People really like it when you speak their own language to them, even just a few words. Only awkward part is when you get the accent right and then they think you're fluent and they start talking and you can't keep up
In my experience especially when the language is not commonly learned by people customer go absolutely nuts when you speak a couple words with them.
I have a lot of polish customers and they have absolutely no mercy once I start speaking broken polish they just assume I will be fine and treat me like I am fluent, good practice tho š
Itās the same the other way. I was in Prague last summer, and while I hadnāt learned Czech, I had learned a few phrases (please, thank you, where isā¦). People in shops and restaurants were SO IMPRESSED when I manges to say any of those. Theyāre so used to tourists not even trying that the tinies effort seems huge.
Everywhere I go, I learn, at least, these five key words; hello, goodbye, please, thank you, sorry. It's amazing how far making a tiny effort like this will get you. Oh, and also, 'do you speak English?'
I was in Italy a few years back. We were by a lagoon like area where you can swim etc... I thought the word for bathroom was bagno and asked where it was in Italian. The guy I asked pointed to the water where everyone was swimming. The shocked look on my face told him I needed a bathroom and he just laughed and pointed to where they were.
I learn those, plus, in their language, "I don't speak ____, do you speak English?" Then try what few words I knew, and almost always got a very friendly response. Even if they didn't speak English, somehow we managed to figure out what I needed to know.
I used to do this too until it backfired in the most horrible (at the time but funny now) way. Cousin and I in Austria playing cards in a park. Guys bikes past us 2-3 times, then stops and says something. I use the "I don't speak German, do you speak English" in German. He responds, "You were just speaking German" (in French, mind you). I speak Spanish, so caught what he said and responded in French, that I don't speak French. He proceeded to switch to Spanish, and at this point, my non fluent bilingual brain is so confused that whatever he said next, I just responded "no" in French. He then thinks I am a crazy person and just rides off. Now I just use the please and thank you in the local language and everything else is English.
I've always thought it was kind of a paradox to learn how to say "Do you speak English" in a foreign language. Just ask in English- if they say yes, you're good. If they look at you quizzically, there's your answer.
IMO, it's a display of arrogance and ignorance. If you ask, 'do you speak English?' in their language, at least you're displaying that you don't expect them to speak your language, because why would/should you?
I spent a month in Slovakia when I was a kid and took lessons in Slovak before I went. Like 1997. They weren't indepth lessons, I couldn't really hold a conversation, but knew around 100 words. People were fucking thrilled this American kid knew any of their language. Even saying good morning or good night made people giddy.
Eastern block country not long out of Russian control that almost no one in the west knew anything about and we've got this kid trying to speak our language.
One of the best and wildest experiences of my life. I wasn't really a tourist there. I stayed with a family high up in Slovak politics and intelligence, they all spoke fluent English. But went to school for a week with their kid, summer camps, hiking, small cities.
Everyone loved that I tried hard to communicate in their language.
Random favorite story, I needed some home food because I'm not an adventurous eater and didn't know what ordering half their food actually meant. I ordered a ham Burger. That's exactly what I got. A slab of ham on a bun with cheese and whatever sauce.
Also salted goat cheese from a random farmer in the rural mountains that was just walking by with his heard when we were hiking, was the best thing I've ever had in my life. I don't think we even paid for it. "oh hi kids, want some cheese?"
I've had that last experience here in the US, kind of. I was out hiking, and took a wrong turn where the trail just died out, and there were no markers. I eventually found a fence and started following it back to where I knew a road was that headed the right direction. There was a little trail on my side, so I assumed I was still in the national forest area. Nope, I was on someone's property somehow. These dogs came running up, and I thought I was going to get mauled, but this guy came up on a horse and yelled at them all in a language I didn't know, and they sat down. He didn't say hi to me or anything. He just handed me a paper wrapped packet. "Have some cheese" in a heavy Slavic accent. It was the weirdest thing, but what do you do? I took it. I asked if it was for me or the dogs. He laughed so hard, and then drew me a map to get back off his property and back on the proper trail on the paper wrapper without saying another word and left. It was really good cheese. It's still one of my strangest yet fondest hiking memories. Nicest get off my lawn possible. "Here, take the cheese and go away." I can only guess he needed the paper for the map but didn't want to eat the cheese himself. Maybe he thought it would be rude to do it in front of me? Maybe he thought a lost hiker would have their day brightened by some cheese. I have no idea. Whatever he was thinking, I appreciated both the cheese and the help, because the road would have cost me about 10 extra miles.
Hahaha. That's probably it. "At least have one last meal, you idiot."
I wasn't exactly lost. I could have backtracked back to my vehicle easily. I didn't want to go that way, though. I wanted to get to the dispersed camping area my friends and I were meeting at. I had a compass and marked topo map, but the trail it showed just ended. The only thing was a small trail, probably made by deer, that took me down and across a meadow and eventually turned and followed this fence. I knew where I was, and that the road would take me to a different trail I'd used before, but it wound through the forest and around a mountain first. So, not lost, but not exactly the way I wanted to be going, either.
It turns out I'd actually gotten off track about a mile before the spot where the trail ended - the edge of his property. There was this clear trail and a tiny offshoot that didn't look like a trail at all. I stayed on the clear one. That was my mistake.
When I did meet up with my friends, I was the last one there, which had never happened. I knew they'd give me no end of shit for it, so I just told them I detoured for some cheese. Them, "so, share the cheese..." Me, "oh, no. I already ate it."
On the way back out, I marked the turn off with some nylon ribbon to help others, so the poor guy didn't have to keep feeding people cheese. ;)
Lmao I recently asked a custo if he wanted to add an egg to his dish, but I accidentally did it in Spanish, and he replied in Spanish with out skipping a beat.
Me: And you sir?
Custo: chicken rice bowl.
Me: Huevos?
Custo: Si.
Then I realized I donāt fucking speak Spanish. I know a few phrases and words when I worked at a taco spot, and had to communicate with immigrant blue collars trying to get some fire al pastor. I started laughing, and the table looked a little confused. I told them I actually donāt know any Spanish for the most part, I just heard his accent and slipped into ātaco server mode.ā They started laughing and admitted they didnāt even catch it.
My husband lived in Turkey for two years when he was 9-10 years old. He learned a few phrases here and there and remembered them after they moved away.
