It is nice for locals realizing that you are giving your best to speak their language, but it ain’t funny anymore when you make a foolish mistake that puts you in an awkward situation.
On 2009 I did a round trip in Italy passing through Milan, Florence, Pisa, Siena and Venice. Many years before this trip I took some Italian lessons and of course I wanted to practice it on spot. I must say that after so many years my memory was not fresh at all. I went to the hotel reception and wanted to ask something to the receptionist, so I started with ‘Ho una Domani’. The receptionist simply looked at me with a confused expression on his face and asked me to repeat it; and I did it again….. As I realized my words were not understood I said it in Spanish ‘Tengo una pregunta’. The receptionist looked at me grinning and said: ‘ahh!! Ho una Domanda!! ‘. I felt quite silly and later on started to speak only clear Spanish with everyone. So… what was I saying?? I have a tomorrow 🙂