I'm studying abroad this semester in Florence, Italy and I could not be luckier. Before I came to Italy I didn't really prepare myself by learning to speak Italian because I heard that a lot of people speak English so there wasn't a need for me to learn.

When I arrived in Italy, I was super overwhelmed. When I asked people for help, they all could pretty much speak English, so I didn't need to try to adjust myself to try to understand them. Here I was, a foreigner in their country, and these people were trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible.

We all went to a gelato making class/tasting and the owner of the gelato place apologized for not speaking English, yet his English was amazing.

When I say I don't speak Italian, I really mean I can only say about 10 words. I thought it was so interesting how he spoke much better English than I did Italian, and we were in Italy, where they speak Italian yet he was still apologizing.

So many countries make learning English a priority and I think it's crazy how little Americans try to help other people whose first language isn't English.

Many Americans get upset over the fact that directions are printed in Spanish and English, and how many important documents are in other languages as well as English, but I think we should take a page out of everyone else book and give each other grace and try to help other humans out.