Games We Play

My absolute favorite question, and quite frankly one of the questions I live for, is when someone walks up and asks, 'excuse me, do you speak English?' It's like the heavens have opened up and a bright green light begins to shine on what was probably a rather dull day.

Here's the game:

It all started when I was having a beer with a friend of mine from Cork, Ireland at an Irish pub here in Saarbrücken. He and I were chatting and there was a table of drunk dudes next to us. At one point one of the drunkies turned and asked us a question. We answered.  In perfect English, naturally. The drunkie was like, 'Wooooowww. You're English is sooooooooooooooo good'. I made eye contact with my friend and it's like we read each other's minds. Game on. 

Now when someone asks if I speak English, I usually say, yes I do. Now that's a fact; they interpret it as they want. Then we get to talking and it never fails that at some point they say, wow, you're English is so good.

I'll usually chuckle modestly to myself and say, 'oh really? Well I studied in the U.S.' Again it's a fact and people interpret it as they want. People never figure that I might actually be American, which to me would be the next logical question. As my 8th grade English teacher said, and what many people know as a general rule, never assume. It makes an ASS out of U and ME.

But most times they will go off on how well I learned and how they wish they could speak a language that well and how the school system has failed them. Who am I to crush their disenchantment with their education system? They should be disenchanted with it. They should demand a better system. I always suggest they petition the powers that be. Do they ever? Probably not, but it never hurts to try!