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Serious? What kind of question is this? I seriously doubt most international travelers know the language of the places they travel to. They all may share a common, non-native language, like English, but I doubt that a lot of Germans are going to be fluent in say Russian for a trip to Moscow, then turn around next year and be fluent in Turkish, oh yea, fluent in the language of every border country they may travel to.
Being I have traveled to well over 50 countries, not even close to knowing the language of the countries I have visited.
Basically all of them except USA and London
Andorra, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium (not the french part), SK, Japan, Hong Kong, Portugal, Slovakia....
It's more normal to visit without knowing the language than the opposite IMO...
If you travelled only in the countries that speak your language, that must be utterly boring :]
Have you ever visited a place without being able to communicate with the locals because you didn’t know their language?
Yes, Morocco, Algeria, and Greece, I got by okay in Morocco and Algeria, because as former French colonies, French was understood by a large chunk of the population, but it knocked me sideways to be told in Marrakech and Casablanca, where I was speaking French, that I had “un accent étrange”, (a strange accent.)
In Greece, the main thing that throws you is the Cyrillic alphabet, like Bulgarian or Russian, it’s not easy to see something self explanatory, like pharmacy, although the obligatory green cross is a give away.
If you stick to the tourist area in Athens, like the Plaka, they’ll speak English there, as they need to, to make a living, but anywhere away from the coast, it was pointing and sign language, and why not, it’s Greece, why should they speak another language?
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Not only visited... but lived and worked in several countries (with my family) where I did not know the language.
Ordering at a restaurant can be a real surprise.
As can the times when the utility people show up at your apartment screaming at you (you couldn't figure out the bill...) and shut off the power (usually on a Friday night about quitting time)
And the border stops on the overnight train when you and your kids get tossed off the train (in the snow) for not having some special document (or enough local cash to pay off the guards).
Such are the adventures of living in different cultures.
Quote:
it’s not easy to see something self explanatory, like pharmacy, although the obligatory green cross is a give away.
Definitely find those Greece pharmacies!!! We got the best help and CHEAP meds there!!! way better than other countries. Very VERY cheap meds from our (USA) perspective. Fortunately they did not require a prescription.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 12-08-2017 at 08:58 PM..
I think that VTYankinME appreciated that, I guess that he meant that it showed the locals that you were politely trying to offer something in the host language.
When I went to Poland years ago with my Polish girlfriend, I knew that falling back on my French wasn’t going to get me far, so I made sure that I could come up with the basics, dzień dobry, (good morning, good day), do widzenia, (good-bye), proszę, (please), dziękuję, (thank you), tak and nie, (yes and no),
I’d already nailed Kocham cię, (I love you!)
Of course, it s one of the great pleasures of travel, i love listening to a different language.
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