Travel 101 Series
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But
I Don’t Speak the Language:
What Phrases to Learn and Why
by
Judy Wolf
This is a biggie for people. We live in a culture where we don’t often have to deal with people who don’t speak our language (and we’re not always that patient or sympathetic when we do), so of course we don’t know quite how we’ll get our needs met while abroad. When I started traveling, it was a fear for me, too. Now I can’t think of anywhere I wouldn’t go because of language concerns.
Don’t get me wrong, learning another language is a valuable and worthwhile investment of time and energy, and is guaranteed to enhance your trip immeasurably. It lets you go more boldly off the beaten path, take public transportation with confidence, and engage people outside the tourist industry in conversation about topics that matter to them.
But don’t let not speaking the language stop you. For one thing, as the main language of international business, English is the most widely spoken idiom on the planet. As Americans, that gives us a huge advantage as travelers. For another, the people who work in the places you’ll most likely go (especially at first) are used to dealing with foreigners and probably have a good idea of what you need: when you get into a taxi, it’s fairly obvious that you’ll have a conversation about where you want to go; when you enter a hotel, you’ll most likely be asking for a room; stand in front of a bakery counter, and it’s a good deduction that you want to eat something.
Pointing and miming become tools that not only get you what you require, they also make for fun interactions. Two of my goals when communicating non-verbally with people are to have fun and get them to smile. This sort of creativity also points to a responsibility I believe we have as native English speakers -- and an area in which I too often see Americans fall short: it’s our job to make an extra effort to communicate effectively.
I’ve seen too many Americans stand in a street market impatiently repeating the same word over and over, getting louder each time, as though the little old man selling vegetables will suddenly understand the word “banana” if he didn’t know it in the first place. As native speakers, it behooves us to practice a little flexibility. We’re the ones with the vocabularies. If he didn’t understand “banana,” start using body language, draw the shape, peel it, describe it: “long, yellow fruit?” Get creative -- it’s fun!
That said, during my travels I’ve found there are certain key phrases that are useful to learn right away. In my experience, people are quite patient about making the effort to understand foreigners’ attempts to communicate (as long as we’re good-natured and appreciative of their effort). You’ll probably feel more comfortable getting around if you learn how to say the following (these phrases can be found in any guidebook):
- Please & thank you (politeness is appreciated everywhere)
- Yes & no (these are important ones to understand at least)
- Excuse me (you’ll want a polite way to get attention, even if you gesture from that point on)
- Sorry (it’s polite to apologize when your bag knocks people over on the subway)
- Where is a…bathroom, train station, bank, post office, hotel?
- How much? (shops are some of the places where you may first encounter more complicated interactions with people who don’t speak English -- learning your basic numbers will help with bargaining, shopping, restaurants, train times…)
- Good morning/day/evening (politeness wins friends)
- Do you speak English? (nice to ask rather than assume)
- I don’t understand (in case someone’s talking away at you, and you need to indicate you’re not getting a word of it)
- What time? (again, good for transportation details)
- I’d like a room. (most hotels will speak English, but some smaller, family-run guesthouses may need a little help -- if you prefer these places, you’ll want to learn to ask some basic questions like whether the toilet is shared or private, if there’s hot water or air conditioning, how many nights the room is free)
- Bottled
drinking water, no ice. (this is pretty important in some parts
of the world, since most travelers’ diarrhea is caused by contaminated
food or water and your waiter may not speak English)
Copyright (c) 2005 Judy Wolf
About
the Author:
Judy Wolf (www.judywolf.com)
is a world traveler, freelance writer, speaker, and whitewater kayak instructor.
She's taken numerous, extended solo journeys around the world, traveling
by foot, bus, jeep, camel, truck, boat, train, plane, elephant, and bicycle
to over 30 countries on five continents. She currently lives in upstate
New York with her husband and border collie, where she's working on a
book-length travel narrative about her most recent adventures…that is,
when she's not plunging off waterfalls or entertaining the dog.
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