Many English speakers in the western world aren’t renowned for learning a foreign language before travelling abroad.
Well, truth bomb, people! You’re potentially missing out, you’re limiting one of the most expansive, life-affirming, enriching experiences in life – travel.
It’s all well and good to assume you’ll be accommodated on holiday by locals speaking English to you.
But, are you honestly satisfied with bumbling around like the token Brit abroad?
Lacey Pfalz tells it like it is to Travel Pulse –
“Imagine you’re travelling to Spain; it’s your bucket list trip, the one you’ve been pinching pennies for almost a decade to achieve. You finally make it there and you’ve found this awesome local restaurant. You get ready to order, but…you can’t read the menu! It’s all in Spanish, and there aren’t any pictures to help you!
What do you do now? I suppose you could use Google Translate, but do you want to be that person in a restaurant full of locals?”
Tourism Day on 27th September provides a prime opportunity to seriously consider how learning a foreign language can enhance the trip you’ve worked hard to pay for –
- Conversing with Locals – Many tourist destinations pride themselves on their hospitality. Learning a foreign language ahead of visiting can open you up to seeing beyond a tourist perspective of a place, its culture and its people.
- Eating and Drinking – Like Lacey Pfalz describes, learning a foreign language can really help with one of the most important elements of any holiday – the food and drink.
- Getting Around – It’s so much easier to make your way from A to B if you can understand signage, guidebooks, or ask a local for directions and understand what they tell you.
- Staying Safe – Learning a foreign language ahead of spending time in another country is a matter or basic safety. It’s equipping yourself with a rudimentary level of fluency and understanding should you need help or find yourself in an emergency situation.
At La Academia, one of the north west’s premier language schools, we play host to thousands of people who decide to make it their year for learning a foreign language ahead of their holidays.
It’s one of the most satisfying things to receive their postcards about the amazing time they’re having using their newfound language skills.
Source
The Travel Benefits To Learning Another Language, Lacey Pfalz, Travel Pulse
https://www.travelpulse.com/opinions/column/the-travel-benefits-to-learning-another-language.html