Like a lot of people, I took a foreign language in high school. For 3 years, I took Spanish. I had every intention of being able to fluently speak the language after high school…. Like a lot of people, I haven’t done much with Spanish since high school. Language is like a lot of things. If you don’t use it, you lose it. So what does one do when traveling to a foreign country and the language is different than English? What you should NOT do, is not go. Don’t let the fear of not speaking the language keep you from traveling and experience all the wonders that travel can bring.

If you have some time and are adventurous, you could learn a new language. There are lots of benefits to this plus it’s a lot of fun.

1. Enroll in private language instruction course. This can be expensive but well worth it. One way to save on costs is to find an international student at a local college or university. A few years ago, I was heading to China for a month. I wanted to learn the language to understand how to navigate the cities that I was visiting, to know what I was eating and to be able to find the bathroom when I needed it. I found a young student from China. She taught me how to not only speak the language, but also how to read it. What was also great about her was that she gave me cultural tidbits about China which was so helpful once I got there. I loved being able to converse with the locals. It always tickled me when they got excited that I could converse with them in their language!
2. Enrolling in a community language class at a local university is also a great way to learn a language. Most universities have some sort of continuing education program that includes language courses. Many of these courses are 6-8 weeks in length and require you to meet on a specific day/time throughout the duration of the course. These courses are always very popular. So when you find one, make sure to sign up as soon as you can.
3. Do it on your own by using an audiobook like Pimsleur or a software technology like Rosetta Stone. A few years ago, we were headed to Italy for an extended vacation. When I visited Italy before, I didn’t know the language but I loved hearing the locals speak it and fell in love with the language. So during my long commutes to work each day, I followed the Pimsleur books and was able to learn enough to have basic conversations with locals.

If time is of the essence and you don’t have time to take a class or learn a new language, here are a few short cuts to consider:

1. First, try to learn a few words ahead of time, like hello,” “good-bye,” “”please,”  and “thank you”.  If you have time, try to learn a few phrases like “how much is this,” “where is the bathroom,” or “how do I find….”  Locals love it when you try their language. Even if you completely botch it up, it’s been my experience that they will appreciate the effort, and it goes a long way in showing the locals you’re trying.  There’s a great gamification app called Duolingo that can be used to help. It’s also free!
2. Another option is to write down all of the places that you are planning to visit or print out information about those places. I’ve given a print-out to my taxi driver because I knew that I would mispronounce the words. It makes it much easier on all involved.
3. Purchasing a phrasebook can also help, but chances are that you won’t necessarily understand the response you get. So I recommend using an app like Google Translate. It’s great for translating signs, voices and more. For more information on this app, see my earlier blog on this topic.

Hand Gestures

Some people recommend hand gestures. I want to caution this because some hand gestures that are ok for us here in the US can be insulting to those in another country. For instance, a thumbs up sign is seen as a sign of approval in the US. In some countries, it’s seen as ‘up yours.’ So this is something, you have to be careful with. Here’s a quick guide to assist you with hand gestures.

Book a tour

If not knowing the language stresses you out, booking a tour might put your mind at ease.

Work with a travel professional to book an organized tour. The benefit to an organized tour is that you’ll have someone around nearly every minute who can speak English and the local language. This is also a good way to feel like you have a safety net, and maybe next time you go on a trip, you’ll feel better able to tackle the language barrier. You can book a completely guided vacation where someone picks you up from the moment you land and guides you from city to city, site to site until you leave. You can also book a day tour or a handful of tours that last only a few hours at a time. Whichever option you choose, you’ll have the benefit of an English-speaking guide

Someone else has been there before you

Read online travel forums for reassurance. Chances are there are plenty of other people who have traveled to the destination you’re thinking of going. Search through the questions to see what people are saying about how easy it was to get around without knowing the local language.If someone else traveled there and figured out a way around the language differences, you can do it too. Just keep telling yourself that, and once you   get there, you’ll believe it. Afterwards, you’ll feel great that you met a challenge head on and succeeded. It’s one of the many reasons I love to travel.

It might seem impossible to travel to a country with a different language and sometimes a completely different alphabet, but remember how much of the world learns English. Even in less educated parts of the world, people who work in some sort of tourism job will most likely know a few phrases of basic English. Don’t let a fear of not speaking the language hold you back. Just think of it as another part of the journey, and enjoy the ride.