Say what you want

Richard, Paul and I went to a Burmese restaurant in Singapore for lunch.  All the staff there are native Burmese.  We ordered our food.  Richard asked for hot water, while Paul and I had cold water to drink.


As we ate lunch, the very-efficient waiters came regularly to refill our glasses with cold water.  Richard wanted hot water, not cold.  So, he covered his glass with his hand each time the waiter came with the jug of cold water.  This is what ensued:


Richard to waiter: "Hot water."  Waiter smiles and walks away.  Next round of refills, Richard covers his glass and says the same thing, "Hot water."  Waiter leaves.  Still no hot water.


After 3 repeats of this situation, I said to Richard, "You need to say: 'May I have some hot water, please?' instead of only saying 'hot water'.  He doesn't know what you want."  Richard gave me a dirty look, as if to say that I was criticising his command of English.


When the waiter came, Richard said to him, "May I have some hot water, please?"  The waiter replied, "Yes, of course."  He refilled Paul's and my glass with cold water, then went to get the jug of hot water and filled Richard's glass.


I couldn't help but say to Richard, "See, I told you!  He's (the waiter) is Burmese.  You need to speak simple English to him."


State in simple English what you want.  Nuances don't work unless you know each other very well.