Sprechen Sie Espanol?

Three days in Puerto Rico refreshed my foreign language skills. Unfortunately, the only living foreign language I ever learned was German, not Spanish. So I spent much of my time on the lovely island thinking of how I might express myself if I were in Berlin or Dusseldorf, instead of San Juan or Adjuntos.
I was surprised at how much German I remembered. It was as if I were again that skinny boy who had just finished ninth grade and two years in Frau what’s-her-name’s class, instead of a balding, bespectacled forty-five year old who has forgotten most of what he has learned in over twenty-five years of school. I kept thinking of phrases that would have been useful – phrases like, “Ich heise Jim,” (I am called Jim) or “Ich mochte wasser,” (I want water) or “Wie fiel das?” (How much is that?).
I did manage to learn a bit of Spanish, the basic stuff, like “gracias,” “buenos dias,” and “banyo.” But for the most part I relied on my hosts to translate or simply sat quietly, observing. It was good reminder that you can understand a lot without any knowledge of a spoken language. Posture, tone, volume and gesture give away a great deal. Even so, I do regret not trying to learn a little Spanish before I traveled.
On the other hand, I enjoyed feeling I was at least marginally fluent in German, a fantasy fairly easy to maintain when you are in Puerto Rico. In fact, on the flight home I decided that I should have given German a try while I was there. What possible harm could have come from offering a stray, “Wie gehts?” (How goes it?) Maybe the fellow sitting next to me at the airport had been a businessman from Berlin. And if not, he probably would have smiled and nodded anyway, as he did when I sat down, saying nothing.