Trace Bates 3

[samurai_sarah]

Continue from here:

 

[Tdoc72]

Boring title for a boring couple.  😂

[JermajestyDuggar]

I prefer Traclydia 😂 it sounds sexually transmitted.

Edited March 10, 2023 by JermajestyDuggar

[AussieKrissy]

clever title and then there were three (how surprising)

[GuineaPigCourtship]

@ophelia congrats!  I hope baby #1 is doing well and looking forward to being an older sibling!

[clueliss]

This weeks vlog covered them telling her family then hit them telling his family apparently and I love you day by the way. And her first sonogram. Apparently the due date is September 26 give or take a day.

[llucie]

I thought the gender reveal to the Bates family was so awkward. Kelton opened the box with the balloons and he had to clarify repeatedly Josie is not the one that is pregnant. Then they all look at each other wondering who is. And they are lucky it was not Michaella or Brandon opening that box.

[gobucks]

Josie said IT IS NOT ME!  😂

[Scrabblemaster]

I am sick and I binge watch the videos from Trace and Lydia. I think Lydias pregnancy test video was one of the more genuine reactions to a positive test comparing to other ones from the Bates/Duggars. At least to me. It was somehow funny to watch because she was so panicked and took a bunch of tests, because one was not positive and some did not work. It was this whole "I am not sure-but I am sure-maybe" which seems more real to me.

I think I will adopt Lydia as my pet fundie now. I have a soft spot for her.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Scrabblemaster

[usedbicycle]

On 3/11/2023 at 10:20 PM, llucie said:

I thought the gender reveal to the Bates family was so awkward. Kelton opened the box with the balloons and he had to clarify repeatedly Josie is not the one that is pregnant. Then they all look at each other wondering who is. And they are lucky it was not Michaella or Brandon opening that box.

I thought the reveal to her family 1000x more awkward! First of all no one read the cake when they opened the box. The icing writing was really hard to read and no one got it until the couple basically had to yell "read what it says on the damn cake!" Then everyone just stood around and smiled awkwardly in that endearing German way - no loud congratulations and hugs for the couple. The Mom just asked Lydia if she was sure she was pregnant and I don't recall the Dad saying anything at all.

They do seem like a lovely family, if a little reserved. 

[Scrabblemaster]

@usedbicycle As a German I found the difference between the two reveals very funny. Her parents reacted like my parents would react if a camera was part of the situation. Honestly, even without the camera being around. My dad is also very reserved, he is not a hugger and he would sit there for a couple of minutes until the information really sunk in. I think then he would grin from ear to ear and do grandma and grandpa jokes, and then would do his happy-walk thing he sometimes does, where he steps from one foot to the other, I do the same when I am emotional. He would express his joy in in such a non-camera approved way that you could think he is not happy at all. But you would see it in his eyes. I think my mum would cry, laugh and hug me. Well I can only guess here, because I will not get children, but this is kind of what happened when my sister-in-law and brother announced her pregnancy. But yes, there would be no shrieking like the Bates family did. We just don't do this. I think I jumped up and down and laughed like a maniac when I was told that I became an aunt. But I am younger so there is that. And I am a hugger.

I suppose her parents are not used to the camera like the Bates and a little bit shy and reserved. And I thought the mum asked how far along Lydia was like: "Wie weit bist du denn?"
I agree with you, they seem like a lovely family, if a little reserved. Lydia and her sister Damaris seem to be more on the extroverted side, whereas the parents and the older brother seem to be more introverted. Maybe Damaris and Lydia are more extroverted because they grew up in the american environment, I have the feeling that Americans show there emotions more than us Germans. Correct me if you think I am wrong. I think the difference is due to cultural and personal differences we humans have.

