“What would I say?”
You may feel shy to approach anyone who is different from you. Here are some questions you can try when you are first getting acquainted with someone even in a grocery line or at a fast food restaurant. You can always talk about ordinary things like what you’re eating or where you are working or about family. Shortly you can show interest in their culture by questions like these:
“Do you speak any other language besides English?”
“How do you say ‘thank you’ in your language?”
“Have you always lived in America? Where did you live before coming here?”
“Tell me about your country back home. What was it like? How is it different from here?”
Here’s a longer list of cultural questions to deepen your friendship.
People’s original language is very connected to their heart. Memories and emotions are closely tied. Learning some of their language is a wonderful way to further a friendship. You can find programs online for many languages. One of the best ways to learn is simply to ask for a phrase you want to know, record it, listen to it, repeat it over and over to many who speak it and that sentence will be strongly in your mind!