Being a recurrent topic “how to communicate with local people in places were you don’t speak the language” or especially “how to learn X language” and considering that most HUBB visitors are English native speakers, I propose to start a thread where we, non-native speakers (and native as well), based on our experiences, give some tips to ease the task to Brits, Irish, Americans (US citizens), Aussies, Canadians and Kiwis (and any others) when they speak English abroad.

I’ll start it, hoping that others will provide more and better advice, but here I go.

Honestly, I think that starting point would be... ban the “I’m amazed about how few people could speak English” sentence. Although English is the current “lingua franca”, it hasn’t always been the case (elderly people speak more French, and still the case of youth in certain regions; or Russian in former USSR, etc). Furthermore, if you, a guy with the curiosity to travel to know the world can’t speak the local language, how could you expect the local farmer to speak good English? So, it’s you to make the bigger effort.

Now the tips (just a personal opinion), which mainly refer to the case of a native trying to use English: *note: I insist on native because understanding a foreigner is MUCH easier.

1) Politeness: in many places you cannot start by saying “(excuse me,) where is the cathedral?” So, start with a greeting in the local language (bonjour –really appreciated by the French-, buenos días –‘cos I’m (worth it?) Spanish-, whatever) and give the person a time to greet you back (1 second?). It’s a much better start to get all the kindness and patience from that person.

2) IMHO, don’t start asking “do you speak English?” Why? Some people just get afraid of this question. They may understand “where is the cathedral?” and could point the direction, but they consider that they don’t speak English to answer yes. So, they’ll say NO, although they might help you: most young people have studied some English at school.

3) Have you ever felt puzzled talking to a guy in Glasgow? It’s much worse for us with any native speaker, so speak slowly and pronounce very well, as if you had to pronounce every letter. Don’t speak very quickly followed by a long pause, we didn’t have time to process the info. British pronunciation doesn't sound fluent to our ears (bumps) and Americans "eat" sounds, Kiwis change vowels (sounds lift, they meant left). So, do your best: if you say “ksal”, the average Italian guy won’t link “castel” (say KASTEL) to the Italian “castello” (well, not so slowly as to make the Italian guy feel like an idiot).

4) Consider showing the word in written, whether in English or the local language. Wrong/right pronunciation may make a huge difference. I would add a visual dictionary, but that’s another story.

5) SMILE and be nice, use your body alongside with your tongue (useful anywhere for any speaker).

Not much, nor a golden tip above, but by now cannot think of others.

I hope it will help some and that others will contribute with more/better tips.

Happy travels (and happy communication when traveling!),

Esteban