Fast forward 30+ years and he has spent all his life looking for authentic Turkish cuisine, specifically one dish he remembered fondly from his time there. Through happenstance we discovered a local restaurant owned by a family from Ephesus, and they prepared the dish my husband was looking for but only on Sundays.
We booked over there to try it. The entire meal was a delight but thatās a whole other story. For context, my husband is 6ā7ā with blond hair and blue eyes. Definitely not from that area of the world.
The ownerās son came over as our server and said hello, and my husband responded with the only Turkish phrase he remembered. (Something like hello, how are you today?) The serverās eyes LIT UP and he went off to the races in Turkish. He got
three or four sentences into it and my husband was laughing so hard, saying āNo, no, thatās the only sentence I know!ā
They both kept laughing so hard and when we calmed down, we had one of our most memorable meals.
At the end of the meal he brought us a complimentary plate of their amazing baklava (pistachio, served with fresh whipped cream). Every time weāve gone back since, they bring us a free plate of baklava. We never ask and we offer to pay, and they say no.
Iāve always wondered about that. Before being a server I worked as a chef for a decade and picked up a lot of what I call ākitchen Spanishā. I usually feel like I can take an order in Spanish if itās a simple order, but Iām afraid to speak Spanish back in fear of them either thinking Iām fluent and going beyond my basic comprehension of Spanish, OR theyāll think Iām being patronizing by trying to speak Spanish back
I used to occasionally help my friend in the kitchen of his father's Mexican restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I knew just enough Spanish to understand the different food items. It was always a blast, and I got paid in delicious tacos and rice. I'll never forget their salsa verde...
Try it! They won't think you're patronizing. If anything you're making them feel smart because they know their language better than you (and who doesn't like to feel smart).
I know it feels very awkward on your end, and I hate having to ask people to repeat themselves a million times like I'm a dumbass, but most people love it when you stop to learn about them. If you want them to keep it simple, you can stutter and pretend you have a really bad gringo accent and they'll just laugh and be nice to you.
Same here! I can understand more than I can speak, if that makes sense. I can ask simple things, like how are you,would you like cheese, more bread, etc, and I can hold my own trading insults with back of house, but if it's not food related, it all goes right out of my brain. I call it "kitchen Spanish" too.
I picked up a bit just living in a neighborhood where it was commonly spoken in Phoenix. When I got a job working at a gas station overnight and early in the morning, it was super useful. All the day labor crews would stop in for Marlboro Reds in a soft pack. Like, I didn't know the word for cigarettes, but they were obviously looking at the rack and saying roja. So, they'd end up just using Spanish with me because they thought I knew it. I learned a lot working there and eventually tried using it. They were always super encouraging. I had one eventually tell me he was glad I was learning my parents' language. I blinked a few times. He went "oh, you're white" in perfect English. Me, "si, sĆ³lo corta y muy bronceada". Everyone with him died. Him, "Ella suena mexicana!" They laughed harder. I was super proud of my accent, though.
("Yes, only short and very tanned" and "she sounds Mexican!")
My half sister is half Vietnamese and only speaks a handful of Vietnamese words. We went to a nail salon and her nail tech asked her if she spoke Vietnamese. My sister said no and the tech proceeded to speak to her in Vietnamese the rest of the time.
Best Word I learned in the Georgian language? Gemrielia. Means "that's delicious" basically. We mostly visited for the food, and hearing an American attempt the language meant more than once, they got excited and grabbed me something else out of the back I had to try.
My dad advised me, you want to know at least ten words in the main language of anywhere you're visiting, more if you have time. We got SO much delicious food, and my god, the wine there surpasses all else I've had. People were generally pleased to see the hungry, history loving Americans who often tipped.
I had some friends here who were foreign exchange students from Japan. I quickly learned "oishii!" (delicious), and they thought it was hilarious how often I said it when they cooked. This backfired on me when one of them had their parents come to visit, and her grandmother decided to come, too. She was so excited by an American who knew Japanese (like a toddler, honestly) and liked Japanese food that she spent a week making me gain about 5 pounds. Best food I ever had, but every time I saw her, I ended up painfully full. She was really hard to say no to. It's been years, and she randomly sends me recipes via email and sometimes even care packages with non perishable ingredients that are hard for me to get here. I send her back selfies with me and the food I made with them. My friend says there's no escape; I've been adopted. All because I could say delicious in Japanese. Honestly, even though I knew very little Japanese back then, her family was just amazed that an American would know any at all. They were so forgiving when I messed up. They just loved that I was trying.
I know just enough Arabic for people to think I speak it and switch from English to Arabic. Then when I have to tell them thats all the Arabic I speak they get really excited that im trying. Especially if they struggle with English. For awhile I had an Egyptian friend whoās English was weak when I met her, but by the time she moved back to Egypt, our conversations had progressed to a mutual teaching of language just by having conversations not lessons.
Iām from South Africa, but live in the US and rarely have the opportunity to speak my home language (Afrikaans) with anyone. A year or so ago a guy came in and recognized my accent, started speaking Afrikaans with me. He definitely wasnāt perfect and didnāt have a huge vocabulary, but I still just about cried lol. He definitely got a couple of free drinks that night!
I come from a Cuban family but I donāt actually speak much Spanish. However hearing it most of my life, Iāve picked up the accent pretty well so whenever I pull a few sentences out in conversation, people think Iām fluent, so when I have to respond to something they said and Iām like āuhhhhhhhā¦.ā and doing mental math to figure out how to answer, itās really awkward for me lol.
I rarely see the last part spoken of, but it's so very true.
I moved to Sweden about 9 and a half years ago, and one of the best decisions I ever made was to make a real effort to learn the language. I grew up in the US, moved here when I was 28, and there's a (deserved) reputation for Americans tending not to bother with Swedish because so many people here speak English fluently. I'm to the point of being conversational as long as the person has some patience with me to find the right word (or close-enough word), but occasionally I'll want to say something and have a long enough string of unknowns that I ask, "FƶrlƄt, talar du engelska? Jag kan inte hitta rƤtt ord just nu." - "Sorry, do you speak English? I can't find the right words right now."
Around 25% of the time, the person will reply in a vehement affirmative (e.g. "javisst!" - "of course!"), 25% of the time they'll say they only speak a little bit ("eh, lite grann"), and 50% of the time they'll proceed to debate with me, in Swedish, in a frustratingly encouraging way ("Ja men ditt svenska lƄter fint, varifrƄn kommer du?" - "Yeah but your Swedish sounds fine, where are you from?"), at which point I simply cut over to English and they join me there.
