Probably true Kim.

And as your linked article states, I too doubt that too many people in the audience for JFK's speech took it as anything other than the way he meant it, but it was a mistake and some did get a laugh out of the situation. My point here is that this kind of thing always strikes me as rubbish. Learning a few lines phonetically as some sort of respectful, goodwill gesture, is pretty lame and usually better for it's laugh value than anything else. Kennendy could as well have said based on the history of Berlin and the airlift, etc., "We in the U.S. are all citizens of Berlin." or something along those lines.

It's much different when someone actually speaks a language to give their speech in the language of the country they are in. Many people come to the US and speak English.....We are probably the worst at not returning the favor!!!

Spaw