I am so proud of myself!!!!!
Today when I was at work I was having a meal break in the city (Sydney) with the partner I was working with and because I wear a uniform two tourists came up to us and they said something but I didn't understand their very limited English. After they tried to say something in English they started to talk to each other in their native language. This is where my ears grew into the sky a couple of kms. I said to them "hablas espanol", they look at me with a big smile and said "si". This is where I thought "here goes". They then said a few things about directions which I managed to understand. I said, "vas tres quadras y entonces primer izquerda entonces derecha. El banco es en esta izquina. At this time I was pointing to their map they were showing me while I was trying to speak Spanish to them. Then they said, "de donde eres", I said, " Australia". They could not believe I was from Australia and that I could speak a little Spanish. The thing I was most proud of is when they realized that I spoke Spanish the relief on their face was unbelievable. I walked away thinking that I have gone one step further and closer to my goal.
15 Answers
You're the man, Mike. You are the man. We all worry so much about our mistakes but the reality is that native Spanish speakers don't really care. You made their day. They're probably still saying to each other - "That bloke was so nice and helpful" (But in Spanish of course 
)
Mike said:
I walked away thinking that I have gone one step further and closer to my goal.
That's a huge step toward mastering Spanish! Actually being able to communicate with Spanish-speaking people is the ultimate goal and you're getting there!!!!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your story.
Enhorabuena!! 
I haven't a chance to use my Spanish yet... But I helped once to some french people who were lost in airport, and in my country it is not very often to meet a french-speaker. It's an amazing feeling, I know! 
I hope you'll have more situations like this, and it's so good that you were not afraid to use Spanish, with every situation like this your language skills will get better ar better!
¡ Felicitaciónes Migúel ! Tú has usado el español que sepas y creo que mejores más y más cada día con práctica.
Congratulations Michael ! You have used the spanish that you know and I believe that you will improve more and more each day with practice.
Bien hecho Mike - espero que cuando tenga una oportunidad asi puedo ayudar en la misma manera de tú..
(Good job Mike - I hope that when I have an opportunity like that I can help in the same way you did.)
Go-the-Aussie-Spanish-learners!!!! Oi Oi Oi!
Thanks for the story.- It's pretty cool to hear stories like this and realize that you can do it and make a difference. Thanks for the encouragement- I am inspired to try even harder. 
Gdonyer Mike
Do it again and prove to the rest of them that it ain't too difficult. We all need your courage and inspiration.
Good job, mate! I just you hope you said, "Hablan español?" rather than "Hablas" since they were strangers. But either way, you're on your way. You have broken through the language barrier of the fear to use your newly acquired language.
¡Bien Hecho!
Nice job!
Congratulations! That was definitely your shining moment with Spanish. In that short time you touched lives. I'm sure you will be in the memory of those tourists for the rest of their lives. Your story is an inspiration to a struggling learner like me.
Great story Mike! This is the reason we are all working so diligently to learn Spanish. We want to be able to communicate with people that due to language barriers, we would ordinarily never be able to connect with.
In your case, you made a tremendous difference in their day and in their trip.
Way to go!!!!!
That had to be a great feeling.....
Congratulations. 
Thankyou everyone. You are all an inspiration for me as well. And the lessons that I have done here have helped dramatically!!!!!!!!!