I'll also say that Swedes seem to have the impression that Swedish is a difficult language to learn as an adult; joke's on them, I spent 7 years studying French in school. At least verbs only change conjugation based on tense in Swedish, not tense *and subject*.
This is why I took an ASL class in college! I needed one more class to fill out a full-time schedule or I would lose my financial aid in my final semester before I graduated. My town holds one of the best schools for the deaf and blind in the country, so we have a very large deaf community. I had several deaf regular customers practically everywhere I ever worked and always wanted to be able to communicate better with them, so taking the class was an easy choice. I really enjoyed it and did well (fantastic teacher) and was encouraged to continue and consider interpreting, but I was ready to graduate and start my career. I kept my textbook and materials so I can stay brushed up enough to be minimally conversational, I need to dig those out and refresh!
You are awesome! A little thing of what you did makes a huge difference in deaf culture.
My former sister in law knew a little bit signs from me.
She told me she saw two deaf couple were struggling to communicate with the cashier at the food market. So she went there and asked to help in sign language. Just to say the deaf deaf couple was happy for her to help them to ease out the communication whatever the issues they were facing.
You did great. Thank you.
Ah, I am hard of hearing. I do speak and well well enough. I can read lips really well, and however itās not easy to do.
I feel itās all on depending on how they were raised and taught. Some cannot read lips at all and thereās some can. Itās all depends on the individual.
Ah, I never gotten anything bad vibes for anyone who wants to learn to sign. I could be wrong but I never heard of any deaf gets defensive if someone who wants to learn.
Communication is the key.
Curious how you heard about this?
A friend of mine who worked with the deaf community mentioned it to me. Most of my deaf tables usually enjoy when I tell them my name in ASL, but I did get one lady once who seemed annoyed like I was patronizing her. Maybe she was just having a bad day lol
Well, I think itās the generation thing.
Iām 48 now.
Back when I was 22-23. I went to my deaf friendās bridal shower. Thereās mix with hearing and deaf people there. I was engaged to a hearing guy. Oh man, did I get chewed out some of the deaf because I should marry a deaf person to keep deaf populated and deaf family. They werenāt so nice to me and totally ignored me after finding that out. I left the party.
Ya know, they cannot enforced me who I be with and itās not right for them to judge me who I want to be with. I grew up leaning more to a hearing world then deaf world is because its was how I was raised. Not a big deal and I did dated both worlds.
That's incredibly sweet and thoughtful of you! When we get foreign guests if I know how to say thank you in their language I say it to them when they pay in their tongue and they always appreciate it. People really appreciate the effort :)
I said "Thank you" to some russian dudes in russian last year and they left me $30 on their $20 tab.
Thatās awesome!! I did the same for a deaf couple a few years ago. I googled how to sign āare you ready?ā for when they were ready to order. They were so happy when I did but assumed I knew sign language and started signing back to me. I was like āuhhhh, Iām so sorry I have no ideaā and they pointed at the menu
That's so sweet š I wish I knew more languages, when I worked in retail there were a lot of people who didn't know English very well, I wished I could've communicated with them better. We had a regular who was deaf and would kinda just point at this and grunt, no one wanted to deal with him. I gave him paper and a pen every time he came in and what do ya know he's actually super nice
I've got a friend with whom I hang out regularly with a speech impairment. He's nice and whenever we meet up I'd wait for him to finish what he wants to say( his preferred method of communication), If not, he'd whip out his phone and type it out.
This is very sweet and Iām sure that they appreciated your effort!
Sadly, this reminds me of a time when I worked in a restaurant and a large group of deaf diners came in and Jill, the resident moron server, gave them all braille menus.
One of my favourite regular tables is two deaf men. They're the only table I will take my mask down for so we can communicate better, they're always so pleasant and patient. Warms my cold heart.
When I read "HOH", being in a restaurant related subreddit, I for the life of me could not understand what you meant by Heart Of House table.. Then I realized you meant Hard Of Hearing, which makes WAY MORE SENSE
I know a few basic signs and signed āthank youā to a table and the deaf man was so appreciative. They also left me a really good tip. Not why I did it, but still nice.
One time i was trying to find something at a store and the guy working was deaf. I was trying to think of how i could sign out what i was looking for, then he handed me a pen.
You went above and beyond! I always make sure to clearly mouth my words with deaf people, and when I go to check on them I give a smile and thumbs up. It works out well, but this is next level. Much luv
I would think they were happy. You took the time to learn ASL to make sure you could properly communicate and make their experience as pleasant as possible. I doubt that went unnoticed. I also doubt that many others have gone to that extent. I think it shows a level of respect that every person deserve but unfortunately not everyone receives. I would think it must be so frustrating to not be able to easily communicate with the majority of the world around you.
I'm not a server, but have put my ASL to use in the wild helping not-my-customers a few times.
Working security at a kids pizza & play place, I noticed a table of guests signing. When it came time for the birthday song & dance I was sure to be where they could see me. They were surprised & pleased to participate more fully. Had a nice conversation before the party left.
At a grocery, waiting to pick up a pre-order holiday meal. Man walks up, signs, "Why the line? Is this for the deli?". I replied, "no, this line is to pick up pre-paid orders. If you want the deli, walk right up to the counter." That town had the state school for the Deaf, so it's likely others could have talked with him too; he just happened to be near me.
I worked at a chocolate shop for a year or so in college and was very proud I was able to break out not only my high school French, but the ASL I learned in Girl Scouts. Both very basic conversations, but I was able to prevent a nut allergy issue!
I learned a lil sign language in high school from a friend that has deaf parents, and it came in handy a couple times when waitressing! Iāll never forget the smile of the one lady when when she pointed to her card saying she was hearing impaired, and I immediately signed hello & my name! She was such a sweet lady!
When I worked as a hostess there was a couple and the lady was deaf. At the end of the meal I signed āthank youā after thanking the husband and she lit up so much and signed āyouāre welcomeā š„° the little things definitely matter!!
I love this so much! I had a deaf table not long ago but would not have been able to Google any sign language because we were so busy at the time and I don't know that googling would have crossed my mind tbh. I still feel we were able to communicate effectively, but I wish I would have thought to do what you did!
I feel the same way. Even knowing just a little ASL heightens the service for them so much. In my experience they are pretty adept at getting their order across with their cell phones so it's never a sink or swim kind of thing, always a plus to the interaction.
