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Obviously it depends on what country I'm in. I can handle most simple things in Spanish, French and German, and there is always somebody who can speak one of those languages, if not English.
I spent three weeks traveling in a remote part of China, where I met only one other traveler (Japanese) and two Chinese who could speak English, the rest was all a smattering of Chinese, sign and body language, and pointing to things in a guide book. I never found it to be a problem, but I attribute that to the hospitable willingness of the Chinese to cheerfully accommodate me.
When you sit down in a restaurant, you don't need to know how to tell people that you want food, that is taken for granted, and you will be invited into the kitchen to point to things you want, if the staff gets tired of trying to communicate with you verbally.
Obviously it depends on what country I'm in. I can handle most simple things in Spanish, French and German, and there is always somebody who can speak one of those languages, if not English.
I spent three weeks traveling in a remote part of China, where I met only one other traveler (Japanese) and two Chinese who could speak English, the rest was all a smattering of Chinese, sign and body language, and pointing to things in a guide book. I never found it to be a problem, but I attribute that to the hospitable willingness of the Chinese to cheerfully accommodate me.
When you sit down in a restaurant, you don't need to know how to tell people that you want food, that is taken for granted, and you will be invited into the kitchen to point to things you want, if the staff gets tired of trying to communicate with you verbally.
Yes I've never really had a problem ordering what I wanted in a restaurant except, ironically enough, at a McDonald's in China where I attempted a combination of phrases (which the server didn't seem to understand), gesturing and pointing, but the message got across in the end lol.
If you can maintain a high standard of living in one economically deprived region of Europe, you can do so in another one as well...
I just thought it's funny that a guy from Northern Ireland doesn't like to travel to Spain and Southern France, because those regions are not up to his standards
Well um I have been to those areas and my experience is that even the council estate houses here are a better standard than the houses there. Especially rural Spain.
It depends where you are going. In Europe, they have other languages not just English. When my husband and I went to Spain, we both tried to speak Spanish. When we went to France, my husband spoke French, so it depends where you are going. It is good with Europeans because they are usually multilingual so they can usually use the European languages they know when they are travelling just within Europe without having to speak English.
I often wonder why you even post here, Mac15, since you seem so closed minded about other cultures. Is it merely to reaffirm the superiority of Anglo-Western culture in your mind?
I often wonder why you even post here, Mac15, since you seem so closed minded about other cultures. Is it merely to reaffirm the superiority of Anglo-Western culture in your mind?
Happy him, happy all.
He doesn't realise how much he is losing but, after all, "Live and let live".
Happy him, happy all.
He doesn't realise how much he is losing but, after all, "Live and let live".
I am not losing anything.
I do not need to experience other cultures. Not everyone enjoys other cultures. I have been to Spain and France many times including Rome. I hated Rome so much. It was fascinating but not my kind of history.
Boring.
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