Re: Cleveland in the Big Apple

Michael Schaffer wrote:

Imagine someone trying to get by in the US with anything but
English...not only would he have the hardest time finding anyone who
can actually speak any foreign language, but most people wouldn't even
try to communicate with him.

When I worked in the foreign language department at a college, I had occasion a couple of times to speak to people who had no English. I had taken Spanish in junior high and high school, plus a little more in college, and was willing to try to remember words and grammar -- and they were just so grateful for it. I'm sure I sounded like an idiot (at least my pronunciation was good, thanks in part to the consistency of the language), but it was water in the desert for them.

When we visited Italy, I ran into a situation I hadn't expected, and my mind simply went blank. I didn't even think to try Spanish or German. I stood like an idiot and finally nodded when they asked me a simple question.

Luckily, when we were in China, there was always somebody around who knew some English -- or, failing that, would indicate by signs what we needed to know. This was in Wuxi, not a major city by any means, just a couple million population.


Kip W
.

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