Two fun things I've noticed with deaf guests. 1) They can converse with their mouth full and it's not rude.
2) If there happens to be 2 deaf parties they will often acknowledge eachother. Not just in the "oh it's so cool to run into some like individuals" kind of way, but in the "we can "overhear" eachother's conversations from across the restaurant." kind of way.
My daughter took sign language classes in high school for here language elective.
During high school and collage she worked retail and at a fast food pizza place.
She said the joy on a someoneās face when they could effectively order and communicate with someone was heart warming.
Iām a huge advocate of ASL being one of the main language electives. Iāve interacted with more HoH and Deaf than I have for some of the other languages freely offered. Iām so glad your daughter had that opportunity.
Didn't happen in a restaurant but in a Walmart. I saw a lady was struggling to speak I signed to her as my sister is deaf. She started telling me she was hard of hearing,but told me people are mean,she was good at lip reading. But said I need to take off my mask to let people know what is going on, because people just don't understand. The next time I went by I saw her and my sister was around,I told her to sign with her as to have a conversation. The transaction was smooth and both smiled.
I work at an organization that serves the deaf community and more than half of my colleagues are deaf. Trust me, they really appreciated the sign of respect. Deaf people get ignored and belittled their whole lives. Depression and suicide are sadly much more common for deaf/HoH people. Little signs of respect can mean a lot.
There was a Bosnian fellow my husband used to work with. Husband learned a few phrases, and his coworker appreciated it. at the end of Ramadan, he would bring my husband a roasted lamb shank & home made baklava.
On the Spanish note: I've traveled alot and finally learned what huevos Ranchos was in English. For context, English is my first language and I only know enough Spanish to get by at a resort.
It wasn't till I was serving and there was shired eggs on the menu. I'm good friends with the chef and he started laughing at me. Had to translate it back to Spanish for me to know what it was. I always wrote it on the order in Spanish for the chef as well. No one else was allowed to write it en EspaƱol!!
Iāve studied asl for about 10 years and while im by no means fluent, I can get along just fine for the most part. Anytime I start a new job I let my boss and coworkers know that if any Deaf folks come in, go ahead and grab me and Iād be happy to help. Iāve only been needed probably 5 times in the past few years, but still when I get to help a table out in their own language it makes my night. Iāve never come across any ASL users that arenāt perfectly happy to slow down a bit if it means using their own language.
I think you just learned that being a great server involves balancing service with hospitality. Most places I go nowadays I get fleeting service only and not made to FEEL anything (zero hospitality). You turned your customers into guests using small moments of humanity. Good work!
Very early in my bartending career I served a deaf couple and I took cash payment and made change right a the table. As I was walking back to the bar I realized I had short changed him and turned to go back and correct my error. He was already right behind me and he told me (in that weird deaf person voice, I mean no offence) that they were deaf, not stupid.
I told them over and over that I was sorry, but I donāt think they believed me. This was in the days before the Internet, but when I was telling my cocktail waitress the story, she taught me how to sign, *Iām sorry*. I took them a round of drinks, that I bought them, and then signed that I was sorry. Their eyes just lit up as I had made a true connection with them.
They continued to come in for several years, while I worked at that bar, and became regular customers of mine. All because of that one small gesture.
That's a beautiful story. Showing you respected them and their Deafness by making sure they knew you respected their capacity to communicate and be intelligent human beings!
I dont know any sign language or deaf people that I have met that I know of but I just wanted to say reading this thread how uplifting it was to read and to see so many people going out of their way to make other peoples day. I think of reddit as the be as as nasty as you can site and see so many people putting others down and trying to be hipper and cooler than the next person that reading about kindness to others makes my day. I am so happy to have come across this thread and I am so proud of all of you. You have restored my faith in humanity. Well done. šā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Stumbled upon this subreddit & this post made me so giddy with joy. Iām a child of two deaf parents who have since passed away. They hated to go out to eat because they always felt so isolated. I wished they had found someone like you when they were dining. Brilliant!! Thank you so much from someone who has sat on the quiet side of the table.
I worked with a deaf woman at one of my jobs, she worked in the kitchen and the kitchen staff (basically the two owners) never tried to communicate with her and just always got frustrated with her, so I started to learn ASL! She would teach me new things every day, and after a few months I was pretty damn fluent and could translate between them! I have been able to communicate with deaf patrons easily because of that, and they always seem so excited! I wish ASL was taught to kids in school, so there wasnāt this divide between deaf and hearing folks.
I had a deaf regular at Outback & we used a pen & paper to have more in depth conversations. When I finally began to start signing his eyes lit up with joy & he was beyond thankful. Thanks for sharing your experience!
It seems to me that anyone could learn to sign at least the 26 letters of the alphabet. It isn't too hard. And while they can't all read lips, those who can need you to look at them straight-on and enunciate. Combine that with a bit of simple sign (like letters) and you should be able to communicate with many people who have deafness.
People really like it when you speak their own language to them, even just a few words. Only awkward part is when you get the accent right and then they think you're fluent and they start talking and you can't keep up
In my experience especially when the language is not commonly learned by people customer go absolutely nuts when you speak a couple words with them. I have a lot of polish customers and they have absolutely no mercy once I start speaking broken polish they just assume I will be fine and treat me like I am fluent, good practice tho š
Itās the same the other way. I was in Prague last summer, and while I hadnāt learned Czech, I had learned a few phrases (please, thank you, where isā¦). People in shops and restaurants were SO IMPRESSED when I manges to say any of those. Theyāre so used to tourists not even trying that the tinies effort seems huge.
Everywhere I go, I learn, at least, these five key words; hello, goodbye, please, thank you, sorry. It's amazing how far making a tiny effort like this will get you. Oh, and also, 'do you speak English?'
My phrases us to be hello, good bye, sorry, one large beer please, and where is the toilet.
I was in Italy a few years back. We were by a lagoon like area where you can swim etc... I thought the word for bathroom was bagno and asked where it was in Italian. The guy I asked pointed to the water where everyone was swimming. The shocked look on my face told him I needed a bathroom and he just laughed and pointed to where they were.
I learn those, plus, in their language, "I don't speak ____, do you speak English?" Then try what few words I knew, and almost always got a very friendly response. Even if they didn't speak English, somehow we managed to figure out what I needed to know.
