Did you ever vist a country where English is not spoken and you don't speak the

[luvmarypoppins]

In Norway the higher we went up by the arctic circle, the worse it was. We were trying to find an airport. I was holding my hands out to the side like an airplane and flapping, also kept repeating the name of the airline, something like brathen safe etc, like saying delta over and over again. It didnt work. We did however find a student who was an exchange student in the us. He was fascinated to see us, gheesh, I wish we would have asked him, before we left on our nothern journey, just assumed everyone could speak a little english etc. When my dh goes to china, russia etc, they have people who speak english accompany him, I also think this is for security issues etc. due to the nature of his work.

 

[caitycaity]

You've said that before and you're making me curious. Since I spent part of my childhood there and have been a few times since I really wonder what might have annoyed you so much.

first i should start with the caveat that if someone was offering me a free trip there, i probably wouldn't turn it down.

1) i found it to be one of the dirtiest "developed" cities that i have ever been to.

2) it seemed like every 3rd person we encountered was rude. i expect to find the same proportion of rude people abroad as i do at home. amsterdam was such a negative experience for us in that respect. strangely, i have only had a negative experience once in paris, and i have spent a lot of time there. i spent 4 days in amsterdam and was ready to leave after the morning of day 2 due to the overwhelming rudeness.

3) i feel like i saw and did everything i wanted to that the city offered the first time i was there. not enough to hold my interest more than one trip.

i will say the one huge positive was chocolate covered waffles with whipped cream!

 

[Planogirl]

first i should start with the caveat that if someone was offering me a free trip there, i probably wouldn't turn it down.

1) i found it to be one of the dirtiest "developed" cities that i have ever been to.

2) it seemed like every 3rd person we encountered was rude. i expect to find the same proportion of rude people abroad as i do at home. amsterdam was such a negative experience for us in that respect. strangely, i have only had a negative experience once in paris, and i have spent a lot of time there. i spent 4 days in amsterdam and was ready to leave after the morning of day 2 due to the overwhelming rudeness.

3) i feel like i saw and did everything i wanted to that the city offered the first time i was there. not enough to hold my interest more than one trip.

i will say the one huge positive was chocolate covered waffles with whipped cream!

I'm so sorry that you ran into dirty areas and rude people. I'm shocked because people are always telling me how nice Dutch people are but maybe they're just being nice. As for the dirt, Amsterdam is a city under siege in many ways and they're having a lot of problems. Luckily, I last went during an offtime and it was mostly clean.

Thanks for the satisfying my curiosity.

 

[betsyboop]

The most important thing is to try and learn a few words in the language. Like good morning/afternoon, please, thank you, and good-bye. It's considered polite to at least make an attempt to converse in the main language of the city you are visiting.

Just be sure you're saying what you think you're saying!

We went to Mexico once, and my DH thinks he knows Spanish a little better than he actually does! We were in a shoe store, and he told the guy he wanted some "gatos" for his feet! As the guy looked at him very strangely, and my friend and I headed for the door almost hysterical , he realized he should have said "zapatos"

Zapatos = shoes

Gatos = cats

 

[caitycaity]

Just be sure you're saying what you think you're saying!

We went to Mexico once, and my DH thinks he knows Spanish a little better than he actually does! We were in a shoe store, and he told the guy he wanted some "gatos" for his feet! As the guy looked at him very strangely, and my friend and I headed for the door almost hysterical , he realized he should have said "zapatos"

Zapatos = shoes

Gatos = cats

the classic taught in every spanish class is that embarazada does NOT mean embarassed - it means PREGNANT!

 

[robinb]

I went to Japan in October 2000 with my DH and (then) 14 month old daughter. No only didn't we speak the language, but we couldn't read it at all! Most important signs were transliterated into the Roman alphabet, so we could get around. The people of Japan were great! Many times adults would come to to speak to us just to practice their English. Other times, people young and old, would come up to have their picture taken with our cute blonde baby. The school girls would say "cute-o! cute-o!" and it became a catch phrase for us that trip.

We loved Japan and we were totally fine with our lack of language skills (except for the basics). We're looking forward to returning in 2007.

We also went to France in 2002. We knew a bit more French than Japanese (not hard to do!) and the signs were easier to read. The Frech people were also very friendly even though there was the start of some Anti-American sentiment brewing.

 

[WDWHound]

I have been to both France an Germany. I knew some French before my trip there, but I knew no Germen until a few weeks before my trip to Germany. Since I beleive it is rude to start a conversation in english when in a foreign country, I invested in a few rapid leaning CD's and spent the evenings in the weeks prior to the trip picking up some very basic German. I could by no means speak the language well at all. I only knew a few phrases and some rudementary vocabulary, but I could order food, ask for directions to the bathroom, buy train tickets, say helllo, good by, excuse me and thank you. These basic skills, along with Pantomime, will get you a long way.

