![\"Enjoy](\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tourist-200x300.jpg\" "\\"Tourist\\"")
<\/p>\nA recent poll has found that only one in ten British travellers learn any of the language before they visit another country. Some claimed this was because English is now so widely spoken, while others blamed shyness and a fear of saying the wrong thing.<\/p>\n
I understand the second excuse much more than the first. Just because we can get away with speaking English doesn\u2019t mean we should. Learning just a few words can make a huge difference, not only to those you\u2019re speaking to but to your own holiday experience. And you don\u2019t have to learn anything complicated. Five per cent of people surveyed said they just learnt the absolute basics, like hello, please, thank you, water and beer. Sometimes all it takes is a friendly greeting in someone\u2019s native language, and they see you in a whole new way \u2013 as someone who respects their culture and has made an effort, however small. And that will come across in the way they treat you, making your time in the country a lot more fun. Not only that but you\u2019ll feel pretty good about yourself \u2013 I remember several years ago on a school trip to Spain, a friend of mine ordered an ice cream in Spanish. An ice cream \u2013 it was as simple as that. But she was so proud of herself when the vendor understood her and she completed the purchase in a language not her own.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Benny Lewis, who\u2019s known as the Irish polyglot<\/a>, has spent nine years travelling in different countries, learning languages as he goes. Every few months he announces a new challenge, learns some vocabulary and then \u2013 he just goes to the country and starts talking. He doesn\u2019t worry about making mistakes or getting his grammar slightly wrong.<\/p>\n Obviously we\u2019re not all as brave as Benny. I\u2019m certainly not. But there does come a point when you have to stop being scared and just take a risk. People are not going to point and laugh if you don\u2019t pronounce something quite right. As a general rule they\u2019ll be so pleased to hear you trying to speak their language that they won\u2019t mind at all, and will probably go out of their way to help you get it right next time.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s be brave! Next time you go on holiday try learning a few basics<\/a> before you go, and see what a difference it makes\u2026<\/p>\n Liz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A recent poll has found that only one in ten British travellers learn any of the language before they visit another country. Some claimed this was because English is now so widely spoken, while others blamed shyness and a fear of saying the wrong thing. I understand the second excuse much more than the first. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,97,18],"tags":[32,2,4,206,8,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8408,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions\/8408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}