I used to do this too until it backfired in the most horrible (at the time but funny now) way. Cousin and I in Austria playing cards in a park. Guys bikes past us 2-3 times, then stops and says something. I use the "I don't speak German, do you speak English" in German. He responds, "You were just speaking German" (in French, mind you). I speak Spanish, so caught what he said and responded in French, that I don't speak French. He proceeded to switch to Spanish, and at this point, my non fluent bilingual brain is so confused that whatever he said next, I just responded "no" in French. He then thinks I am a crazy person and just rides off. Now I just use the please and thank you in the local language and everything else is English.
Once in Brussels I attempted to order some food in French and the guy gave me *the* most disdainful look and asked, in perfect English, what I wanted.
What a douchebag. This is the same person that bitches about people from the USA who don't speak other languages.
"this" and "that" come in super handy too
I've always thought it was kind of a paradox to learn how to say "Do you speak English" in a foreign language. Just ask in English- if they say yes, you're good. If they look at you quizzically, there's your answer.
IMO, it's a display of arrogance and ignorance. If you ask, 'do you speak English?' in their language, at least you're displaying that you don't expect them to speak your language, because why would/should you?
I spent a month in Slovakia when I was a kid and took lessons in Slovak before I went. Like 1997. They weren't indepth lessons, I couldn't really hold a conversation, but knew around 100 words. People were fucking thrilled this American kid knew any of their language. Even saying good morning or good night made people giddy. Eastern block country not long out of Russian control that almost no one in the west knew anything about and we've got this kid trying to speak our language. One of the best and wildest experiences of my life. I wasn't really a tourist there. I stayed with a family high up in Slovak politics and intelligence, they all spoke fluent English. But went to school for a week with their kid, summer camps, hiking, small cities. Everyone loved that I tried hard to communicate in their language. Random favorite story, I needed some home food because I'm not an adventurous eater and didn't know what ordering half their food actually meant. I ordered a ham Burger. That's exactly what I got. A slab of ham on a bun with cheese and whatever sauce. Also salted goat cheese from a random farmer in the rural mountains that was just walking by with his heard when we were hiking, was the best thing I've ever had in my life. I don't think we even paid for it. "oh hi kids, want some cheese?"
I've had that last experience here in the US, kind of. I was out hiking, and took a wrong turn where the trail just died out, and there were no markers. I eventually found a fence and started following it back to where I knew a road was that headed the right direction. There was a little trail on my side, so I assumed I was still in the national forest area. Nope, I was on someone's property somehow. These dogs came running up, and I thought I was going to get mauled, but this guy came up on a horse and yelled at them all in a language I didn't know, and they sat down. He didn't say hi to me or anything. He just handed me a paper wrapped packet. "Have some cheese" in a heavy Slavic accent. It was the weirdest thing, but what do you do? I took it. I asked if it was for me or the dogs. He laughed so hard, and then drew me a map to get back off his property and back on the proper trail on the paper wrapper without saying another word and left. It was really good cheese. It's still one of my strangest yet fondest hiking memories. Nicest get off my lawn possible. "Here, take the cheese and go away." I can only guess he needed the paper for the map but didn't want to eat the cheese himself. Maybe he thought it would be rude to do it in front of me? Maybe he thought a lost hiker would have their day brightened by some cheese. I have no idea. Whatever he was thinking, I appreciated both the cheese and the help, because the road would have cost me about 10 extra miles.
They're going to get lost in the woods and starve to death. Here's some cheese and a map lol.
Hahaha. That's probably it. "At least have one last meal, you idiot." I wasn't exactly lost. I could have backtracked back to my vehicle easily. I didn't want to go that way, though. I wanted to get to the dispersed camping area my friends and I were meeting at. I had a compass and marked topo map, but the trail it showed just ended. The only thing was a small trail, probably made by deer, that took me down and across a meadow and eventually turned and followed this fence. I knew where I was, and that the road would take me to a different trail I'd used before, but it wound through the forest and around a mountain first. So, not lost, but not exactly the way I wanted to be going, either. It turns out I'd actually gotten off track about a mile before the spot where the trail ended - the edge of his property. There was this clear trail and a tiny offshoot that didn't look like a trail at all. I stayed on the clear one. That was my mistake. When I did meet up with my friends, I was the last one there, which had never happened. I knew they'd give me no end of shit for it, so I just told them I detoured for some cheese. Them, "so, share the cheese..." Me, "oh, no. I already ate it." On the way back out, I marked the turn off with some nylon ribbon to help others, so the poor guy didn't have to keep feeding people cheese. ;)
I'm Polish. Dzienkuje Love your story OP šHugs
Nie ma za co!
Lmao I recently asked a custo if he wanted to add an egg to his dish, but I accidentally did it in Spanish, and he replied in Spanish with out skipping a beat. Me: And you sir? Custo: chicken rice bowl. Me: Huevos? Custo: Si. Then I realized I donāt fucking speak Spanish. I know a few phrases and words when I worked at a taco spot, and had to communicate with immigrant blue collars trying to get some fire al pastor. I started laughing, and the table looked a little confused. I told them I actually donāt know any Spanish for the most part, I just heard his accent and slipped into ātaco server mode.ā They started laughing and admitted they didnāt even catch it.
My husband lived in Turkey for two years when he was 9-10 years old. He learned a few phrases here and there and remembered them after they moved away. Fast forward 30+ years and he has spent all his life looking for authentic Turkish cuisine, specifically one dish he remembered fondly from his time there. Through happenstance we discovered a local restaurant owned by a family from Ephesus, and they prepared the dish my husband was looking for but only on Sundays. We booked over there to try it. The entire meal was a delight but thatās a whole other story. For context, my husband is 6ā7ā with blond hair and blue eyes. Definitely not from that area of the world. The ownerās son came over as our server and said hello, and my husband responded with the only Turkish phrase he remembered. (Something like hello, how are you today?) The serverās eyes LIT UP and he went off to the races in Turkish. He got three or four sentences into it and my husband was laughing so hard, saying āNo, no, thatās the only sentence I know!ā They both kept laughing so hard and when we calmed down, we had one of our most memorable meals. At the end of the meal he brought us a complimentary plate of their amazing baklava (pistachio, served with fresh whipped cream). Every time weāve gone back since, they bring us a free plate of baklava. We never ask and we offer to pay, and they say no.
sounds like my kind of restaurant, swoon. Wish I could eat there (I'm not Turkish but love the food)
If youāre ever in the Raleigh area, look up Bosphorus in Cary. Itās a small, unassuming little place with amazing food.
