On top of that, I am less familiar with local names for things, so my context clues are off. So far I have learned that souk means market, and that the first letter of the Arabic alphabet looks like an exclamation point. That's how they get kids excited to learn.
Most of the time, this is fine. If it's a personal story, I just smile and say, "That's funny," or whatever star word adjective comes to mind first. If it's for work, then I listen until I can find a phrase to repeat back for comprehension. Or I pretend my hearing is really bad.
What's tricky is when there's a question that requires an actual answer. My colleague asked me, "Do you like gold souk?"
I immediately responded with a heartfelt "Yes!" because I heard, "Do you like goat soup?" and I do love soup.
But after he talked for a little longer, I realized what he meant and there was no way to politely turn down his offer to take me to the souk because I thought he actually meant a pot of boiled things.
We saw the souk. Coincidentally, we also had soup.
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| Gold Souk Goat Soup |
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