Language while traveling
This blog is in English: hmm I’m stating the obvious am I not? Interestingly, English is in the top 3 languages in the world, which surprised me a bit as I surely thought Spanish was after English! What do I know :). Now in relation to traveling, the fact that English is so widely spoken makes traveling easier to some extent. I’ve heard of friends in Asia – shout out to Lina! – who arrived in China and were unable to find their ways in the first few days they were there, mainly due to the language difference.
We are blessed here on the island of Curaçao, that most of us (natives better known as Yu di Korsou) speak minimal four languages (Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish). No, of course I’m aware that if you’re reading this article, you understand English. But I do wonder: what do people do when going to places where English is not spoken or at least not understood? Here are some tips that I’ve found, that could help in this scenario:
- Let’s start with learning the basic language words like hello and thank you.
- Writing down important details might also help! Make sure you have addresses of your hotel, airport and whatever landmark you want to visit written down so that you could get there easier.
- Google translate can be your go-to app, or find a translation app you are comfortable with.
- If you are traveling for a while in that country, you can also find a local teacher to help you out with the local language.
There are many articles one could read to get more tips and tricks on handling a country where the language is other than those you know.
Do you have any tips or tricks on this language while traveling topic? Let us know as usual in the comments below!