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Whenever
you go to another country that has a language foreign to your own, make
sure you learn a few key words / phrases, other than the usual 'hello',
'good-bye', 'please' and 'thank-you'! It's important to be able to call
'help' in a language those around you will be able to understand ?
especially if you are a woman traveling on your own. You will show
respect to the residents of the country you are visiting, if you try to
speak in their language. Even if you lack confidence and are sure you
are destroying their tongue ?making the effort is much more likely to
get a helpful response from those you commune with.
The assumption that the locals will all speak English can be offensive ?
if you try their language, they're much more likely to try yours!
Learning just a few basic phrases really can make all the difference
–besides, it's fun! If you have any allergies ?particularly to certain
types of food ?make sure you learn their names in the local tongue. You
don't want to accidentally order a meal containing seafood if you're
allergic to it!
You can also turn the language barrier to your advantage in some
situations. If someone comes over to talk to you, and you don't want
have a conversation ?for whatever reason ?try doing the following.
Make sure you don't say anything to them at first, and let them try to
speak to you in your own language. Then mime that you don't understand
them ?shrug your shoulders or shake your head. Any other languages they
offer to speak to you in, will invariably be one they can use ?so if
they ask if you are French, it's almost certainly because they can! At
this stage you can give your 'nationality', trying to choose one whose
language is unlikely to be popularly learnt. Alternatively, you can
carry on pretending not to understand them, until they get bored and
leave you alone.
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