Sessions and language

My first post on the forum - Hello everyone!

I was thinking a little on language differences in sessions.
If you have sessioned with Dommes or subs having a different first language than your own, what are your thoughts and experiences?
Is an exotic accent a plus or a minus?
Did lower fluency in the session language for one or both parties impair the experience?
Any funny misunderstandings?

For my own part, I have sessioned with Dommes from a few different nationalities, including one or two who had limited command of English. (Which is the session language for me even on home turf - Norwegian-speaking pro-dommes are rare.)
From my perspective as a sub who enjoy verbal domination to accompany the physical kind, I have found that lower fluency is an obstacle if it falls below a certain level (as was the case in two instances). If I don’t understand what the Domme is saying immediately, and vice versa, the verbal bit looses its punch. (It is not the same when stuff has to be repeated all the time :))
But it made me realise just how important verbal domination is to me...

I wonder if it is also the same from the Domme perspective. Does it diminish the experience if the sub is unsteady in English?

I've turned down sessions because the language barrier seemed like too much of a potential problem. I'd be laxer about it for a basic foot session but anything more complicated requires a certain level of communication. At a minimum we both need to be able to understand each other's limits.

I also tend to be very verbal and I don't enjoy myself as much if I feel they can't fully understand me. I feel like it handicaps my ability to give them a good experience.

Foreign accents can be cute as hell, though.

I've never tried it. So, I might feel differently if I had. But, watching domination videos where there is a language barrier is hot as hell. The thought of being bare ass naked in front of a gorgeous woman who wants to do things to me and I've got no idea of what she is saying, yeah. If I were single I'd try it. It would put an interesting element of surprise in there.

The sessions you turned down - was the language barrier bad enough you feared limits would not be understood?

Interesting to see your enjoyment being dependent on full understanding as well.
But as long as the session language is one in which the Domme is most skilled, I think there can perhaps be an upside to the sub's experience. Her superior language skill can reinforce her supremacy over the sub, and hence add to the sub's experience. (Not sure it will make up for the awkwardness resulting from misunderstandings, though)

I've sessioned in Germany a dozen times and language was never an issue. But my sessions are focused on sensations so not much verbal is required. Their command of English varied from basic to almost fluent.
Most of the Dommes were native Germans, but a couple were Russians living in Germany, another was Italian, so for those English was their third language.

I can see where a humiliation focused session the lack of fluency would be an issue.

I agree scenarios with a language barrier can be hot, at least in theory .
But to work, such scenarios would have to be built around the fact that they will be in a language the sub does not understand. It should probably be designed such that the Domme can do her things without depending on compliance from the sub. Otherwise it gets awkward when the Domme gives an order and the sub does nothing or something completely different.

And of course, there must be a way to agree and understand limits upfront.

If it can work, I might be tempted to suggest something like this, if I ever find myself in a language-barrier-challenged situation again. The Domme speaking confidently in a language I don't understand at all might work better than very limited English.
Then again, I will probably rather head for the safety of an English-speaking Mistress.

I've only sessioned in the U.S. with some Dominas who traveled here, or immigrated here, from Europe and Latin America where English was their second language. My role play needs a clear verbal understanding to set the right mood, if nothing else. To session with a Domina of a different nationality and/or ethnicity whose second language is English and speaks in an accent is, with the right Mistress, highly erotic.

My sessions have mostly been in Europe, with a multitude of different accents, all of which worked great, even if I prefer native-English-speaking accents myself. (Foreign accents are less exotic if you have one yourself )

The sessions I had where language proved an obstacle were both in Bangkok. The Mistresses I saw there were great, and highly skilled in what they did, though with the language-barrier it still left something to be desired.

Touche' my friend! About accents, this native NYer now lives in Florida and every now and again I meet a native down here, have a conversation, and the person smiles and says, "Where do you come from?" I then put on a thick Brooklyn accent and reply, "Yo, whatta ya tryin' to say? I tink youse gotta an accent."

Yeah, pretty much. The email communication was already difficult enough to give me doubts and at some point he mentioned he was using a translation app. I did not believe we'd be able to communicate well in person and he was requesting the kind of session where that would be a potential major problem.

I have done sessions with language barriers and had moments of "is this guy being an asshole or does he just genuinely not understand me?" and it's made me more cautious about accepting submissives who do not speak English well.

Wow - email by translation app. Sounds like you did both him and yourself a favour by turning him down.

My first international session was a few years back in Prague, which is a fantastic city. Sessions are really affordable there and when I realized that I set up a 4-hour double with a couple of reputable Dommes that worked as a team. The email communication was very smooth and gave me the impression that they spoke English pretty well. When I arrived the space was amazing. It was a private apartment, but it was covered top-to-bottom in red leather, even the walls (probably not real). The walls were padded and the equipment was built in and super solid. It was very impressive. The Dommes were gorgeous, but I realized right away that one didn't understand English at all and the other Domme's English was pretty choppy. We had worked out all the details by email and they seem excited to dive in so I didn't worry too much about the language issues. In the end the session was one of my favorites, I found the limited communication exciting. I especially liked that they could conspire about what they were going to do to me in Czech and I had no idea until it happened.

But there was an interesting miscommunication. At one point during the session, one of the Dommes gets out a dog bowl and squats over it and I realize she is about to pee in it and she starts saying something about me having drinking it all up. Golden is not an interest of mine, and I realize that even though I listed golden as a limit in the emails we traded, it's slang and probably didn't translate into Czech correctly. Luckily I wasn't gagged at that moment and could communicate my confusion. But what was interesting is that they were super surprised that golden was a limit for me, given all the other activities they put me through. I guess it's common enough in Prague that even if you don't explicitly list an interest in golden, it can just be assumed that the average masochistic sub will be into it. I chalked it up to an unforeseen cultural difference. In the end, it was pretty funny, but I certainly learned my lesson about making sure all limits are fully understood.

I'd be curious to know other activities that are assumed as "no big deal" interests in one region, that would be seen as more edgy in other regions.

I haven't noticed any regional differences in what is edgy, but I find it amusing reading about your session having experienced something pretty similar just a month back. I too have a limit on golden showers, but was almost treated to one by my Mistress, who happen to be Czech...

I was lying on the floor tied up tightly when she unfolded some plastic sheets and put them under my head. Then she asked if I was ready for some champagne. She does speak good English, so I could talk myself out of it, though it earned me a couple of extra lashes of her flogger.

I have sessioned with her regularly for two years, so we know each others pretty well, but she simply forgot GS was on my embarrassingly long list of limits. Not a particular favourite on her part either, she thought we hadn't done it before because she never bothered to introduce it.

Welcome... we are glad to have you



One of my Dommes is originally from the Ukraine and definitely has a thick accent even though she has lived in the US for a long time (at least a decade). We don't do roleplay so the accent is just a neutral thing for me but I can definitely see how it could be hot if we did a roleplay interrogation scene. She has also never slipped into either Ukrainian or Russian during our encounters.

Because our encounters spread out over days (up to a week) rather than just a simple Pro session for an hour or two, there always seems to be some kind of misunderstanding at some point during that time. Sometimes I think she just reads/hears what she wants to though rather than it being an actual language barrier. In some ways this has enhanced the experience because I have been pushed pasted limits just because I didn't want to ruin the plan she had based on the misunderstanding. In others, it has been infuriating because I am trying to explain something and she just doesn't get it.

Asp

So funny. I think we're on to something here.

Interesting that the misunderstandings can have some positive effects too.

Your days/week-long encounters sounds exciting - are they commercial in nature or free play?