A New Language

Bohdan took a deep breath as he scanned the crowd for someone who might be seeking him. Balancing his name card with his carry-on bag, he wandered away from the relative safety of the gate area toward the main corridor of the terminal. He hoped these few steps wouldn’t be a foolish move that would result in missed connections with his host family. He’d traveled a bit in Europe before—short distances on family vacations—but nothing had quite prepared him for the vastness of America. After crossing the Atlantic, he had changed planes in Philadelphia and flown another five hours to reach his destination. He focused again on looking intently at faces as people bustled by, hoping for a face made familiar only by photographs.

“Ah, here you are,” a man approached him, extending his hand for a welcoming handshake. Bohdan sighed with relief. “Jeremy,” he said, in introduction. “My wife, Melissa and my daughter, Amy. Our son had football practice. Do you have checked luggage?”

Bohdan nodded as he scrambled to mentally translate the unusual sounds of English, which was so different from what he heard in his native Slovak. Eleven-year-old Amy peppered him with questions as they made their way through the airport. He attempted to answer, knowing this was only a preview of the next day when everyone would notice a new student midway through the year.

After eating his American-style sandwich with two slices of bread, Bohdan wandered outside to watch a group playing basketball. His mind spun from the effort of functioning all morning in a nonnative language. A girl came to sit next to him on the bleachers, greeting him in Slovak.

“You speak Slovak?” Shocked, Bohdan couldn’t help reverting to his own language.

Smiling, she nodded. Her next words were in English, as if she was uncertain of all the vocabulary words. “I’ve been studying through an online language program. You can help me practice.”