Comment by PopeDotNinja
6 years ago
I almost never have problems making custom food orders in the USA, even when the order taker is not a native English speaker.
"I'd like a cheeseburger, only lettuce and ketchup."
But when I visited Australia, I had a much harder time placing the same order. Most of the order takers there were not native English speakers, and I learned pretty quickly that the difference between American English and Australian English was bigger than I realized.
Language is interesting.
Growing up as a kid in a small town I thought I knew what Chinese people sounded like, but they were mostly Australian born (China wasn't really "open" at the time). Going to France and the USA and hearing their accents was confusing. It was close enough to be familiar yet very different at the same time since the same base accent got mixed up in different ways.
Anyway, yeah. I'm also a soft speaker which is my problem, but it doesn't mean that's not a valid reason to prefer text! I don't avoid speaking to people, I just prefer not to and I find it simpler and more certain I'll get what I need that way. Others want to pick up a phone.