“Wo bist du?” I couldn’t help but overhear a German lady ask for her friend’s location over the phone.
“Roosevelt? Wo ist Roosevelt Avenue?”
Pause –
“Roosevelt Avenue und neunzig Straße?”
Pause –
Her face appeared so lost, looking left and right and in every direction possible.
I was in Jackson Heights, home to majority Hispanic, Indian, and a bit of Korean culture. Jackson Heights is the last place I’d expect to hear German.
Although I had learned German in my first three years of high school, I only remembered fragments. I felt hesitant.
“Uhh … “ I approached her.
“Entschuldigung? Excuse me? Sind Sie versuchen, für Roosevelt Avenue und neunzig Straße finden? I asked, hoping I got all the verb conjugations right and the proper etiquette for speaking to a stranger.
“Ja! Wissen Sie?” She said in excitement.
“Ja. Uhm. It’s 2 blocks down this street and left another. So Sie gehen zwei Straßen und dann gehen Sie nach links.” I tried, translating my own English. In my head, I was more concerned over my grammatical syntax than the idea that I was trying to help a stranger with directions. It was like a mini pop quiz in my head, and my heart started to pound. I felt embarrassed to butcher the beautiful language in front of a native speaker. I never really spoke German outside of the classroom other than playing around with my friends. At the same time, I felt knowledgeable and helpful.
“Danke schon!” she thanked me with a puff of air in relief to finally know where to go.
“Bitte,” I smiled, and huffed a breath of air to realize the “quiz” was over, and I succeeded.
“Ein süßes chinesisches Mädchen hat mir geholfen,” I hear her telling her friend as she crossed the street in a hurry.
“A sweet Chinese girl helped me,” she had said. That cultural encounter made my day.
I understand the feeling you had of being hesitant to speak German because I took French in high school and I had to speak my choppy French when I visited Quebec with my French class. Even though you were nervous about speaking German, a language you learned for merely a few years, I think it was so brave that you stepped out of your comfort zone to try it out because you were actually able to help someone out.
That’s a great story. I took spanish from 7-12 grade, but I am embarrassed when a native speaker asks me to say something in Spanish. I don’t feel my pronunciations sound authentic and I am always worried that my verb conjugation will be inaccurate. I want to travel abroad to a spanish speaking country to practice the language, but I am nervous I will be laughed at or people will not be able to understand me. That is great that you went up to help her. I’m afraid I would not,] because of my own fear or embarrassment.
I like your story telling technique. It started with a dialogue in foreign language, and instantly grabbed my attention. You have recreated this cultural encounter vividly in audiences’ minds. I read this post from beginning to end with extra attention instead of skimming through it because it really stands out.