Was It Something I Said?

Recently I attended a large party where I knew absolutely no one except the host. So I came up with a way to socialize with my fellow guests. I would simply introduce myself to people, tell them that I didn’t know anyone at the party but that I hoped to meet someone who spoke Italian. Nobody that I met spoke Italian (I wasn’t really expecting that any would). But people found my quest delightful. They were very interested in talking about my Italian studies, other languages they had studied in school, trips they had taken or were planning to take to Italy, etc. I didn’t get to practice speaking Italian, but I was able to avoid standing by myself and got involved in a lot of interesting conversations. If I had actually met an Italian speaker, I would have had the added advantage of getting some practice.