Vacationers mangle the language as they travel merrily along

From Becky, who entered my contest to win a funny foreign language phrasebook, a story from Mexico about, um, cannibalism:

I was learning Spanish and went to a local resturant in Ixtapa, Mexico. When I got back to my hotel I managed to mix up the words "waiter" and "shrimp" (In Spanish they are very similar - camarero and cameron). So when the parking attendant asked me how my dinner was I replied, "It was fantastic! The waiters were grilled and delicious."

Becky wins a "hide this spanish booK XTREME" language phrasebook just for entering. And I"m totally emphathetic to that camarero/cameron thing. It might be time to switch to "mesero," another word for waiter. Not that I'm sure how interchangeable they are, depending on the country.

Using a random selection process (Three different times I shook bits of paper with names on them, in my hands, then picked one) I have come up with the winners of the language phrase books, chosen from all those who submitted a phrase or story. The other two winners are Lorraine A., who wins the "hide this french book XTREME," and Linda T., who will receive, "hide this italian book XTREME." 

Now here's Lorraine's story about studying the Nepali language but not having quite knack for speaking it:

Traveling to the small country of Nepal had been on my mind for over 20 years. My dream was to go trekking in the mighty Himalayan Mountains. My dream came true last year when I made the journey to Nepal for 6 weeks. I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and be able to interact with the local people as much as possible.

I began studying the Nepali language on my own with a few books, a CD, and some online material that I found. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, I was eager to try out my new language skills. Most people could not understand me and I was discouraged but I wasn't going to give up.

 

One day, while rowing across the large Phewa Tal Lake in Pokhara, I initiated a small conversation with the boatman. He was highly pleased that I was speaking his language although he could not understand my pronunciation. Finally, with exasperation, he said, “Speak English, Speak English.” We both had a very good laugh! 

From Linda, on a dangerous word mix-up:

The funniest story I ever heard about a miscommunication in a foreign language was told to me by an American guy who lived in Greece for a while. He went to a bakery for bread and instead of saying the Greek word for bread --psomi-- he asked for "psoli"... the Greek word for the male reproductive organ. I hope he didn't get what he asked for!

Thanks to all who entered. I'll post other entries over the next few weeks.