Monday, December 2, 2019

Speak The Local Language To Get The Most Out Of Your Trip

So you’ve figured your trip out. You’ve managed to get your visas in order, you’ve planned out your itinerary, you’ve found a way to make it budget-friendly, and you’re ready to go. So why do things feel just so…so empty, so lonely as you finally disembark in Moscow?

Wherever you go, people have certain politeness, but as soon as they learn you don’t speak Russian, you’re patronized. Not only that, but you could swear they’re talking about you behind your back. This makes you paranoid, and so you avoid people, and you avoid talking too much.

Then you meet another person from your country, you go over and introduce yourself, and without meaning to, suddenly you’re babbling on about everything from your childhood to your taste in pancakes while the other person continuously tries to feign a valid reason to leave. It turns out they speak Russian, and you don’t.

Whether you’re going somewhere for a short trip or a long trip, boning up on your language skills is an integral component of enjoying yourself overseas. Spain, Mexico, Paris, Russia, Japan, China, or India, you want to have some level of understanding in the native tongue, or you’ll risk more than just feeling socially uncomfortable.

If you come from the states, you could also go to places that do speak your language, like Australia or New Zealand. In that case, you can go to Thredbo, for example, for a mountain experience in Australia.

Those Who Take Advantage

It’s a lot easier to make money traveling abroad if you’ve got some concept of the local language. It’s a lot easier to save money, too, as you’ll be able to tell whether or not those who you meet are trying to take advantage of you due to your foreign status. If you know the language well enough, you can feign ignorance and catch shysters in their shenanigans.

You’re going to have situations where the natives try to take advantage of you in all likelihood. Tourism is an industry, and many tourists lose hundreds of dollars to such shysters without even realizing they’ve been duped. Speaking the language is integral to avoid this.

Romance?

Many people get married abroad. While there is romance in two people establishing a close non-lingual connection, again there’s ample room for one partner to take advantage of the other. In America, people will come from other countries, get married, establish citizenship, then get divorced to retain their US citizenship—that was the plan from the beginning.

If you’re basing your relationship on sparks flying in the French Riviera, you may find yourself astonished and bamboozled when she decides to leave you the moment after you’re married in America. If you know the language, you’ll likely be able to catch on before such a thing happens.

Immersion

A good way to learn any language, ironically, is through total immersion. If you live in a foreign country for six months to a year, you’ll likely pick up the local language eventually through necessity. This can be one strategy to learn a new language—though it is a brutal strategy, and it will take a long time.

The best way to learn a new language is to gradually study it at intervals such that your memory retains that which it has absorbed, then totally immerse yourself. A class that meets several times a week is ideal. Additionally, you want to practice speaking the language to others in the class, and even native speakers of the tongue if you get the opportunity.

Once you’ve got a foundation based in the preliminary study of the language, you’ll be able to travel and get the gist of what’s going on much better. Then, if you’re totally immersed for a few months, you’ll more quickly be able to pick up the tongue such that you can truly speak it like a native.