, and are viewed as backward primitive creatures. Upon contact, their chief Ghân-buri-Ghân speaks sub-optimal Common Speech - but turns out to be quite smart, wise and knowing. This is further cemented when one reads [[AllThereInTheManual the other things Tolkien wrote about them]].

* Done with Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}''. Unspoken TranslationConvention show that [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} he]] has no problems communicating with his animal friends, to the point where he is something of a famous DeadpanSnarker in the languages of apes.
* Stitch of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' has elements of this, though normally seeming to be a SpeechImpairedAnimal when speaking English. Especially apparent in the movie's conclusion, Jumba even commenting on him making a good argument. A ''single syllable'' good argument. He seems to be well versed in his native language's curses though.

* Mala in ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' speaks English but has a tough time with idioms. When she comes to the U.S. to find the princess, she spends some time in a women's prison. She helps her cellmates escape, and they tell a colleague "She sprang us from the jug and now we're on the lam." Confused, she responds "I neither sprang from jugs nor sat on lambs."

* The ''Series/BarneyMiller'' episode "Hunger Strike" included an encounter with a middle-aged inmate (Nora Meerbaum) of an institution who had wandered off and taken some flowers from a street vendor. She cheerfully greeted everyone with the phrase "mnogo ubav den"[[note]]eventually translated as "Isn't it a lovely day"[[/note]] and offered the flowers, which she called "tsvet"[[note]]"blossom"[[/note]]. Her supervising psychiatrist said it was "hebephrenic gibberish", but Dietrich suspected she was speaking a language; he took a recording of her speech to a Slavic Languages professor who identified it as a dialect spoken in Greece and Yugoslavia; playing the tape at Greek coffeeshops and markets, he found a native speaker (hey, it ''is'' NYC) who translated her perfectly sane speech. She had been in the institution for thirty years because nobody could understand what she was saying. Unfortunately, this is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]It's based on [[se-asiacenter.org/index.php/2016/11/19/david-tom-story/ David Tom]], a Chinese immigrant who was hospitalized for TB, and kept in institutions for 30 years because no one knew his Chinese dialect (given that he spoke both Toishan and Cantonese, which are ''extremely'' common, it's clear that nobody gave a damn). By the time he was rescued, he ''was'' insane. He won a lawsuit and spent the rest of his life in a Chinese-speaking settlement home (which now bears his name), where he improved and lived happily, surrounded by people who loved him.[[/note]]

* The ''Series/BarneyMiller'' episode "Hunger Strike" included an encounter with a middle-aged inmate (Nora Meerbaum) of an institution who had wandered off and taken some flowers from a street vendor. She cheerfully greeted everyone with the phrase "Noga ubav den" and offered the flowers, which she called "tsvet". Her supervising psychiatrist said it was "hebephrenic gibberish", but eventually it was identified as Macedonian, and a native speaker located in a nearby coffee shop (hey, it ''is'' NYC). She had been in the institution for thirty years because nobody could understand what she was saying. Unfortunately, this is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]It's based on David Tom, a Chinese immigrant who was hospitalized for TB, and kept in institutions for 30 years because no one knew his Chinese dialect. By the time he was rescued, he ''was'' insane. He won a lawsuit and spent the rest of his life in a Chinese-speaking nursing home.[[/note]]

* Starfire from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' speaks in somewhat childish sounding SpockSpeak. This is however due to her lack of a grasp on the English language. Being a high-class alien princess, she speaks eloquently in her native tongue. To add to this, her incarnation in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' was heavily modeled after her 2003 cartoon version and thus, as a MythologyGag, she's essentially an adult version of her. She has learned to speak English fluently, with only the occasional hiccup. Oddly, Starfire's sister Blackfire speaks perfectly average American-English in ''Teen Titans'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', and ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' despite being newer to Earth than her sister.