I could also appologize for not knowing much German and ask if the the other person could speak English. I did this only when there was no other choice and in every case the person I was speaking to was respectful and kind, and would switch to my language if they could.

I believe everyone should invest a little effort in learning the basics of the language spoken in a country they are going to visit. You don't have to learn much and the effort will really be appreciated by those you meet.

 

[RadioNate]

I went to Japan in October 2000 with my DH and (then) 14 month old daughter. No only didn't we speak the language, but we couldn't read it at all! Most important signs were transliterated into the Roman alphabet, so we could get around. The people of Japan were great! Many times adults would come to to speak to us just to practice their English. Other times, people young and old, would come up to have their picture taken with our cute blonde baby. The school girls would say "cute-o! cute-o!" and it became a catch phrase for us that trip.

We loved Japan and we were totally fine with our lack of language skills (except for the basics). We're looking forward to returning in 2007.

We had the same experience in Japan. I went knowing basically 2 phrases. Hello and Thank you.

We got by just fine. Not only did everyone want to speak English to us they would approach US and try to help if we even looked the slightest bit confused. It helped that in many of the "tourist" areas everything is in both English and Japanease.

I'd go back in a heartbeat and I still don't know much more of the language.

 

[Talking Hands]

When my daughter went to Japan to work she knew no Japanese but quickly learned it. She also learned some Japanese Sign Language from a deaf performer she met. Since she already knew American Sign Language it was easy to pick up the Japanese Sign Language as well. Signs were similar much of the time. She did find that many people could speak English as well as Japanese.
It is interesting to me that USA is the only country where it is accepted to be monolingual. Every other country I have lived in or visited being multilingual is the norm. Of course in much of Florida, multilingual is becoming the norm.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Dont let one experience sour you on my beautifull province. Like anywhere else in the world , we should nerver expect that people will speak English ( or french for us french speakers) .

I went to Turkey , Egypt , Israel , spain , Italy , Dominican Republic whitout speaking a word of any of those languages. With only the phrase pages from the different travel book i had , we manage quite well. I am a backpack traveller , never with a group and often go off the beaten track , of the " tourists" roads, so meeting an english speaker is often more a faint hope than a reality.

In Turkey , with only the guide books , we manage to have a long conversation with a Turkish family on a long bus journey. The were obviously a lot pourrer than us , but manage to give us food , share cigarettes and even give us a lighter that one of the little girls had woven a little basket around it. I always entered a store or hotel saying greeting in the native language , always tried to find the right phrase in the books, and always came back from those trips with incredible satisfaction.

Our next travel plan will probably be India or somewhere in Asia , and it will be the same thing. For me , languge is never an excuse not to travel somewhere.

And just to finish about Québec , if it would be so bad , i dout we would have so many american tourists visiting us

I had the same experience. Seemed like open hostility. And I believe they pretty much all know English.


Part of that has to do with the exchange rate.


But don't take me wrong, I like Canada.

 

[mtblujeans]

I went to Germany with my ex-DH in 1974. He was Army and his mother was German. It was his first language until he was old enough to go to school. Then, his German faded away and English became his first language. We had dated in high school and then married. He joined the Army and was stationed to Germany shortly after boot camp. He still had relatives in Germany and once we got there, he very quickly picked up the language again. His mother had arranged for him to meet relatives while we were there and his parents came over for a visit, too. We lived in a small village until we got military housing on base. I learned enough German to shop in the little stores in the village. They taught me the words to ask for foods and breads I would wish to purchase. We did not have the money to travel around Germany as a family while I was there but he got a motorcycle and traveled around alot when he went back by himself. He loved it there and was stationed there again for years after we split up. I would very much like to go back again with my DH some time.

I went to Egypt in 1995 with DHs sisters. I only learned 'thank you' before we left and I stuck close with the group while there so as not to be asked questions I could not answer. We went to Cairo and English is spoken, but not everyone spoke it fluently. We, as women, were told not to look directly at men while we were there or we would be 'misunderstood' as being promiscuous. That was a hard habit to get out of when we got back! I remember we went to the Cairo Museum and there was a school class of girls visiting also. When they heard us speaking English, they completely swamped us, wanting to practice their classroom-learned English on us! I became so overstimulated I could not get away fast enough! But, they would not let us go! They were excited and laughing and asking us "how is my English"? They were so cute! I have alot of wonderul memories (and a couple of not so wonderful) from that trip! I do not feel I will ever be able to visit Cairo again and that is very, very sad for me!!

