Language games.

 

So, it turns out that Wikipedia says that one of the (indigenous) languages that a lot of the (Guatemalan) back-of-the-house staff speaks developed tones, unlike some of the other neighboring related languages and unlike how they think the mother language functioned.

So, I was telling this to my one (Thai) (newlywed) coworker, and I suggested an experiment:

The next time one of the guys who spoke that language came out of the kitchen for something, we should have him start counting and recite numbers for her.

And, we did that, and she could totally hear the tones.

And, I asked, and she says that when Americans count in English, there's no tones, in comparison, you can just hear the difference.

One time after that, too, I asked a guy how you say "Buenos dias, senor" in his language, and when he told me, she said she could hear the tones in that, too.