later, she approached Lora who sits next to me and is fluent in Spanish. Our office manager said, "The woman on the phone wants to speak to one of our PA's, but she has a Spanish accent and I can't understand her name. Can you talk to her and get her name?" This is how their exchange went:
Lora: Hola! Mi nombre es Lora.
Patient:Uh....hi?
Turns out she was German!
We laughed and laughed! She did have a very thick accent and Lora had to ask her to spell her name
and get her birth date before she finally understood who she was. But through it all, Lora was kind and never acted impatient.
Because we have a large Air Force Base here, we have a lot of internationals...thus our nickname...The International City. Every Tuesday morning during the school year, English (as a second language) is taught at one of our local churches. I taught there for two years and had some of the sweetest students. They were the wives of airmen. One was Korean and the other two were from the Philippines. They were diligent in their studies and so grateful for the help. It was a blessing to spend that time with them. It would be interesting to know where they are today and how well they can speak English.
On thing is for sure...whether we are German, Hispanic, French, Canadian or American, we can all speak the language of love. Whether it is being patient with someone you cannot understand on the phone or taking the time to teach someone, caring for others is always a good thing!
I took 2 yrs. of German in college --but don't remember much of it at all. Back then, we didn't learn to 'speak' it --which would be been much better... SO--whatever I learned is no longer in my head!!!!! I was never much when it came to languages!!!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Love the reminder to speak the language of love!!
ReplyDeletei loved this story, thanks for the smile and it proves people are still good, from kind Lora to the hispanic lady helping... my husband can not understand anyone with an accent but for some reason I can...
ReplyDeleteSo true and what fun to be able to teach English like that. Nothing gives more fulfillment than that.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. I'm glad for all the patient people who helped my folks along when they didn't know English. I'm also happy to meet those who are patient with me when I'm in a foreign country and don't understand the language!
ReplyDeletehehe, so good you can laugh at work. i loved the last paragraph!!
ReplyDeleteI have a special place in my heart for those who are learning a new language. Those who have never had to learn another language may not realize how difficult it is and I always appreciate seeng how patient some are. Funny thing that happend at our work place where we have several internationals ... our son-in-law had to communicate with a Korean and commented how his English had improved after one or two weeks. I had to smile, knowing that his listening skills have probably improved as well.
ReplyDelete