I wanted to buy something at the little shop on the corner, but I couldn’t say what. I knew exactly what it was I needed but I couldn’t say it. Not because I didn’t want to say it, but because I couldn’t. But I stumbled along and tried to string together the few words I knew. The woman shopkeeper smiled at me kindly.
I was twenty years old and had just arrived in France. My two years of high school French and one semester of college French were of little help, their shelf life expired from disuse.
That is one of my most vivid memories from the year when I lived in France, by myself, as a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellow. I remember that I felt welcome and that I felt understood, even though I did not get all the words right.
It was one day when I was riding a city bus in France that I realized I could understand all the conversations around me. Then a whole world opened up to me.
From that I learned how it was important to just keep trying, and to never assume that the rest of the world could—or should—speak English. All these many years later, I try to treat the people I meet who are not native English speakers in the way that the shopkeeper had treated me: with kindness, patience, and respect.
To this day, I love the French language, culture, and most of all the French people. I wish I could thank the shopkeeper: Merci pour tout. Thank you for everything.
