He spoke German and I answered in Spanish

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“Would you like to practice cross-talk? You speak German, and I respond in Spanish.”

He said Yes.

I’m staying at a co-living called Franz & Mathilde, in South Tyrol, Italy. Beautiful place, fantastic views. English is the common language here, but the place is very popular among Germans and Austrians, with some Italians and other Europeans too. Most of the guests right now are German, and when they’re among themselves, they speak German.

I also wanted to practice my German. So I had to ask: “Could you continue speaking German?”. My intention was: I will join you, I will adapt to you. My goal was to stretch a little for the sake of learning.

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Then I met this German man who is good at Spanish. He understands most of what he hears, but he’s not comfortable speaking yet, and pushing his speaking isn’t something he wants right now. That’s exactly why cross-talk fit. He spoke German, I answered in Spanish, and we each practiced listening in the language we’re learning. We had a nice conversation over the weekend, just the two of us. With more people involved, we would have left someone out.

At the end of the conversation, he said it wasn’t a superficial conversation. It was a meaningful conversation, we learned more about each other.

Here’s what I learned: the default is always English. If you want something different, you have to invite people into it. I sensed he wanted Spanish. I knew I wanted German. So I offered something reciprocal: I’m willing to help you, are you willing to help me?

You can do the same.

Invite people into conversations.

Invite people to practice.

Invite people to exchange with you.

You’ll be surprised to see how open they are, and how willing to help.

And if you want more Spanish in your ears and eyes this week, my books and audiobooks are here:

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