How do you communicate with people who do not understand your language

america is a melting pot so we have alot of languages as well. i use to help run an appartment complex that was 97% hispanic and most didnt know any english at all. we had alot that didnt know what indoor plumbing was. when they would come there and want to rent an appartment it was hard at first cause we didnt understand each other but as time went on we figured ways of doing things. like to show them indoor plumbing i just did that showed them. i mean like going turning water on then turning it off stepping inside tub and acting like i was taking shower etc. when we had an issue like someone trying to take a goat or chicken in there appartment to be killed for dinner we did alot of hand movements to try and guess what the other was saying. it was fun in a way but sometimes very frustrating. they would come to the office and try to tell me something bad that had happened and we would sit for awhile trying to figure each other out. we usaly did in the end though. i would say for the two of you though go do something like shopping or window shopping, go for a walk, point to things and say what it is in your language and then have her say it in hers make faces or use your hands when you say it to show how you feel abpuot it etc. like scrunch up your face if looking at an ugly house. you both learn and spend time with each other and see what the other likes as well

just use dictionary.. its simple

I have found that most people speak some English so this is lucky for me. But In Hungary in 1990 I had some difficulty talking to to some of the local people. I pointed to things that I wanted to buy in shops. Last year I went to Bulgaria and had some awful times with maps. The maps had more sort of alphabet but the road names were in Bulgarian alphabet. Also buses had their destination written in Bulgarian. Going over to Romania it was lovely to be able to read the writing as it was all in my alphabet. In Australia some of the words are different. I had a time I needed a plaster as I had cut myself. The shop keeper thought I wanted to get plastered as in drunk! Once I learnt the different words I was fine. In fact I started speaking like an Australian. Some people thought I was from there. Yes, smiling often works if language skills let me down.