I don’t travel often, and rarely do I venture outside of the United States. Last year, however, I travelled to Mexico with my brothers to enjoy their festive country.

We stayed in a resort in Cancun. Almost all of the other guests spoke a foreign language. As English-speaking guests, my brothers and I were in the minority.

There were guests in the resort from Germany, Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, French Canadians, an older couple from northern France, and a man from Manchester, England.

Because of his heavy accent, I felt that the man from Manchester spoke a “foreign” language, too. I understood about half of what he said. Most of the time, I had to guess at what he meant. For example, he said he loved his “fuutbull.” I figured out that he meant English soccer, which Europeans call football.

I found out later that the older couple from northern France didn’t always understand the French-Canadians at our resort. Apparently they are separated by a common language, as well.

There was a group of English-speaking guests from western Canada. It was great to have someone else to talk to who spoke English. They said “eh” a lot at the end of their sentences, but otherwise were very delightful.

Early on an older couple introduced themselves as Canadians. It wasn’t until later, when I asked other English speaking people in the resort where the “older Canadian couple were at?” that I was told that all the people in their group were Canadians. I assumed the others were from the United States, as their English was like ours.

One of the English-speaking Canadians told me that she meets regularly with a group of French Canadians who practice their English with her. Older French Canadians rarely learned English when they are young. When the French Canadians spoke English, and became “stuck” on how to say something in English, they turned to the English-speaking Canadian for the right word. She said her French was poor, so she has trouble figuring how what they wanted to say in English.

My brothers and I were just about the only guests in the resort hotel who held American passports. It felt a little strange since I have rarely been in a situation where I was in the minority.

I quickly bonded with the Canadians because of our common language, but I enjoyed hearing all the foreign languages spoken, too. As Americans, we often forget that not everyone speaks English, not even the man from Manchester.

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