Welcome, aspiring polyglot! The last time I was in Europe I was shocked by how few places we went had people who spoke fluent English. In fact, there were several places we went in Germany where, if I weren’t able to speak German, we would have been completely lost. It was a stark reminder that there is a big difference between seeing a place and experiencing it. The latter is always better and the difference is speaking the local language.
Everyone speaks English
Of all the countries in Europe where Americans believe they will be safe as monolinguals, Germany is at the top of the list. Even I was shocked at how few places had an English speaker available. There is always the chance that they could speak English, but what people can do and what people will do are often different things. Especially when it comes to speaking a new language to native speakers who are visiting your country.
Relying on people to make your travel experience more convenient has more than just social costs. You might just be paying the tourist tax that so many people end up paying and, if you want more on that, read this article:
The Tourist Tax
Welcome, aspiring polyglot! The other day someone on social media told me that the tourist tax doesn’t exist. This is a belief that can only exist while paying the tourist tax. All that means is paying a little bit extra for everything because the locals know you cannot speak the local language. In tourist areas this kind of exploitation of tourists is …
At the end of the day, expecting people to speak your native language when traveling is the height of entitlement. They might know how to speak the language, but that does not mean they are required to, just as you are not required to speak the language of those who are visitors in your country. It is incumbent upon the visitor to learn the language of the country in which they are a guest.
If you aren’t at a point where you are able to confidently speak the language, simply attempting is often going to be enough to convince the person you are speaking to that it is worth trying to communicate with you. An unwillingness to try is going to be reciprocated. People are so much more gracious than people believe and without ever attempting to find out you will go through your life without being touched by the world around you.
Opening up the world
Several years ago my closest friend and I went to Costa Rica for a couple weeks. He was learning Spanish and I was excited to go back and visit my host families and friends from a decade ago when I was studying at the University of Costa Rica. One night we stumbled into a bar and, after a couple hours, struck up a conversation with the bartender who was also the owner.
After an hour or so of chatting, we found out he was a professional soccer player that had once played for the Costa Rica national team. Unfortunately, at that time, there was a 9:30pm curfew, so we shut down the bar and headed home. We spent the next couple days touring different things, seeing places I remembered from my exchange that were off the beaten path. Then we headed back to our new friend’s bar.
That night, we closed the bar down again, but since it was a weekday, we had spent almost the entire night with the owner and his wife. When things closed down, he told us to hang back and we did. He then invited us to a party at an undisclosed location. Now, I would highly recommend not getting into strangers cars in foreign countries, but we did. A 20 minute drive later we pull up to this massive mansion which, in Costa Rica, is exceedingly rare.
Turns out, it’s the mayor of San Jose’s home. That night we had the time of our lives and met people we absolutely would never have met if we didn’t speak the local language. In fact, the only conversations on this trip took place on this trip in English were between my friend and I when we were touring around the country. This is what I mean when I say you should be more than a tourist.
I try to tell these stories from time to time to remind people why they are working. It can be exceedingly easy to forget why you are working towards the goal of becoming bilingual. While I may not know your specific goals, I do know that the consequences of learning a new language are deeper relationships, richer experiences, and ample opportunities. Whatever your individual goal, all of those things await you when you add a new language to your repertoire.
Starting at zero
Though I hinted at it above, there are some tricks you can use to get people to start speaking to you, even if they are hesitant. While I am normally against phrase books and common word lists because they are usually excuses for people to avoid deepening their understanding of the language. If they are used only as a starting point, they are totally worth picking up.
Next, if you are expecting someone to risk making mistakes and looking dumb to facilitate communication, you better be willing to do the exact same thing. Mistakes will ingratiate you with those around you. But without being willing to try you should not go around expecting people to be willing to try for you. You never know, the effort you put forth might be precisely what you need to make the jump to the next linguistic level.
This exercise will all but guarantee that you find people who will be invested in your learning. You might even find people who want to learn your native language. Having partners to speak with, ones who will be honest with you and with whom you can be honest, is invaluable. When done correctly, you will end up with lifelong friends scattered all around the world. Seems like a good reason to risk looking foolish next time you have the opportunity.
Conclusion
Visiting new places is important and I am an advocate of traveling far and wide whenever you have the opportunity. It is precisely because I want you to travel that I am so insistent upon speaking the local language. I have said it before and I will say it again, when you are able to speak the local language you will open your world to opportunities you cannot even imagine. The problem is that you won’t see it until you try.
Taking the leap is worthwhile irrespective of how terrifying it may be. People are gracious, but you have to give them the opportunity to share their humanity with you. If you expect others to risk looking foolish in front of you, then you better be willing to risk looking foolish in front of them. It is difficult to put yourself in that position, but you can do difficult things and be great. So get out there and start risking to master your new language and become great. I am rooting for you.
Requests
If you have anything you would like covered you can reach out to me on X, Instagram, or at odin@secondlanguagestrategies.com.
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