Well, my great, great grandfather left Spain and settled in Cardiff. Not a clue whether he spoke English, Welsh, or Spanish. Not a clue whether he danced Flamenco a la Spain or a la Belgium. (see other thread) His descendants are still in Cardiff and other parts of Wales, a swarthy looking bunch of Spanish Welshmen if ever there was! I have his name in mine, as does my mother and her brothers, as did my grandparents. I doubt he was intimidated though, rather more of the intimidating was Antonio, I'd expect, having heard about some of his descendants. :0)

And yes, lox...I agree about the medical scenario you've painted there. I actually wrote something similar, but rubbed it out again, as mine was about giving birth, so I didn't want to put anyone off their tea and toast..but it was in similar circumstances, no interpreter available, as there literally weren't enough to go round...and a woman who can't understand what her doctors and nurses are saying to her, and vice versa. Very frightening.

I worked with many patients from the Middle East, back in the 70s and 80s. I understand hugely that you can converse with people with smiles and hands and laughter and facial expressions, but at times it was so hard to try and get patients to understand what was happening to them, what *exactly* was wrong with them. If an interpreter wasn't able to be with the patient, you were scuppered, and operations had to wait until someone from one of the Arab Embassies/Health Offices was available to help you out. Heck, it's scary enough having surgery when you speak the same language, but in a different country, a very different culture, then it can be terrifying.