. . "For whatever reason, two or more characters can't speak the others' language in anything better than heavily mangled, imprecise gobbledygook. However, all involved can understand the others' language when spoken. This results in unnervingly cool, creepy, or cantankerous scenes depending on the set-up, as you have two people listening and responding to each other in completely different languages, creating a Bilingual Dialogue (and sometimes acting as interpreters to any third parties present.) What you end up with is a conversation that goes something like this:"@en . . . . "Bilingual Dialogue"@en . . . . . . . . . . "For whatever reason, two or more characters can't speak the others' language in anything better than heavily mangled, imprecise gobbledygook. However, all involved can understand the others' language when spoken. This results in unnervingly cool, creepy, or cantankerous scenes depending on the set-up, as you have two people listening and responding to each other in completely different languages, creating a Bilingual Dialogue (and sometimes acting as interpreters to any third parties present.) What you end up with is a conversation that goes something like this: Annette: \"La plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle.\" Benny: \"Oh, I'll go get it, then. Do you want anything else while I'm up?\" Annette: \"Non, merci, c'est tout.\" This can be Truth in Television. If you learned a foreign language by speaking it (as is common in many schools which use a listen-and-repeat teaching format), rather than by learning to read it, it is easier to passively understand what someone else is saying than to actively generate language oneself. If each person understands the other's first language, it's easier to use this type of conversation than for one person to struggle to speak in a more uncomfortable second language. See also Bilingual Bonus and Eloquent in My Native Tongue. Examples of Bilingual Dialogue include:"@en . . . . .