It was a moment that might make some travelers quake a little bit, either from the awkwardness or the uncertainty. Not to mention the fear of never reaching your destination. Climbing into the back of a cab in Rio de Janeiro, we quickly rolled away from the touristy beach at Ipanema. I was hungry for a particular Brazilian steakhouse, and I told the driver the name of the place.
He spoke no English. The only word I knew in Portuguese was thank-you (“obrigado”). I kept saying the name: “Porcao.” He kept staring back at me, shrugging his shoulders, his eyes searching me in the rear-view mirror with unmistakable confusion. The blocks kept rolling by. The meter climbed. The driver kept steering us, for the moment, to no place in particular.
It’s one of the commonest questions I get as a travel writer: How do you visit a destination where you don’t speak the language? For many, even given the fact that English is the most commonly spoken second language in the world, it’s an intimidating prospect. Enough to prevent them from visiting a particular place. And the answer I always give? Where both parties are willing, there’s always a way to spark communication.
For example, that time in Rio. After a few minutes, and trying the name of the restaurant perhaps a dozen times, it became very clear that this wasn’t going to work. So the driver had an idea: he rolled up the driveway of the closest five-star hotel. When the parking valet approached the car, the driver rolled down the window and spoke to the man in staccato, rapid-fire Portuguese.
The valet turned to me and said, in English, “Where is it you need to go?” I told him, with the identical inflection and tone I’d used with the driver: “Porcao.” The valet turned to the driver and said, to my ear, exactly what I had just told him. The driver threw up his hands: “Ah! Porcao!” with a tone that said, “Of course I know it; why didn’t you tell me?!” Ten minutes later, I was gorging on perfectly spiced picanha and alcatra, delivered on a skewer.
Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. There are few pleasures quite as exquisite as sitting in a foreign cafe, hotel lobby, or restaurant and just listening. Let waves of wholly unrecognizable words and syntax roll over you, and just try to imagine what’s being said at the next table.
I’ll never forget the time I went for teppanyaki in Hiroshima. I was working on a tight budget, rattling around the country on a Japan Rail Pass and staying in simple, basic business hotels. So I did some research and found a super-local spot on a quiet, non-touristy street.
The place was very small—maybe five tables at the most. I was the sole customer seated at the bar, and the only other guests were a Japanese extended family dining at a long table, perhaps celebrating a special occasion together.
It was a really fun evening. Not a word of English was spoken, from start to finish. The chef was very skilled, putting on a show at the grill. Flipping the meat and spinning his knives and creating huge columns of flame. Every time he would perform a trick for me, the Japanese family at the long table cheered and smiled and gave me multiple enthusiastic thumbs up. The encouragement and good spirit in the room required no translation.
Full and happy, after multiple courses and maybe a couple too many cups of sake, I bowed and thanked the chef and the family. They nodded and bowed back.
Sitting outside the door in a corridor, tying my shoes, I could hear back inside the tiny restaurant. The chef made a bright declaration, and the family erupted in uproarious laughter. The comment was clearly about me. I’ll never know what he said, but I think about it often. A little mystery, forever. And a memory that will live on. I’d like to think he said something like, “Well, that was certainly fun!”
With the invention of new technology like Google Translate, the world has gotten infinitely easier to navigate. Downloaded apps can translate menus and maps in real time, even if they’re written in Cyrillic or Arabic or other alphabets. Voice translation apps make it so you don’t even need to type a word.
And I’ll never forget the first time I tried something like this. It was my first trip to South Korea, and I’d made the rare (for me) decision to rent a small apartment for a few nights instead of staying in a hotel. It was a clean, snug little place right in the heart of Seoul, run by a friendly elderly couple who lived right next door.
But there were a few problems. Small ones. I couldn’t adjust the air conditioning, which blew very cold air directly onto me through the night. The pillows, for some reason, didn’t have cases.
I saw the owner couple regularly; they spoke no English. Even the basics (“Where is the closest subway station?”) were a struggle. But on a Sunday, their granddaughter visited. And she had a new-generation smartphone.
While her own English skills were somewhat rudimentary, she had downloaded a Korean-English app. We handed the phone back and forth, in short order, solving what seemed, moments ago, intractable. (Talking with her grandparents earlier, my inquiries were met with only kind but thoroughly confused smiles.)
That night, I slept well on fresh, crisp pillowcases under a fixed air conditioner. It was just lovely. And I knew the world would never be the same. Travel would be easier now, and I looked forward to communicating a little easier with even more people as I continued to circle the globe. More people to meet. More stories to tell.
A Few Tips
Even with tech tools to help us, there are a few practices that can ease communication in non-English-speaking countries.
- Keep it simple. Reduce your statement to the clearest, most simple way to say it. Use the smallest words possible.
- Remove any idioms. For example, saying something happened “right off the bat” will be confusing, especially in countries that don’t play baseball (or cricket). Instead, say it happened “immediately” or “from the start.”
- Go slow. Speaking at a reduced pace helps. Even those with some English skills are probably actively taking what you’re saying and mentally translating it, word for word, into their mother tongue. Give them a chance to catch up.
- Use your hands, and make funny noises if necessary. While a taxi driver might not know the name of the train station you need, they’ll recognize the sound of an imitated train whistle and the mime of you pulling it.
- Take a breath, don’t get frustrated, and realize that every interaction is a learning experience—for you.
