language problems

In high tourist areas, someone and nearly everyone speaks enough English to serve you. It is also helpful and polite on your part to learn a few phrases so that you can greet, say good by, thank you and maybe a few simple questions in the local language. Once they see how terrible you are, they switch to English. And some parts of London are worse than Italy. And they think they are speaking English.

Agree 100% with Frank. Especially in big cities, and especially people in the service industry (i.e., hotels, restaurants) are almost certainly going to speak better English than you can speak their language. It's polite to make an attempt, but I've never had a problem being understood in Rome or Florence. I had the funny experience of trying to talk to shop owners in Rome in Italian and having them reply in English.

If you are traveling more out of the way places, you may find fewer people who speak English, or, more commonly they do speak English but not very well. Most people we met in Orvieto had a very basic grasp of English, and gestures and pointing are universal.

I was in Hallstatt last August, and I noticed a lot of merchants spoke English, but it was not to native English speakers. In fact, I never heard anyone I would have identified at a native English speaker. They were all speaking English with Asians and Italians!

I agree, in heavily touristy areas you will almost always find someone who speaks English. Except in England. My German's not that great, but I understand people better in Germany than I do in London.

Where are you finding the people in England whose English you cannot understand? I am not trying to be judgmental, I am just curious...

And you'll find out how much you can communicate with very little language involved period. One of my favorite encounters was in a small cafe in a tiny town (?) outside of Montepulciano. The person at the counter spoke almost no English, and I only have a little "phrase-book" Italian. Don't underestimate what you can do with a few pleases, thank-yous, and a lot of pointing. We had a decent breakfast and espresso, and I like to think we all had a happy encounter.

"Orientals" are rugs. People are "Asian".

As for language---a few words in each language (please, hello, good morning, thank you) go a long way. Try to learn those, and use them with a smile before asking "do you speak English?"

Many restaurants in the central areas of Paris and Rome will have dual-language menus--with English being the other one.

Hotels you might want to reserve in advance on the websites, especially since this is your first trip to Europe. Use Rick's book for suggestions. He focues on ones that are well-located for access, and the book indicates if they speak English.

Where are you finding the people in England whose English you cannot understand? I am not trying to be judgmental, I am just curious...

The accents can get quite thick in some out of the way areas. Come to think of it, I've had problems understanding accents in some areas of Virginia;)

Rick Steves has, or had, a great chapter about this in ETBD, called "Hurtling the Language Barrier."

It's basically a combination of ingenuity, humility, pantomime, and positive thinking.

The book is worth a sawbuck for this chapter alone.

Where might one go in England and not understand what was said? How about a small village in Cumbria? I stayed at a farm B&B and it turned out that my hostess's father-in-law remembered my great grandfather and indeed his older brother had been by my grandfather who had been the schoolmaster in Gambleby. He came by and I could only understand every other sentence. It was so frustrating. I kept looking at my hostess desperately hoping she would translate. Ah, well I did get some of it. Evidently, "there were scholars in the village when Mr. Walker was the schoolmaster!" So, while they speak the same language as we do, there are definitely times when communication is difficult. ; )

Actually, for the rest of Europe, phrase books are helpful. When I was planning on my trip to France, I took a "travel french" course for several weeks which got me up to speed on counting, and food, and basic greetings.

Pam

"Where are you finding people in England whose English you cannot understand?"

I hope all Americans will remember, when in England, to compliment the locals on how well they speak English--yes, even when their accent is terrible. The reason for this is, those to whom English is a second language should be encouraged in their efforts to learn our mothertongue.

Having said that, honestly, you do wonder where some of them learned to speak English?! (And they had the nerve to mention my accent!)

And why do they look at me kinda funny, when I call it a fanny pack?

Love your humour Kent! Second big smile of the day :)

Good comments, Kent. The song from My Fair Lady called, I believe, "Why can't the English learn to speak?" has the line, "Why in America they haven't spoken it in years!"

Deborah, familiarize with a phrasebook before you go; extra credit for doing something like the 1st 15 lessons in Pimsleur (which you can get from a local library) to be able to say a few phrases without having to look them up.

If you think about it, you don't need many words for everyday tourist activities such as getting food, a hotel, buying souvenirs, etc. The context tells a lot; when you're standing in the lobby of the hotel odds are excellent you're there to inquire about a room and not chat about the soccer game last nite. A few words in the local language (room for 2? 2 nites?) is sufficient, and even if you aren't too close on your pronounciation they are likely to figure out what you want. Furthermore as others have pointed out, in large cities those in the tourist industry are likely to speak enough english. However I make it a point to start every conversation in the local language as a matter of what I think of as respect and courtesy; let them do the switch to english, which they usually do pretty rapidly after I've said a few words!

The important thing is to approach it with the right attitude; a friendly demeanor and the liberal use of "please" and "thank you" in the local language goes a long way to making transactions pleasant and easy.

