Tag: language learning

I have had way too many experiences with Americans going abroad and getting ANGRY that someone doesn’t speak English. Can you imagine???

I understand that learning a language is hard, and learning the language for every country you visit is not feasible at all, but I think at the bare minimum you should learn a few phrases before you go somewhere where they speak a different language.

These are my survival phrases in any language:

1. Yes & No
   • They’re usually really easy words because they’re used so often!
2. Hello (and goodbye)
   • It’s polite in most western countries, but it’s actually considered pretty rude not to greet people in some countries.
   • It’s usually the first word to learn for any language and it’s really cool to have a collection of them.
3. I’m sorry/ Excuse me
   • Sometimes it’s the same word!
4. I can’t speak… (Chinese, Russian, Czech, Spanish, Polish, etc.)
   • My number one absolute MOST used phrase in any language. lol
5. Please & Thank you (and you’re welcome)
   • Being extra polite will really make up for the fact that talking to you and helping you is a huge hassle when you can’t speak the same language.
6. I would like… (this or that)
   • My go to for ordering. “I would like this please” and point.
   • It’s usually a more complicated conjugation (since it’s in the conditional) but if you aren’t learning the whole language, it’s a lot easier to learn the whole phrase.
7. This is good.
   • Surprisingly useful phrase. You can use it in a restaurant to compliment the food, or tell a taxi driver that this is a good place to stop and they don’t have to go further into a crowded parking lot.

There are lots of other phrases that would be helpful to learn, but I think these are the ones that will help you the most!

And make sure to do your research on the best translations of these phrases. Like normally I would say “I would like this please” but it’s not a normal thing to say in Russian. Instead, they say “mozhnuh” which is like may I. And in Chinese there are two ways to say I’m sorry: “dway boo chee” or “boo how yeesuh” and they’re used differently in different circumstances. And in many languages you can say versions of hello, but the informal versions are rude to say to someone older than you. Languages are tricky, but they’re so fun!