Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Let's assume you are travelling to NYC and you stop a local to start a conversation because you want to know more about NYC. Do you think the local is in the mood? People in NYC don't even smile at strangers.
Seattle isn't much better. Very few locals are interested in having an in-depth conversation with a tourist unless the the tourist a very attractive young lady.
The best place to talk to locals is the California forum on C-D, tell them how much you hate California and some of the locals will defend their state.
In my experience, it's not quite so simple. If you don't speak the local language of the particular country you're traveling in, some people will always roll their eyes and make fun of you for that. That's just the way humans are almost everywhere. Just try traveling in any country where you don't know the language that well.
Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal though. You will still get by.
The exception is the kids who want to practice their English.
Let's assume you are travelling to NYC and you stop a local to start a conversation because you want to know more about NYC. Do you think the local is in the mood? People in NYC don't even smile at strangers.
Seattle isn't much better. Very few locals are interested in having an in-depth conversation with a tourist unless the the tourist a very attractive young lady.
The best place to talk to locals is the California forum on C-D, tell them how much you hate California and some of the locals will defend their state.
That's assuming you're monolingual, your traveling companions are monolingual, and the people in the the place you're visiting are monolingual. English is the most commonly learned second language worldwide. If you speak English and even just one or two of the other widespread world languages it's very common to find people you have some shared language with in all but the remotest places. Anyway, my point is, not everyone's language skills are so limited. And anyway, if you speak a language of empire it's not like you're hurting for options for places to travel where people also speak your language.
That may be true, but then you're also assuming you would encounter people who speak a langauge that you speak too, however rusty that may be. My point still stands though, when you and a local converse with a language in which one or both of you are not fluent, the most you'll get out of that conversation is superficial exchange of information, such as directions to get from A to B, nothing deep.
Learning a second language is not that difficult. When I was planning an extended trip to Europe I decided to brush up on my decades-old high school Spanish.
Well yeah, when you go for an extended trip, of course you should at least learn some passable command of the local language. That would be the wise thing to do. But for someone who travels 1 or 2 weeks top out of a year to a different place every time? Not so much.
One pro tip: If you want to travel, be ready to experiment with new foods. Don't be the embarrassing American who only eats at McD's even when he's in Wan Chai.
Nah, that's just an untrue stereotype. The fact that one goes to Wan Chai shows one's curiosity and willingness to learn new things, including food. Afterall, it's a long flight from the US to get there. In all my travels (including to Wan Chai), I've never met an American who'd gone to far flung destinations only to eat at McD every single day. If anything, the fellow Americans that I've met in HK had given me some of the best tips on the food places they'd been to.
Yes, this is a TRAVEL forum...if you want to post about NOT TRAVELING but meeting people via the internet there are other places for that.
Okay.
I just want to point it out meeting the locals isn't an important part of travel.
Visitors to Yellow Stone National Park are more interested in meeting the bison than the locals. A lot of my friends have been to Yellow Stone but nobody talked about the locals.
Even when tourists want to talk to locals, locals aren't interested in in-depth conversations with tourists. They don't considering talking to tourists effective in broadening their horizons and changing to be a better person.
I just want to point it out meeting the locals isn't an important part of travel.
Visitors to Yellow Stone National Park are more interested in meeting the bison than the locals. A lot of my friends have been to Yellow Stone but nobody talked about the locals.
Even when tourists want to talk to locals, locals aren't interested in in-depth conversations with tourists. They don't considering talking to tourists effective in broadening their horizons and changing to be a better person.
Really? Not in my travels...
is this your theory?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