I love to travel and I hope to do more with my DH after the kids are grown and gone!

 

[ChibiJones]

Okay, since I haven't started my lessons yet tell me what it means! PLEASE!!!

Baka means crazy/silly & gaigen means foreigner.

My MIL is Japanese. She calls DH and the cat baka all the time. I've managed to avoid the 'baka' treatment so far.

 

[DawnCt1]

Does Miami count?

 

[NMAmy]

As you can see from my tag, I speak food in German. I lived in Germany for a year when my ex was stationed there. I didn't speak a word of German and I never had a problem. I babysat a little German girl whom I was teaching English and she'd translate for me. Once she'd explain that I didn't speak German, little old ladies would take me right under their wing and fight to have me sit by them on the bus so they could tell me about their city in English. It was a wonderful time and I'd love to go back.

I've been to Mexico several times but I do speak some Spanish so that's always much easier.

 

[TLHB70]

I lived in Venezuela for over a year. I had never learned Spanish prior to moving there. I did buy the pocket dictionaries, of course. I also went to the book store in the city and bought their books which help the Spanish children learn English. You know the kind.....picture books with the words below them. They would show the Spanish word with the English word right next to it. Plus, since I was living there, I had the television shows all in Spanish. I learned a lot with that. I also hired a tutor. I had to do this so that I could make sure I was buying the correct things in the stores since all of the packaging was in Spanish. Also, I wanted to learn to order off of the Spanish menu in the restaurants! The tutor helped tremendously! So many of the people there were learning English and wanted to practice on our family, though, so we would always trade off. We let them practice English and they let us practice Spanish. We always felt that they appreciated when we tried/attempted to speak their language. We were only laughed at once, at a Wendy's restaurant. The man taking the order laughed at how my DH pronounced something. I can't remember what it was now.

 

[Catzeyes]

Well considering I moved to Puerto Rico from Wisconsin and don't speak a word of Spanish I had the same problem. However for the most part I am lucky because a lot of Puerto Ricans do speak English ( I have only run into a few that don't). So it is not so bad and I actually tend to feel guilty because I only still know a little Spanish.

 

[mtblujeans]

As you can see from my tag, I speak food in German.

My absolute favorite dish was Jager Snitzel (sp?)! Yum!!

 

[pamlet]

A few years ago I made my first trip outside the US (except for Canada) to Japan. It was for business - I didn't have much time to prepare...

I have a VERY tough time learning other languages... my brain just isn't wired for it... I had a little book to help me... I was headed to Okinawa.. connecting through Osaka. The flight from Seattle to Osaka was delayed and I had to overnight in Osaka... to make matters worse - I was traveling on a pass and the airline held no responsibility for me on the misconnect.

When we got there I was the FIRST one off the plane ... went through Customs... contrary to what everyone says English is NOT well spoken ( I do NOT think that it HAS to be that way.. I was the guest in THEIR country.. but I was freaking out trying to make the last flight to Okinawa)... I would just say "Okinawa" and people would point in the direction I had to go and say "run" or "fast"... laugh... I looked like OJ in a car rental ad... Anyway I survived... and after that week there I felt comfortable enough to say I'd go back.. but this time I'd try to remember I had that little book with me in a clinch...

 

[NMAmy]

My absolute favorite dish was Jager Snitzel (sp?)! Yum!!

Yep, me too, mtblujeans--I love any kind of schnitzel. I used to have a German friend in New Mexico who would make extra for dinner and bring me a big batch for lunch the next day.

 

[JCJRSmith]

This is more of a written language problem than a spoken language problem

I spent some time in Europe when I was in the Navy. My first ship did a cruise to the North Atlantic, and when the exercise was over, we pulled into Amsterdam for a week. We had been at sea for a long time, and there were no fresh dairy products on the ship for days. My buddy Rick, a country boy from Alabama who had never been out of the US before, and I went in search of some fresh groceries for snacks. We were able to locate a small grocery store and bought sausages and cheese and crackers and chocolate and other goodies. As Rick passed the dairy case he saw the cartons of milk, all with pictures of cow's on them and Dutch writing. He didn't know which was the whole milk, the skim milk, etc, so he grabbed the "blue" carton and we made our purchases. We were heading back to the ship when he opened the carton and took a swig. He then said, "This is awesome - want some?" and handed me the carton. I took a huge pull and nearly hurled - it was BUTTERMILK and GEEZ was it sour. How he managed to keep a straight face and not clue me in what was in the carton, I will never know. He said, "It had a picture of a cow on it. How was I supposed to know?"