Click here for Rick's British - Yankee Vocabulary

Caution: only for boffins

Britain and America....two nations divided by a common language." --George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde or Winston Churchill.

The quote has been credited to all three but no one's sure which one actually said it.

"Where are you finding the people in England whose English you cannot understand?"

Er, ah, London. The night I arrived two people from the London office came out to take be to dinner. They sat across the table from me talking to each other and a couldn't understand a word. It was like in a code or something.

Also in Soho, but maybe that doesn't count.

Maybe they were using rhyming slang? It is a kind of game/code.

But it seems kind of rude for them to do that if they knew you couldn't understand it.

In a small town in Ireland, a man was speaking English but I could only understand every fourth or fifth word.

Britain and America....two nations divided by a >common language." --George Bernard Shaw or Oscar >Wilde or Winston Churchill.

The quote has been credited to all three but no >one's sure which one actually said it.

I think Shaw is officially credited, although there are half a dozen people it is associated with.

Interesting (to me anyway) that 2 of the 3 mentioned above were Irish, the other was half British, half American.

I'm pretty good at understanding accents and I know a lot of slang but a proper working class Glasgow accent still throws me for a loop. I'm a Glasgow Celtic FC supporter so I have quite a few friends as well as meet a lot of lads from Glasgow.

A lot of time I just nod and smile :)

The only country in Europe where I ever had a language problem was England, (London to be exact). It's more than the accent really. They use words found in Webster's; but, they use them to mean an entirely different thing. It was just a quick trip and the frustration level was so high that I will never return there. Other countries yes, England, no!

In the British Isles I had to translate for my mom almost everywhere we went. I could understand it when someone had a heavy Cockney accent but she even had trouble following people who spoke perfect Queen's English.

I did have a hard time once in Oxford. I asked a gate guard to recommend some nearby pub grub. He directed me to the "Wit Shit" or so I thought (I asked several times). When I got there, it turned out to be the Wheat Sheaf.

In General, I try to cram on the language enough to get transportation, room, food and entrance to sights. I also try to know how to ask directions (and understand the answer).

In Italy, it was funny how many people enthusiastically praised my "Bella l'Italiano!" even though I really only knew a tiny bit. I think everyone appreciates even a small effort to learn greetings, polite words and basic phrases.

My advice is simply to be patient and respectful when dealing with people who speak little or no English. They are trying to work with you in your language as a courtesy. Kindness (and rudeness) both come across no matter what the language and people will respond accordingly.

I remember I was in a coffee shop in Venice. My wife and I were enjoying a light breakfast we had ordered using our tourist Italian. At the next table there was an angry American shouting at the waiter: "Latte! I want a latte, [darn it]." We tried to explain to him that latte meant milk and what we Americans call a latte is a caffe latte, but he didn't want to hear from us either. Rude guy. So I tried to explain to the waiter in Italian, and the waiter replied in perfect English "Oh understand fully, sir. But until he learns how to be respectful, I speaka no English." : )

Rather than considering language differences a "problem," consider them "challenges," "opportunities," or part of the adventure. Some of my favorite travel memories involve languages.

Our first day in France with the rental car and someone bumped by back bumper at a toll plaza. I was worried because I spoke only a few basic phrases of french. I watched as the other driver got out of his car, stood between our 2 cars, looking from one to the other. Finally, he came to my window, bent down, shrugged and said "Excuse moi". I got out and checked the two cars, seeing no damage, shrugged, gave him a smile, got back into my car, and drove off. I didn't have to say a word! And, I've often wondered if that was all the french he knew, too!

It's those kinds of things that can really add to the travel experience. I've been to France twice since then and I'm planning another trip for this fall. Each time I go prepared with more french language skills -- it really does help to be able to say a few things in the local language. I may not be able to hold a conversation, but every word I know makes it easier to make contact with locals.

Sometimes, great travel memories come out of the language barrier. My friend ordered a 'latte' on our first trip to Italy and got a glass of milk and strange stares. In Paris, we had to mime 'cockroach' to tell a restaurant owner we'd seen one in his restaurant. Most tourist-oriented businesses in Rome, Paris, Venice, have English-speaking staff, though it's still polite to greet or thank people in their own language, and a phrase book helps, especially for numbers and names of food items. May not help if you need words like 'cockroach' though.

RE: Language issues in England

Cockney in east london can be hard to understand, especially if you arent familiar with slang or terminologies.

Also in the north of England, i.e. the Manchester (Mancunian accents), Newcastle (Geordie accents), Liverpool (Scouser accents),etc, might be a bit hard to understand. My husband is from Lancashire in Manchester and we have been married 6 years and still I have trouble understanding him once in a while. Its not always the accent, its also the different terminologies they may use that arent familiar to your ears.
Only a very small percentage of people sound like Hugh Grant. lol.

For instance, I once asked my husband what time it was since i didnt see the clock from where I was at. Instead of saying "6:30" he said "It's well gone half six". lol.