“Ciaoooo… uhhh… dov’è il bag-no?”
Going to a country for the first time knowing at least a little bit of the language is enough to make locals open up to you infinitely more. Knowing even a few verbs and adjectives can help you in a tremendous way- reading signs or asking directions can save you from getting lost or wasting your time.
But getting lost isn’t the most important reason to enrich your travel experience by learning the native tongue- the citizens of the country will be so much kinder to you. Trying to order food in France if you’re speaking French can make the waiters be much more patient with you and your food- everyone likes to see a foreigner at least make the effort to learn the language that they grew up with. John Yamamoto-Wilson recounts his time in New Caledonia, where he simply learned the local word for “hello.” Soon enough, he was making friends left and right with the inhabitants of NC because he was the foreigner who spoke the native language.
You can also get a lot of insight towards the culture of the area you’re visiting. By learning that native language, you’ll probably understand the country’s inhabitants better. You can learn more about their cultural dishes or how respect is expressed. For example, a lot of languages have a specific set of rules for conjugation when addressing an elderly person or someone of a higher power position.
My personal favorite about knowing the language of the country you’re travelling to is bartering at the markets. I went to Italy with my AP teacher in junior year and I absolutely loved going to the farmer’s market and debating prices of little trinkets. The sweet, old Italian villagers seemed to be extremely happy to hear someone learning their language and were happy to give me the prices I asked for.
I recommend taking a notebook and starting to practice as soon as you know you’re definitely going on the trip. Write down the basic verbs- to want, to be, to have, to need, to go, etc. Follow that up with the essential travel words, like hotel, restaurant, left/right, bathroom, train station, and anything else you can think of. It’s also convenient to have some questioning phrase in your vocabulary, like “where is” or “how do I”. If you have time after feeling confident in your conjugating abilities, try embellishing your lexicon with food descriptors or things about yourself, like “my name is” or “I am from”.
Not only will learning some words in a new language be a fun learning experience, but it will also enrich your travelling experience in a way you can’t even comprehend until you do it. I couldn’t recommend it enough!