For a moment, Marie couldn't work why her roommate couldn't understand her. When she heard the girl reply - and by God, what a reply it was - she realised her mistake.
The problem was, she had neither head nor tail of what Junko had said. She recognised "Konnichiwa" "Marie" and... nope, that was it. Hello and her own name. Of course, it didn't help that the girl was talking at a million miles per hours, but it wasn't like Marie could understand her even if she was talking at a human rate.
Perhaps it would have done her some good to learn the language before she went to a foreign country.
She didn't panic, though. She simply smiled and took it in stride.
What language would we both know?, she thought for a moment. The most common language was Chinese, which she knew a little bit of, but the most widespread was Spanish, which she knew quite well. But Spanish was mainly an American thing. English, perhaps? By now, just about everyone in the civilised world knew English.
"H-Hello, Roommate" she began, her English rusty and her accent heavy. Regardless, she continued "My sorries, but I have small understanding of the language of Japanese. Is language of English okay for you?"
She smiled and tilted her head to the side. SHe didn't think she butchered the language, but you never know. Besides, it was either this or they made vague hand gestures at each other for the rest of the year.
salamimike