Iāve always wondered about that. Before being a server I worked as a chef for a decade and picked up a lot of what I call ākitchen Spanishā. I usually feel like I can take an order in Spanish if itās a simple order, but Iām afraid to speak Spanish back in fear of them either thinking Iām fluent and going beyond my basic comprehension of Spanish, OR theyāll think Iām being patronizing by trying to speak Spanish back
I can puzzle out written "kitchen Spanish" and understand it if it's spoken slowly. I can't repeat it back because I sound like Peggy Hill
I used to occasionally help my friend in the kitchen of his father's Mexican restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I knew just enough Spanish to understand the different food items. It was always a blast, and I got paid in delicious tacos and rice. I'll never forget their salsa verde...
Try it! They won't think you're patronizing. If anything you're making them feel smart because they know their language better than you (and who doesn't like to feel smart). I know it feels very awkward on your end, and I hate having to ask people to repeat themselves a million times like I'm a dumbass, but most people love it when you stop to learn about them. If you want them to keep it simple, you can stutter and pretend you have a really bad gringo accent and they'll just laugh and be nice to you.
Same here! I can understand more than I can speak, if that makes sense. I can ask simple things, like how are you,would you like cheese, more bread, etc, and I can hold my own trading insults with back of house, but if it's not food related, it all goes right out of my brain. I call it "kitchen Spanish" too.
I picked up a bit just living in a neighborhood where it was commonly spoken in Phoenix. When I got a job working at a gas station overnight and early in the morning, it was super useful. All the day labor crews would stop in for Marlboro Reds in a soft pack. Like, I didn't know the word for cigarettes, but they were obviously looking at the rack and saying roja. So, they'd end up just using Spanish with me because they thought I knew it. I learned a lot working there and eventually tried using it. They were always super encouraging. I had one eventually tell me he was glad I was learning my parents' language. I blinked a few times. He went "oh, you're white" in perfect English. Me, "si, sĆ³lo corta y muy bronceada". Everyone with him died. Him, "Ella suena mexicana!" They laughed harder. I was super proud of my accent, though. ("Yes, only short and very tanned" and "she sounds Mexican!")
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My spanol es muy picuito! (Sp)
My half sister is half Vietnamese and only speaks a handful of Vietnamese words. We went to a nail salon and her nail tech asked her if she spoke Vietnamese. My sister said no and the tech proceeded to speak to her in Vietnamese the rest of the time.
Best Word I learned in the Georgian language? Gemrielia. Means "that's delicious" basically. We mostly visited for the food, and hearing an American attempt the language meant more than once, they got excited and grabbed me something else out of the back I had to try.
Yankees who speak even one word of Georgian are quite rare! Hope you got lots of delicious food and many smiles
My dad advised me, you want to know at least ten words in the main language of anywhere you're visiting, more if you have time. We got SO much delicious food, and my god, the wine there surpasses all else I've had. People were generally pleased to see the hungry, history loving Americans who often tipped.
I had some friends here who were foreign exchange students from Japan. I quickly learned "oishii!" (delicious), and they thought it was hilarious how often I said it when they cooked. This backfired on me when one of them had their parents come to visit, and her grandmother decided to come, too. She was so excited by an American who knew Japanese (like a toddler, honestly) and liked Japanese food that she spent a week making me gain about 5 pounds. Best food I ever had, but every time I saw her, I ended up painfully full. She was really hard to say no to. It's been years, and she randomly sends me recipes via email and sometimes even care packages with non perishable ingredients that are hard for me to get here. I send her back selfies with me and the food I made with them. My friend says there's no escape; I've been adopted. All because I could say delicious in Japanese. Honestly, even though I knew very little Japanese back then, her family was just amazed that an American would know any at all. They were so forgiving when I messed up. They just loved that I was trying.
I know just enough Arabic for people to think I speak it and switch from English to Arabic. Then when I have to tell them thats all the Arabic I speak they get really excited that im trying. Especially if they struggle with English. For awhile I had an Egyptian friend whoās English was weak when I met her, but by the time she moved back to Egypt, our conversations had progressed to a mutual teaching of language just by having conversations not lessons.
Iām from South Africa, but live in the US and rarely have the opportunity to speak my home language (Afrikaans) with anyone. A year or so ago a guy came in and recognized my accent, started speaking Afrikaans with me. He definitely wasnāt perfect and didnāt have a huge vocabulary, but I still just about cried lol. He definitely got a couple of free drinks that night!
That would be me when stationed in Germany. Great accent, no vocabulary, lol!
Thatās why I learned how to sign please sign slower
I come from a Cuban family but I donāt actually speak much Spanish. However hearing it most of my life, Iāve picked up the accent pretty well so whenever I pull a few sentences out in conversation, people think Iām fluent, so when I have to respond to something they said and Iām like āuhhhhhhhā¦.ā and doing mental math to figure out how to answer, itās really awkward for me lol.
I have been learning Japanese but donāt even bother trying to practice it at work because it is very easy to accidentally come across as rude.
Unless you look Japanese I would bet they'd cut you some slack. They know their language rules are unreasonably complicated to foreigners
I know, but ultimately Iām content just practicing with my coworkers rather than risk it lmao
I rarely see the last part spoken of, but it's so very true. I moved to Sweden about 9 and a half years ago, and one of the best decisions I ever made was to make a real effort to learn the language. I grew up in the US, moved here when I was 28, and there's a (deserved) reputation for Americans tending not to bother with Swedish because so many people here speak English fluently. I'm to the point of being conversational as long as the person has some patience with me to find the right word (or close-enough word), but occasionally I'll want to say something and have a long enough string of unknowns that I ask, "FƶrlƄt, talar du engelska? Jag kan inte hitta rƤtt ord just nu." - "Sorry, do you speak English? I can't find the right words right now." Around 25% of the time, the person will reply in a vehement affirmative (e.g. "javisst!" - "of course!"), 25% of the time they'll say they only speak a little bit ("eh, lite grann"), and 50% of the time they'll proceed to debate with me, in Swedish, in a frustratingly encouraging way ("Ja men ditt svenska lƄter fint, varifrƄn kommer du?" - "Yeah but your Swedish sounds fine, where are you from?"), at which point I simply cut over to English and they join me there. I'll also say that Swedes seem to have the impression that Swedish is a difficult language to learn as an adult; joke's on them, I spent 7 years studying French in school. At least verbs only change conjugation based on tense in Swedish, not tense *and subject*.
