Showing posts with label travel tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel tips. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Travel Don'ts: not speaking the language

                                      Photo Nicolle Morales Kern

How easy would it be if you could travel and not worry about expressing yourself in another language? If the prospect of creating new sounds and words doesn't appeal to you, then maybe travel is not for you.

That may sound harsh, but the whole point of traveling to a different country is to experience a new country and culture and this includes the language. A key aspect of understanding a culture is through language and if you expect tourists coming to the US to speak English, you should be willing to try at least some expressions in the local language.

Exactly for this purpose there are plenty of phrasebooks that can prepare you for your trip. It cannot be expected that you'll be fluent in the local language, but the important aspect is to make an effort. At least be able to greet people, know food phrases and directional phrases. Most locals might switch to English when they notice you're from out of town, but they will appreciate that you made an effort.

You might prefer online phrase books, for example through Rough Guides,that can easily be downloaded or a pocket guide, available through Lonely Planet, that you can easily take along wherever you go. Of course, these are not the only places to get phrase books that can also be found at your local book store or library.

If you prefer to learn a language more fluently, check out my article on where to learn languages.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Traveling Don'ts: Menus with Pictures


My mom has always had a rule when we travel: Never eat in restaurants whose menus have pictures in them.

You know the type I'm talking about. They are usually located in the tourist areas of a city and the pictures take over pretty much the entire menu. Such was the case on this past Christmas trip to Roma. While walking the narrow, cobble-stoned streets around the  Pantheon restaurant hosts stood in the doorway calling out to tourists to entice them to sit for a meal. The menus were prominently displayed to the side of the door and any possible guest could simply look at the food served.

I don't know about you, but it reminds of fast food places here in the US and I find that eating in such a restaurant will guarantee a mediocre or bad meal. One of the advantages of traveling is tasting local dishes and the best places to do that are restaurants that the locals eat in. So don't be afraid to explore your destination.

Safe Travels.