We are in Winterthur now on an apartment hunting trip. Not knowing any German or Swiss-German has been a bit tough, but we’re making our way. Knowing English, Italian and French certainly helps. I’m going to take a cue from Alex on how to make friends and communicate…
We were out having dinner the other night when this interaction ensued…
Alex saw a little girl and started holding her hand and running with her, she was happy to oblige. At one point they started running off too far, the girl’s father stood up and yelled “Ciara, vieni, gioca qui!” When they came over to our table, Alex said, “Mommy, girl! Alex hold hand, running with girl.” We said yes and we asked her if she spoke English, she said “nein”. We said, “parle
Italiano?” “Si!”, with a big smile. “Come ti chiama?” “Ciara” “Quanti anni hai?” Two fingers went up. “Il suo nome e Alex.” A puzzled look on her face. “Si chiama Alessandro.” “Ah, Alessandro. Vieni Alessandro, gioca qui.” They ran off with big smiles. A few minutes later, they came back and Alex was trying to get her to go play, we told him “Vieni” means come. Within 45 seconds you could hear him calling “Vieni” from across the piazza.
Kids have the right idea… just make it work, what ever language(s) is/are needed, just keep having fun… at least until your parents make you sit down to eat dinner.
Learning from the kids
2008-07-21 14:01