Language Barrier

I had a chuckle this morning at my cluelessness in yet another area. Joan Stockdale who serves as a missionary in Poznan, Poland is excited about a prayer meeting that will be for native English-speakers. She is looking forward to the freedom of praying in her native language. I am familiar with the concerns of the missionaries there with the ability to speak Polish, but I have not ever thought about the challenges that can present in a prayer meeting.
I have been in prayer groups with Spanish-speakers, but they have always been fluent in understanding English. That's a good thing since my Spanish is sorely limited. Unless we were praying (in a really bad accent) for "Greetings! Beer window kitchen please pregnant warning. Good-bye!", I would be at a loss. I have honestly never considered the challenges of prayer and worship on a regular basis with believers who speak a different language, despite the fact that our church offers a growing Spanish service on Sunday. (I'm having a bit of a "Duh!" moment.)
The question of my inability to either speak or understand languages other than my native English created questions early in the plans for OPS. I thought it would be good to be able to offer greetings and say good-bye as well as the basics of "Thank You", "yes", "no", and "please". Shelley had a good-natured laugh over that initial idea because she has been immersed in Polish culture for years, and she is still learning the language. (She very kindly did not point out my unwitting arrogance in thinking I could just "pick up" a bit of Polish.) Polish is utterly different from the English I have always spoken, read, and understood. I found just the alphabet daunting with 32 letters in the Polish alphabet (and that doesn't even include Q, V,or X!).