[Nothing if not critical]

To me it's just striking how terribly uncomfortable Trace seems to be with the bilingualism in Lydia's home. You can practically see him flinch whenever someone speaks German and he looked massively uncomfortable when they were singing the German birthday song for him. I feel this might be down to him being really insecure, like a constant fear that someone is talking about him behind his back and he can't understand it. Which is sad, really, because while I'm no great fan of the Romeikes, they appear to have been nothing but kind and welcoming towards him. It's just another example of how insular the Bates kids' upbringing was, and it makes me sad, because I'm pretty sure their kids will miss out on the potential advantages of growing up bilingual.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Nothing if not critical

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 minutes ago, Nothing if not critical said:

To me it's just striking how terribly uncomfortable Trace seems to be with the bilingualism in Lydia's home. You can practically see him flinch whenever someone speaks German and he looked massively uncomfortable when they were singing the German birthday song for him. I feel this might be down to him being really insecure, like a constant fear that someone is talking about him behind his back and he can't understand it. Which is sad, really, because while I'm no great fan of the Romeikes, they appear to have been nothing but kind and welcoming towards him. It's just another example of how insular the Bates kids' upbringing was, and it makes me sad, because I'm pretty sure their kids will miss out on the potential advantages of growing up bilingual.

I would at least learn some basic German. Because it does bother me when I can’t understand people around me. So I would try. I doubt Trace will try to learn.

[Nothing if not critical]

6 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I would at least learn some basic German. Because it does bother me when I can’t understand people around me. So I would try. I doubt Trace will try to learn.

Exactly. He’s been with Lydia for how long now? And he doesn’t seem to have learned a simple greeting or anything. The family appear to do their best to speak English around him (switching to German only when they are surprised or excited), so it’s not like they exclude him on purpose. And with the song (clearly a family tradition), he could just have asked - I’m sure someone would have happily translated it for him. But that would demand a sliver of intellectual curiosity, so…

[Smash!]

I haven‘t seen the video. Do we know if the Romeikes maybe speak a dialect that would be somewhat hard to understand for German beginners? Then it would make somewhat sense to me that Trace is hesitant to learn Lydia‘s mother tongue.

 

 

[Nothing if not critical]

14 minutes ago, Smash! said:

I haven‘t seen the video. Do we know if the Romeikes maybe speak a dialect that would be somewhat hard to understand for German beginners? Then it would make somewhat sense to me that Trace is hesitant to learn Lydia‘s mother tongue.

 

 

They really don't. There may be traces of a regional accent, but they definitely speak "proper" German. Her father tends to mumble a bit, but that's about all. Considering what area of Germany they come from, it could be a lot worse 😂.

ETA: Just to be clear, I don't think that Trace is under any obligation to become fluent in German. The Romeikes chose to move to the States, and it's on them to learn the language to communicate. I just feel that it would be common politeness (and actually, also fun) for him to learn a few basic phrases or to be a little curious. Because that language is going to be part of his children's heritage, unless they choose to ignore it completely. And yeah, I know, German is not a super attractive language in the eyes of many people. But knowing at least a little doesn't seem too much to ask.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Nothing if not critical

[JermajestyDuggar]

11 minutes ago, Nothing if not critical said:

They really don't. There may be traces of a regional accent, but they definitely speak "proper" German. Her father tends to mumble a bit, but that's about all. Considering what area of Germany they come from, it could be a lot worse 😂.

ETA: I don't think that Trace is under any obligation to become fluent in German. The Romeikes moved to the States, and it's on them to learn the language to communicate. I just feel that it would be common politeness (and actually, also fun) for him to learn a few basic phrases or to be a little curious. Because that language is going to be part of his children's heritage, unless they choose to ignore it completely. And yeah, I know, German is not a super attractive language in the eyes of many people. But knowing at least a little doesn't seem too much to ask.

I would love for my children to be bilingual. But my Spanish classes in high school and college didn’t stick 😬 I want my children to take Spanish classes in middle school and high school and maybe I’ll brush up on my Spanish during that time along with them. Trace should want his children to be bilingual. It’s wonderful to know more than one language. I’m sort of jealous of people who know many. 

[CanadianMamam]

My husband is the son of immigrants. He speaks his parents native tongue with his mother. We have been together for 16 years and I don't speak the language, but I do have basic understanding and I have stopped being bothered by the conversations (I can tune it out well).

[Scrabblemaster]

26 minutes ago, Nothing if not critical said:

They really don't. There may be traces of a regional accent, but they definitely speak "proper" German. Her father tends to mumble a bit, but that's about all. Considering what area of Germany they come from, it could be a lot worse 😂.

