Wine Moment: It Takes 4 Languages to Buy Some Eggs

Anyone who has been fluent in one language and then tried to learn a third will understand my dismay:  One of the results of learning Armenian to function well in my new community was a gradual deterioration of my Spanish. But this year, I've decided to re-dedicate myself to Spanish and use it as much as possible.  I live in a predominantly Armenian-speaking community, but all the Armenians in my community are also fluent in Russian.  So I figure I may as well immerse in the Russian language community as well.  Cue the online Russian lessons. 

So the wine of pressing through the challenge of learning three languages reveals itself when I go to buy eggs from the store that is 100 yds away from my house.  There are three women in the store including my usual storelady.  I greet them in Armenian, but they ask me if it would be alright if I speak English so that they could learn a few words. 

“Ok, very good,” I say, searching their expressions for comprehension.  When understanding had been ascertained, I proceeded to ask for “bread, butter, and eggs,” in English, much to their delight.  

I then hear the storekeep translate the words into Russian, which I can actually understand! I say yes, those words were correctly translated.  Observing that I had begun to learn Russian, my storelady tosses a few phrases my way.  She then asks what other languages I know, to which I happily reply, "español."  She happens to want to learn Spanish, so I tell her I'll trade her some Spanish words for some Russian ones every time I come to the store.

As I'm leaving, she asks me what languages my dog speaks.  Smiling, I tell her that Mia is bilingual and understands commands both in English and Armenian.

The storelady, smiling back, says, “Molodetz.” (Good for you, in Russian).

Love and Peace Սեր, խաղաղությունAmor y paz Любовь и мир