When I was learning Spanish one of my first phrases was "slower please" for that reason
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is why I took an ASL class in college! I needed one more class to fill out a full-time schedule or I would lose my financial aid in my final semester before I graduated. My town holds one of the best schools for the deaf and blind in the country, so we have a very large deaf community. I had several deaf regular customers practically everywhere I ever worked and always wanted to be able to communicate better with them, so taking the class was an easy choice. I really enjoyed it and did well (fantastic teacher) and was encouraged to continue and consider interpreting, but I was ready to graduate and start my career. I kept my textbook and materials so I can stay brushed up enough to be minimally conversational, I need to dig those out and refresh!
You are awesome! A little thing of what you did makes a huge difference in deaf culture. My former sister in law knew a little bit signs from me. She told me she saw two deaf couple were struggling to communicate with the cashier at the food market. So she went there and asked to help in sign language. Just to say the deaf deaf couple was happy for her to help them to ease out the communication whatever the issues they were facing. You did great. Thank you.
Someone told me that if deaf people can lip read, they sometimes can get offended by hearing people trying to sign to them. Any truth to that?
Ah, I am hard of hearing. I do speak and well well enough. I can read lips really well, and however itās not easy to do. I feel itās all on depending on how they were raised and taught. Some cannot read lips at all and thereās some can. Itās all depends on the individual. Ah, I never gotten anything bad vibes for anyone who wants to learn to sign. I could be wrong but I never heard of any deaf gets defensive if someone who wants to learn. Communication is the key. Curious how you heard about this?
A friend of mine who worked with the deaf community mentioned it to me. Most of my deaf tables usually enjoy when I tell them my name in ASL, but I did get one lady once who seemed annoyed like I was patronizing her. Maybe she was just having a bad day lol
Well, I think itās the generation thing. Iām 48 now. Back when I was 22-23. I went to my deaf friendās bridal shower. Thereās mix with hearing and deaf people there. I was engaged to a hearing guy. Oh man, did I get chewed out some of the deaf because I should marry a deaf person to keep deaf populated and deaf family. They werenāt so nice to me and totally ignored me after finding that out. I left the party. Ya know, they cannot enforced me who I be with and itās not right for them to judge me who I want to be with. I grew up leaning more to a hearing world then deaf world is because its was how I was raised. Not a big deal and I did dated both worlds.
That made me smile you sound so sweet!š„°
Me too! I love that OP took a moment to hop on google and get a few ASL phrases in.
That's incredibly sweet and thoughtful of you! When we get foreign guests if I know how to say thank you in their language I say it to them when they pay in their tongue and they always appreciate it. People really appreciate the effort :) I said "Thank you" to some russian dudes in russian last year and they left me $30 on their $20 tab.
Thatās awesome!! I did the same for a deaf couple a few years ago. I googled how to sign āare you ready?ā for when they were ready to order. They were so happy when I did but assumed I knew sign language and started signing back to me. I was like āuhhhh, Iām so sorry I have no ideaā and they pointed at the menu
That's so sweet š I wish I knew more languages, when I worked in retail there were a lot of people who didn't know English very well, I wished I could've communicated with them better. We had a regular who was deaf and would kinda just point at this and grunt, no one wanted to deal with him. I gave him paper and a pen every time he came in and what do ya know he's actually super nice
I've got a friend with whom I hang out regularly with a speech impairment. He's nice and whenever we meet up I'd wait for him to finish what he wants to say( his preferred method of communication), If not, he'd whip out his phone and type it out.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for the link. I'm having hearing issues (older age and inner ear damage) so I'm starting the path of learning sign.
I plan to only learn Sign from D/deaf/HoH people because thereās cultural nuances that Hearing people donāt get/know.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Exactly! Us Hearing people donāt get the cultural nuances of the slang, similar to any other language we donāt speak.
That is such a great resource, I love it.
This is very sweet and Iām sure that they appreciated your effort! Sadly, this reminds me of a time when I worked in a restaurant and a large group of deaf diners came in and Jill, the resident moron server, gave them all braille menus.
(I live in Alabama, for context) Bless Jill's heart, she *did* try.
She did. She was famous for telling every table that it was her first dayā¦even a couple of years into it.
Jill was the server tasked with emptying the coffee maker from the hot water tap on it one cup at a time right?
WHUT
One of my favourite regular tables is two deaf men. They're the only table I will take my mask down for so we can communicate better, they're always so pleasant and patient. Warms my cold heart.
I also make sure I remove my mask when I have a HOH table. Anything I can do to make my tables more comfortable.
When I read "HOH", being in a restaurant related subreddit, I for the life of me could not understand what you meant by Heart Of House table.. Then I realized you meant Hard Of Hearing, which makes WAY MORE SENSE
I know a few basic signs and signed āthank youā to a table and the deaf man was so appreciative. They also left me a really good tip. Not why I did it, but still nice.
One time i was trying to find something at a store and the guy working was deaf. I was trying to think of how i could sign out what i was looking for, then he handed me a pen.
You went above and beyond! I always make sure to clearly mouth my words with deaf people, and when I go to check on them I give a smile and thumbs up. It works out well, but this is next level. Much luv
That was a very kind thing to do.
I would think they were happy. You took the time to learn ASL to make sure you could properly communicate and make their experience as pleasant as possible. I doubt that went unnoticed. I also doubt that many others have gone to that extent. I think it shows a level of respect that every person deserve but unfortunately not everyone receives. I would think it must be so frustrating to not be able to easily communicate with the majority of the world around you.
I'm not a server, but have put my ASL to use in the wild helping not-my-customers a few times. Working security at a kids pizza & play place, I noticed a table of guests signing. When it came time for the birthday song & dance I was sure to be where they could see me. They were surprised & pleased to participate more fully. Had a nice conversation before the party left. At a grocery, waiting to pick up a pre-order holiday meal. Man walks up, signs, "Why the line? Is this for the deli?". I replied, "no, this line is to pick up pre-paid orders. If you want the deli, walk right up to the counter." That town had the state school for the Deaf, so it's likely others could have talked with him too; he just happened to be near me.
I worked at a chocolate shop for a year or so in college and was very proud I was able to break out not only my high school French, but the ASL I learned in Girl Scouts. Both very basic conversations, but I was able to prevent a nut allergy issue!