 

Yep I can totally agree with that! It really could be so much worse to understand. They speak proper German. My best friends mum is from that area and when she talks in that typical dialect, I do not understand 90 percent of her words. My friend does not speak the dialect but understands most of it.  The region is called Schwaben and if you talk the dialect we call it "schwäbeln". For my ears it is one of the nicer dialects we have in Germany, I have problems with some dialects because they sound so harsh. I think if a person with northern German dialect talks to a person speaking the deepest bavarian dialect from the south of Germany - there would be some huge difficulties. That would be so funny to listen too.

[Nothing if not critical]

17 minutes ago, Scrabblemaster said:

Yep I can totally agree with that! It really could be so much worse to understand. They speak proper German. My best friends mum is from that area and when she talks in that typical dialect, I do not understand 90 percent of her words.

*lol* Yeah, my husband's extended family is from around there, too, very rural, very strong dialect, and I can barely understand them when they really get going, even though I'm from the south myself. The Romeikes are nothing like that, probably because Lydia's mother used to be a teacher, I think? 

[Cupcake79]

48 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I would love for my children to be bilingual. But my Spanish classes in high school and college didn’t stick 😬 I want my children to take Spanish classes in middle school and high school and maybe I’ll brush up on my Spanish during that time along with them. Trace should want his children to be bilingual. It’s wonderful to know more than one language. I’m sort of jealous of people who know many. 

I speak four languages, German is one of them. It is not very common for people in my country to speak German. It is rather nice to be able to understand a language that few other around you understand. I share your opinion, Trace should take it as an advantage to have bilingual children. 

I have not watched discussed videos, but I think I will have to go listen to Lydia's family.

[fluffernutter]

In a different but relatable situation, my aunt and uncle are both deaf. Their grown kids, my cousins, both are married to people who learned sign language! We were all together around the holidays and they can easily carry conversations between each other. That makes my heart happy for my aunt and uncle. They grew up in a time where they were sent off to deaf school and no one in either family bothered to learn sign. 

[irish_dancing_canadian]

I live in NRW (Nordrhein-Westfalen) and have a hard time understanding people from Bayern and other southern regions. Sure German isn't my native language but I can understand those from the North way better than the South. But then again I have a hard time understanding dialects from NRW that elderly people still speak. It's actually crazy that there are so many German dialects.

Also, Trace reminds me of my friends husband. My friend is Swedish and moved to Germany to be with her husband. She completely learned German and gave up being near her family. My friends family would like her husband to learn some basic Swedish. They don't expect him to be fluent as my friend and her husband are not living in Sweden, but some basics would be nice. I am really good friends with my friends family. I recently started learning Swedish and it has so many similarities to German and English, and my friends mother is so happy. Now my friends husband is mad at me for starting to learn Swedish. He also hates that he feels obligated to learn some Swedish (which I find kind of selfish) but anyways, that's a whole other can of worms and now I'm just kind of venting.

 Anyways, Trace really should try to learn some basic German. But I get the feeling if Lydia and their children were to speak German in front of him, he would get mad. I do hope he opens up to it more but I have my doubts. 

[Nothing if not critical]

33 minutes ago, irish_dancing_canadian said:

I recently started learning Swedish and it has so many similarities to German and English,

Ikr? It’s so much fun to learn! I actually managed to get to a decent level of Swedish just by taking evening classes (I was lucky enough to have an awesome teacher, though!). And of course there are so many great Swedish murder mysteries to read 🤩. These days I mostly rely on Duolingo to keep my Swedish up to snuff, but really, it’s not that hard for German speakers.

[Hazelbunny]

Very interesting discussion! (Dad German, Mum Welsh, lived in Germany all my life) Mum now speaks German fluently, but at the beginning after moving here, she said she always felt as if everybody was angry with her, because (to her ears) German sounded so harsh compared to English. She then learned it as quickly as possible so she could understand what they were saying. We children were raised bilingual, fluent in both languages. (I remember switching to English in my German A-Levels mid Exam and having to rewrite a whole page - so annoying!)