I am fluent in American Sign Language! Thank The Lord. 

If I couldn't say that about myself, I would be a knot of utter frustration. Why? I have dipped my toe into the inviting pools of Spanish (remember our times at Mexican orphanages?), Swahili (Jambo!), and German (dragged out of the dusty mental files from my high school exchange student days), but have not jumped in and become skilled in any of those languages. And now, here I go again. Hebrew. 

I'm definitely in over my head.

I have committed to memory (riiiiiiight) several survival words such as "Ani mitztaeret" (I am sorry) which I can remember by how it sounds like "Annie meets da airhead."

Thankfully Israelis are generally very encouraging. For example after being given change at the grocery store I cheerfully said, "bevakasha!"  (you're welcome!) instead of "toda" (thank you)..  The woman behind me responded to my sheepish laugh by saying, "Well done for making the effort!" 

Now that's generous.

I like using slicha (excuse me) in the grocery store. It surprises the staff, who know I know next to nothing, and it definitely makes navigating the crowded aisles easier. The drawback is that I can pull off one word like a native which means the response from another shopper might be a flurry of Hebrew asking which aisle the mustard is in. At that point the game is up and I get to use "Annie meets da airhead" closely followed by  "I don't know Hebrew"

The key is being able to laugh at myself, which I'm usually able to do.
The other key is that most people I've encountered are comfortable using English. Whew.