Seven or Please?

I am at a restaurant in Qingdao, China with our new acquainted co-workers with Kings English for Kids and a few people from church. I ask the waitress, “please I like cold water”. A few minutes later passes and I didn’t have water but I thought “hey maybe she was busy with another table”. Minutes pass and she shows up with….

I accidentally ordered 7 waters.

Oops. I learned from our new friends that I had been saying “please” wrong this entire month. The waitress heard “seven I like cold water” so she brought out seven waters. She must have thought I was terribly thirsty. The words look really similar and almost sound the same.

qi (1)- seven

or

qi(3)ng-please

There is comical relief and learning from mistakes in acquiring another language. Have you ever had a similar experience?