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“What Did I Say This Time?”

MOST of us take for granted the language we speak. If we need something, we ask for it; when we are explaining or describing, the words are not hard to find.

However, missionaries struggling to learn a new language in a foreign land find themselves in an entirely different set of circumstances, and composing even the simplest sentence can result in pitfalls.

Fortunately, the Latin people are generally very polite to the newcomer. So when he makes a mistake, they try not to laugh. Even so, they often cannot prevent a smile from ‘letting the cat out of the bag.’ At times like this the question that comes to one’s mind is, “What did I say this time?”

I have had my share of educating experiences. My wife and I had been in Peru for several weeks before our belongings arrived by ship. When we went to the terminal to identify the items, we were greeted by several customs officials. We certainly wanted to make a favorable impression, and I was eager to show how well I was progressing with the language. In the course of the conversation one official, who was especially polite and friendly, asked me, I thought, how many years I had (¿Cuántos años tiene?). Since this is the Spanish way of asking, “How old are you?” I felt that here was my chance to show him that I was onto this strange sentence structure. When I saw the by-now-familiar twinkle in his eyes I knew that somewhere along the way I had missed something. What he had really asked was how many children I had (¿Cuántos niños tiene?), and, yes, I had really told him I had twenty-eight and my wife had twenty-nine.

After an outing to the beach, I was explaining to a friend that because I had been wearing sandals I could not participate in the fútbol game, which is similar to soccer in the United States. When I said that I was wearing sandías I noticed that he had a rather puzzled expression at first, and then his eyes started to shine, and he said, “Oh, you mean sandalias.” Not being content to let well enough alone, I asked what sandías were. He seemed quite reluctant to tell me, but finally said they were a type of fruit.

“Oh,” I asked, “what type of fruit?”

“Well, they are green and more or less round, and . . .”

After a little more description I realized what fruit he meant. Can you imagine playing soccer wearing watermelons?

However, when I am licking my wounds after some spectacular blunder, I often find solace in reviewing some of the other missionaries’ unfortunate manipulations of words.

There are several common errors that almost everyone will commit sooner or later. One repeated many times by new missionaries concerns the word for “sin.” As a result, many have asked God in prayer to help them to overcome their fish (pescados) instead of their sins (pecados).

And pity the poor missionary perplexed by “casado,” which means “married,” and “cansado,” which means “tired.” So it is that a Latin Witness innocently asked a missionary girl if she were married. Thinking his question was, “Are you tired?” her equally innocent reply was, “Only in the evenings.”

People in South America are usually interested in others and eager to be of help. Yet, one girl was surprised to see just how concerned they can be. As she sat down on a rather weak chair it suddenly collapsed. Sitting on the floor, she tearfully cried out, “I’m so embarrassed!” (¡Me siento tan abochornada!)​—or, so she thought. Immediately everyone became extra attentive and helpful. It was not until later that she discovered what she really had said was, “I’m pregnant!” (¡Estoy embarazada!)

In spite of these fumblings and blunders, Jehovah has blessed the efforts of the missionaries in Peru. Because of their willing spirit, others have been aided to learn God’s loving purpose for mankind. One missionary said that she had so many problems in speaking Spanish when she arrived that on her first Bible study the householder had to read the question, answer it, and then read the paragraph. Nonetheless, this woman is now a dedicated, baptized publisher of God’s kingdom.

Though there have been moments of groping for words and sometimes later wishing they had not been found after all, we have found that by having a sense of humor and not being afraid to laugh at ourselves a little, we can even enjoy our rather amusing errors. Certainly, we have gathered a vast collection of heartwarming memories.​—Contributed.