Language - Don't be the Ugly American

"There are no foreign lands.  It is the traveler who is foreign." 

Robert Louis Stevenson



Eiffel Tower, Paris

I have had clients who were nervous about going to a foreign country because they don't speak the language. I tell them that they would be surprised how many people in the world speak English. It may not be their first language, but especially in Europe, most people speak several languages and English is usually one of them. That doesn't mean that you should assume that they do. Even if they do speak English, they may refuse to if you just assume that they should.

One of my fellow travel agents at AAA used to tell people that they didn't want to go to France because the French people were rude. We got into an argument about that. I have been to France several times, and I can tell you that most French people are not rude, they just find Americans to be rude, because we expect everyone to bend over backwards for us. We don't take the time to be polite to them, so they don't feel the need to be polite to us. All they really expect from you as a traveler is a polite greeting in their language - “bon jour”. And then ask them (again in their language) “parlez vous English?” You are asking them if they speak English. 95% of the time they will then gladly switch to English as you have shown them that you are willing to make an effort.

So whatever country you decide to visit, my advice is to learn a few basic sentences. You should learn the local greeting, how to ask them if they speak English, and how to say thank you. Another good sentence to learn, is to ask where the bathroom is. A note on that, in England you should ask where the loo or water closet is. I asked a lady in London where the restroom was and she thought I needed to lie down.