How often do you get stuck in English and, more importantly, what do you do when that happens?
Back in the days when I had just started working at the front desk of a large hotel, a guest approached me and asked me: “Daniela, what do you have in the workout room?” Of course, he meant exercise equipment. I froze. I had so much to learn on my new job – the difference between foam and feather pillows (and why the heck people cared about it), if we had cots or not. Why would there be another word for a rollaway bed anyway? I guess just to make my life difficult 😅. My point is that with all that new vocabulary and computer software that I had to learn, the workout equipment had stayed on the back burner.
And here he was, staring at me and waiting for an answer. The truth is that the only thing inside this room that I could name was the TV screen on the wall. And that’s what I did. I looked at him, pulled out a smile and said, TV, Sir.
At this moment the guest and my coworker, who was at the other corner of the desk burst into laughter. I started laughing as well realizing that I’d just made a fool of myself, but at least they thought it was funny. I apologized to the guest confessing that I actually didn’t have the chance to learn the names of the machines yet, but would find out in a moment. He wasn’t mad at all. He just seemed entertained.
When you forget a word or simply don’t know it, don’t be too hung up on it. Even if it’s at work. Many people understand that this is not your native language and that you are doing your best. Don’t beat on yourself. You’ve come so far anyway.
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Has a similar situation ever happened to you? Do you ever get stuck in English? How do you handle it? Share in the comments.
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