The Word We Swap on Fridays

On the university campus, there is a language exchange table. It sits in the corner of the student café. A paper sign hangs above it: "Teach one word. Learn one word."

Ximena sees the sign in September. She is from Mexico. She wants to practice her English. She sits down at the table with her tea.

A boy comes and sits across from her. He has a green notebook. "Hello," he says. "I am Yoon. I speak Korean. I want to learn Spanish."

"I am Ximena," she says. "I speak Spanish. I want to learn English. Can we help each other?"

"Yes," says Yoon. He smiles.

They start slowly. Yoon points to his cup. "Coffee," he says. "In Korean, it is also coffee. But we say it a little different."

Ximena laughs. "In Spanish, it is café," she says.

They write the words in the notebook. They draw little pictures of cups and trees and buses. Time passes fast. After an hour, they both know ten new words.

"Same time on Friday?" Yoon asks.

"Yes," says Ximena.

They meet every Friday. Each week, they pick a theme. One week, it is food. Another week, it is family. Yoon learns "hermano" for brother and "abuela" for grandmother. Ximena learns how to say "thank you" in Korean. Her pronunciation is very bad. Yoon tries not to laugh, but his shoulders shake.

"Again," he says, and she says it again and again.

After a month, they speak in simple sentences. Ximena tells him about her small town. Yoon tells her about his mother's kitchen. He also tells her about his cold-day soup.

One Friday in November, the café is nearly empty. Snow falls outside. Ximena arrives late, with snow on her hat.

"I have a surprise," says Yoon. "Today, we choose one special word each."

"Okay," says Ximena. "Who goes first?"

"You," he says.

Ximena thinks for a moment. She opens the green notebook. She writes a Spanish word in big letters. The word is "gustar." She turns the notebook around.

"It means: to like," she says. "You can like a song, a place, or a person."

Yoon reads the word. He repeats it quietly. His ears turn pink.

"Now you," Ximena says.

Yoon takes the pen. He writes a Korean word in small letters. Then he writes it again in English letters. Now she can read it. The word is "joahae."

"It means: I like it," he says. "Or: I like you. The meaning is in the voice."

Ximena looks at the word. She looks at Yoon. For a moment, the café is very quiet. The coffee machine hums. A student laughs somewhere far away.

"In what voice?" she asks.

"This one," he says, very softly. "Joahae."

"Me gustas," she says, just as softly. "That is the Spanish."

They smile at each other. Neither says anything for a long time.

Then Yoon pushes the green notebook to the middle. "Next week, a new word," he says.

Ximena takes the pen. She writes the date on the next page.