Lost in Translation

There was a woman walking with a small child on the side of the road today. I noticed her as I was taking my children to school, and on my way home she was still there, a little farther up the road. I pulled over and asked if she would like a ride. She said that she didn't speak English - so I told her that I spoke Portuguese - so maybe we could understand each other. (Well, to be honest it's been about 15 years since I was speaking Portuguese every day, but I still have some skills.) Then I said, pointing - "Car, You, Someplace?" She smiled and eagerly nodded her head. We communicated haltingly. It turned out that she lived very near me, and had recently moved here from California. Her car is still in California, and she had been walking her children to school - the same school that my children attend. I asked her (or at least I thought I asked her) if she would like me to pick her children up and take them to school. It looked like she didn't quite understand what I was saying - but we kept working. Some Spanish came from somewhere back in the deep recesses of my brain and we were finally able to communicate. I told her that until she had her car back, I would come at 8:20 a.m. to pick up her children and take them to school. She looked so happy. I had warm fuzzies all over. As I was driving up to my house, I remembered the verb "to drive." It was very similar to, but not the verb I had been using. All of a sudden I realized that what I had been saying was "What time would you like me to come to translate your children to school?" Conduzir. . .Traduzir. What difference does it make, as long as she was able to understand that she had a friend here in this new, very cold place.