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Last week at work, the 55 country code appeared on my phone display. Brazil. My first inbound call in Portuguese. It caught me off guard. I was busy helping another customer by email. Besides, I was afraid of imperfection. Let it go to voice mail. A more experienced Portuguese speaker can answer this prospect’s questions.
The line kept ringing. Ugh.
I answered.
Bom dia. Fala Jim. Você fala espanhol? Inglês?
Não. Não.
Continuing in my stellar and rudimentary Portuguese, I told the potential customer that I was learning her language. I asked her to please speak slowly.
She complied. I understood what she wanted. Then she threw me for a loop with one answer. Moving on, I asked for her company’s name. Never heard of it. I asked her to spell it so I could Google it and find the address. I wasn’t getting it. No visual clues. Exposed. After seven minutes, I got most of what I needed. I hung up, relieved it was over and hoping the recording would reveal answers I had missed. Painful to relive my errors. I had to call her back to confirm her email address. Turns out I had gotten that wrong, too.
Four months into this language exploration, I get frustrated. Portuguese and Spanish are so similar. Why is this taking so long?
I forget that these doubts are part of the process.
Without the struggles, how could I become so joyful when communicating with all the beautiful, smiling people I’ve met on Skype and Zoom? Without risk, how would I become grateful for the rewards. (More about those next time.)
When I focus on the failure, I lose sight of the successes—like the outbound phone call to another potential customer. The Brazilian who answered spoke English. He asked if wanted to practice Portuguese. Of course. After the business part of the call and a complement about my Portuguese, he asked where I was calling from. He was thrilled to learn I was in Boston, a place he had visited.
Common ground. Cooperação. Cooperación.
The pitfalls and potholes of learning Portuguese and Spanish have made me more grateful for the blessings I’ve enjoyed and more compassionate toward those who face similar obstacles in identifying their language learning goals and needs.
Are you contemplating learning Spanish or Portuguese? I’m here to listen.