As a student of Uyghur music, I've decided to study Uyghur as well. Plus I find having a bit of Uyghur does make things a bit better around here, even simple tasks like getting a haircut and buying meat. So, starting basically from square one I've been very quickly reminded that fear of mistakes and preservation of a dignified decorum are indeed enemies to progress. Let me share just a few blunders I've had recently.
1. There is a certain kid that sells baked dumplings by the back gate of my complex. He was recently hit by a car which broke his leg. Thankfully he's recovering fine and has only a slight limp as a result. Wanting to ask if his leg was okay I blurted out, "Is your money okay?". My buddy, also American, was standing next to me and immediately started laughing. I knew I was wrong and corrected myself, to the relief of that little kid. Walking away, I said to my friend, "I just asked if his money was okay, didn't I?" You sure did, replied. In my defense, money and leg are only one letter apart.
2. Sitting with my teacher he mentioned his little sister. Wanting to make any conversation that falls in the realm of my ability I decided to ask how old his sister is. "How much does your sister cost?" I blurted out. Thankfully I immediately recognized my mistake. "I mean...I mean....How old is your sister?" Again, in my defense, though not quite as minute a detail it was only one word that changed the meaning of my inquiry drastically.
3. Bumping into my barber one night in the dark alley on the way to my complex, I wanted to exchange pleasantries. "Where are you going?" Looking a bit surprised, the young guy responded, "No thank you" as he turned on his heels and left. Feeling a bit confused at his response, I walked home going over my sentence. Getting home, I asked my roommate what he thought. "What did you say?", he asked. Repeating my question, he burst into laughter. "You asked, 'Where are WE going?'" Asking a few other native speakers, I discovered such a question could be interpreted in a 'Where we going? *wink, wink, nod, nod*' sort of way. It took me several days before I showed face around the barber shop.
4. Walking by the guy who makes nan, I stopped to exchange greetings. "Where are you going?", he asked. "To the school", I said. He responded with a very long and very fast sentence. Using my fake-it-til-you-make-it technique I made a quick assumption. Based on his body language I decided he must have been inviting me to sit and chat a while. Yeah. That seemed good. "Thank you. Tomorrow. I'll come tomorrow", I said as I turned to leave. Laughing out loud, my local friend asked me if I understood what he said. "Meh. More or less...or at least I think so." Laughing even more my friend informed me that the nan guy had asked why I was going to the school so late. Oops. Turns out the fake-it-til-you-make-it technique doesn't always work.
5. There was of course the fateful day when I tried to talk about chicken breasts over dinner with a local family and told them the chickens had big 'boobies'. (The word is actually more vulgar than that, but I want to keep my blog G-rated.)
The good news is that despite the continual blunders I find I still open my mouth when the chance comes. Many of these blunders have happened on the little street outside my complex. I wonder what kind of reputation I've developed with the local merchants. Honestly, I'm not to worried. Like my friend said, fear of shame is the enemy of learning.