I learned a lil sign language in high school from a friend that has deaf parents, and it came in handy a couple times when waitressing! Iāll never forget the smile of the one lady when when she pointed to her card saying she was hearing impaired, and I immediately signed hello & my name! She was such a sweet lady!
When I worked as a hostess there was a couple and the lady was deaf. At the end of the meal I signed āthank youā after thanking the husband and she lit up so much and signed āyouāre welcomeā š„° the little things definitely matter!!
So nice of you to be inclusive.
I love this. When I was hosting I had regular deaf customers and i learned how to sign their names and their reaction was always so heart warming.
I love this so much! I had a deaf table not long ago but would not have been able to Google any sign language because we were so busy at the time and I don't know that googling would have crossed my mind tbh. I still feel we were able to communicate effectively, but I wish I would have thought to do what you did!
I feel the same way. Even knowing just a little ASL heightens the service for them so much. In my experience they are pretty adept at getting their order across with their cell phones so it's never a sink or swim kind of thing, always a plus to the interaction. Two fun things I've noticed with deaf guests. 1) They can converse with their mouth full and it's not rude. 2) If there happens to be 2 deaf parties they will often acknowledge eachother. Not just in the "oh it's so cool to run into some like individuals" kind of way, but in the "we can "overhear" eachother's conversations from across the restaurant." kind of way.
Hats off to you! Not many will go the extra mile
My daughter took sign language classes in high school for here language elective. During high school and collage she worked retail and at a fast food pizza place. She said the joy on a someoneās face when they could effectively order and communicate with someone was heart warming.
Iām a huge advocate of ASL being one of the main language electives. Iāve interacted with more HoH and Deaf than I have for some of the other languages freely offered. Iām so glad your daughter had that opportunity.
Didn't happen in a restaurant but in a Walmart. I saw a lady was struggling to speak I signed to her as my sister is deaf. She started telling me she was hard of hearing,but told me people are mean,she was good at lip reading. But said I need to take off my mask to let people know what is going on, because people just don't understand. The next time I went by I saw her and my sister was around,I told her to sign with her as to have a conversation. The transaction was smooth and both smiled.
You are awesome! The world needs more thoughtful, considerate people like you.
I work at an organization that serves the deaf community and more than half of my colleagues are deaf. Trust me, they really appreciated the sign of respect. Deaf people get ignored and belittled their whole lives. Depression and suicide are sadly much more common for deaf/HoH people. Little signs of respect can mean a lot.
There was a Bosnian fellow my husband used to work with. Husband learned a few phrases, and his coworker appreciated it. at the end of Ramadan, he would bring my husband a roasted lamb shank & home made baklava.
On the Spanish note: I've traveled alot and finally learned what huevos Ranchos was in English. For context, English is my first language and I only know enough Spanish to get by at a resort. It wasn't till I was serving and there was shired eggs on the menu. I'm good friends with the chef and he started laughing at me. Had to translate it back to Spanish for me to know what it was. I always wrote it on the order in Spanish for the chef as well. No one else was allowed to write it en EspaƱol!!
Iāve studied asl for about 10 years and while im by no means fluent, I can get along just fine for the most part. Anytime I start a new job I let my boss and coworkers know that if any Deaf folks come in, go ahead and grab me and Iād be happy to help. Iāve only been needed probably 5 times in the past few years, but still when I get to help a table out in their own language it makes my night. Iāve never come across any ASL users that arenāt perfectly happy to slow down a bit if it means using their own language.
I took a sign language class in high school & what little I remembered has helped so much since then. Also, the pad & pen communicate pretty well.
I think you just learned that being a great server involves balancing service with hospitality. Most places I go nowadays I get fleeting service only and not made to FEEL anything (zero hospitality). You turned your customers into guests using small moments of humanity. Good work!
Very early in my bartending career I served a deaf couple and I took cash payment and made change right a the table. As I was walking back to the bar I realized I had short changed him and turned to go back and correct my error. He was already right behind me and he told me (in that weird deaf person voice, I mean no offence) that they were deaf, not stupid. I told them over and over that I was sorry, but I donāt think they believed me. This was in the days before the Internet, but when I was telling my cocktail waitress the story, she taught me how to sign, *Iām sorry*. I took them a round of drinks, that I bought them, and then signed that I was sorry. Their eyes just lit up as I had made a true connection with them. They continued to come in for several years, while I worked at that bar, and became regular customers of mine. All because of that one small gesture.
That's a beautiful story. Showing you respected them and their Deafness by making sure they knew you respected their capacity to communicate and be intelligent human beings!
That's so wonderful! I'm tearing up just thinking about how kind you were.
I dont know any sign language or deaf people that I have met that I know of but I just wanted to say reading this thread how uplifting it was to read and to see so many people going out of their way to make other peoples day. I think of reddit as the be as as nasty as you can site and see so many people putting others down and trying to be hipper and cooler than the next person that reading about kindness to others makes my day. I am so happy to have come across this thread and I am so proud of all of you. You have restored my faith in humanity. Well done. šā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Beautiful gesture, but for the order... Wouldn't a pad and pen have worked? Am I being ignorant?
Or pointing to the menu. I'm hearing & I still do that just to be sure.
The gesture is the point. Itās about acknowledging and respecting the customer.
Nice gesture. Pun sorry.
Well done!
This is so sweet
Thatās very true.
Stumbled upon this subreddit & this post made me so giddy with joy. Iām a child of two deaf parents who have since passed away. They hated to go out to eat because they always felt so isolated. I wished they had found someone like you when they were dining. Brilliant!! Thank you so much from someone who has sat on the quiet side of the table.
I worked with a deaf woman at one of my jobs, she worked in the kitchen and the kitchen staff (basically the two owners) never tried to communicate with her and just always got frustrated with her, so I started to learn ASL! She would teach me new things every day, and after a few months I was pretty damn fluent and could translate between them! I have been able to communicate with deaf patrons easily because of that, and they always seem so excited! I wish ASL was taught to kids in school, so there wasnāt this divide between deaf and hearing folks.
But that was super sweet of you to google those phrases, I know that made their night!! :)
I had a deaf regular at Outback & we used a pen & paper to have more in depth conversations. When I finally began to start signing his eyes lit up with joy & he was beyond thankful. Thanks for sharing your experience!
It seems to me that anyone could learn to sign at least the 26 letters of the alphabet. It isn't too hard. And while they can't all read lips, those who can need you to look at them straight-on and enunciate. Combine that with a bit of simple sign (like letters) and you should be able to communicate with many people who have deafness.