Fearless Abroad: Tips for Navigating Non-English Speaking Countries with Ease!
Signage outside an airport terminal in Athens, Greece
A lot of people worry about traveling to countries that don’t have English as its primary language. It can feel scary and overwhelming to imagine not being able to navigate a new place. Here are some tips to give you some peace of mind.
Glacier Express menu in Swiss and English
Signage. If you’re traveling internationally by airplane, there are signs in multiple languages and with pictures to help you know where to head to get to a lounge or a gate, an exit, etc. Same goes for trains. They usually are train personnel outside of carriages to help you get sorted. They also know that there will be international passengers. Don’t hand over your ticket to anyone, but if you’re stuck, it usually is enough to show an employee your ticket and then can direct you appropriately. You may not be able to have a casual conversation, but they are equipped for dealing with non-locals. Also, there sometimes are words in English in a smaller font with the local language in a bigger font. Don’t forget that you can make educated guesses about some words and you’ll usually be correct. If you want to double check, take a look at tip #2 and watch our video linked below.
Technology. We have an entire video (BEST Travel Tips and Tricks for communicating outside the US | MUST WATCH) to walk you through all the ways your tech can work for you. Granted, you need to have a little bit of tech savvy, but we do our best to guide you through how to translate through a myriad of methods.
Be flexible and adventurous. There may be times when through all your best efforts you get a meal that ends up looking not quite like what you expected, or your hair color at an international salon does not turn out despite using all the resources at your disposal to communicate clearly. Keep a sense of humor, make the best of it, and understand that in nearly every situation, it is not going to kill you. The things that go a little wonky while traveling is all part of the adventure and usually makes for the most hilarious stories from your trip that you will remember and share over and over again.
Our super kind waiter at our favorite coffee place in Giza, Egypt.
The kindness of strangers. We were in Egypt at a breakfast street vendor and it took a German who knew a little bit of English and some Egyptian to act as a go-between. We’ve seen similar situations on trains where a fellow passenger steps in and helped clear up someone’s ticket situation. Over and over again in our travels we have had the good fortune of witnessing kind strangers intervening to resolve communication problems. Americans may not be the best at being multilingual, but there are many parts of the world where fellow travelers speak multiple languages and can help you out, even if the place you are visiting isn’t known for speaking English.
If at first you don’t succeed, be flexible. We’ve struggled to be understood in places that did not or could not try to make sense out of what we were saying, even when we were doing our best to speak the local language. In those circumstances, we’ve weighed whether it makes sense to continue to try to explain ourselves or else just move on. And moving on is something we’ve done at least half of the time. We are foreigners and guests in their country and they don’t need to make any special effort to try to understand us. It’s unreasonable and uncool to expect everyone to speak English in a non-English speaking country. We move on and try to find another restaurant or a different pharmacy, etc., and often the next person or place we go to, we encounter someone with the ability or patience to communicate with us and it all works out.
International data for your phone is a must. Either get an e-SIM or work with your cell phone provider to ensure you have data for things like Google or Apple Maps. You no longer have to use a paper map to try to figure out where you are and where you’re going. Those services may not be perfect everywhere, but rather than get completely lost, you may merely find that a restaurant you were expecting to see is no longer operational or the area isn’t as well marked as it could be. It’s another situation if you are in a small town or remote area where there isn’t wifi, but if you’re an inexperienced international traveler, it’s probably good to stick to areas that aren’t quite off the grid.
Learn some key phrases before you go. You may not be fluent in the language of the country you are visiting, but it is a courtesy to at least know some basic phrases like, “please,” “thank you,” “have a good day,” and the ever important, “where’s the restroom”!
Thumb’s up is an international gesture understood everywhere!
Gesturing is as old as time. When all else fails, a wiggle in the air like you are holding a pen is easily interpreted as asking for the check when you’re in a restaurant, a smile shows appreciation, putting your hands together and bowing your head says thank you. Waitstaff are genius at understanding that you want another glass of whatever you’re drinking merely by pointing at your glass. The list goes on and on, so if you all you can do is point or gesture, give it a try and chances are it will work!
It’s a shame to limit travel experiences to countries that speak your language. You’ll be amazed at how kind people are all over the world and what enriching experiences you can enjoy by stepping outside of your comfort zone.
If there are tips and suggestions that have worked well for you while traveling internationally, please share them in the comments!
