Many years ago, a Spanish-speaking female customer came into Bath and Body Works. When I greeted her, she looked nervous, and I realized that the Spanish I'd heard her speaking to her boyfriend outside was the only language she knew. So I tried to assist her using what Spanish I recalled, which went from a little to "Well, that was embarrassing" the second I started trying to use it. Nevertheless, she stayed, and ended up buying something.
I've always felt embarrassed about how bad my Spanish was, until this evening, when a waitress at the restaurant I visited for dinner explained the menu to me in what English she knew. She was clearly embarrassed whenever she had to search for words, and seemed nervous speaking to a native English speaker. But the fact was that she made the effort to help me, and saved me a ton of time on my Chinese Symbol Dictionary iPod app by just telling me what dishes were pasta, which had cheese/vegetables/seafood, etc. And now when I go back, I can order from those options because she helped me.
So now I'm glad that, many years ago, I at least tried to speak Spanish, even though I know that I sucked at it. I'm pretty sure that no person who is dealing with a foreign culture is going to judge you based on your lack of skill speaking their language if you're at least making the effort to use it for their sake.
So I want to thank every Taiwanese person who has spoken English to me, or just taken the time to make hand gestures when I looked confused or unsure. It changes everything to feel you're not completely alone in facing that kind of challenge.
I've always felt embarrassed about how bad my Spanish was, until this evening, when a waitress at the restaurant I visited for dinner explained the menu to me in what English she knew. She was clearly embarrassed whenever she had to search for words, and seemed nervous speaking to a native English speaker. But the fact was that she made the effort to help me, and saved me a ton of time on my Chinese Symbol Dictionary iPod app by just telling me what dishes were pasta, which had cheese/vegetables/seafood, etc. And now when I go back, I can order from those options because she helped me.
So now I'm glad that, many years ago, I at least tried to speak Spanish, even though I know that I sucked at it. I'm pretty sure that no person who is dealing with a foreign culture is going to judge you based on your lack of skill speaking their language if you're at least making the effort to use it for their sake.
So I want to thank every Taiwanese person who has spoken English to me, or just taken the time to make hand gestures when I looked confused or unsure. It changes everything to feel you're not completely alone in facing that kind of challenge.
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