I was having lunch with a Romanian friend.
I said “The waiter’s a knucklehead.”
She said, “What does that mean?”
I was having a beer with a Slovak friend.
I said “Someone has put the kibosh on my plans.”
He said, “What does that mean?”
“What does that mean…”
Such a simple question.
But also an uncommon one.
I spend a lot of time speaking English with non-native speakers.
A lot of them would like to be fluent.
Fluent like my Romanian and Slovak friends…
But a lot of them never ask me, “What does that mean?”
Why?
I think it shows some of the differences between the fluent and not fluent.
It shows:
1. They’re listening
2. They want to learn more
3. They’re not worried about what others think
Three simple ingredients which can someday place you among the fluent.
And it starts with a simple question.