我第一次出国时,几乎听不懂老外说什么.这句话用英语怎么说?三楼的朋友 为什么用“were saying"啊？

I could hardly understand what the foreigners were saying when I first went abroad.
or,
I could hardly understand what the foreigners were saying when I went abroad for the first time.

I could hardly understand what the foreigners were talking about when I was abroad for the first time.

I almost knew nothing about what the foreigners said when I first went abroad.