I was walking along the other day and I said good morning to someone and they responded by saying something that sounded like "Dobre." Afterwards, I was going over in my mind where I thought they were from, as you sometimes do when you are traveling. Do you do that? The "judge the tourist" game, or is that just me? Often you don't ever get the answer but it's fun to guess. For example, two people kissing on two cheeks... They could be French, Italian, Latin American or even African (as well as many others). But what if they kiss on three cheeks? They could be Dutch, or from the southern part of France, the Balkans, or maybe even the Middle East. What if they bump foreheads? They could be Turkish or Maori! In Africa, it's common to see two male friends holding hands and I've seen the same thing in Türkiye.
But I digress. Going back to the Dobre people, this is a hard one, as there are many languages who say something similar to say good morning or good day. So they could have been Russian or Polish or Czech. My guess was Polish because I have recency bias since I was there a couple of months ago. And I'll never know!
Some once asked me (Michelle? Kae?) about how I managed languages while traveling. I have a list of phrases and I always check those before I go so I will be ready. I am a firm believer in not just approaching everyone and immediately speaking English to them. If possible , I always ask them in their language, "do you speak English?" and then go from there. If they say no, I either use the point and guesture method, or I whip out Google Translate and type in what I need. Pro tip: download the language so that you can use it offline in case you are not in wifi or your SIM card is not working.
Unless I have a complicated question, I generally just use baby phrases, like, "bus, Paris?" Instead of trying to ask "where is the bus to Paris and when does it leave and how much is the ticket?" Then we often go back to the point and guesture method. I once was hiking in Slovenia and it was raining and I was coming from the Alps into a very tiny town where I was going to try to catch a bus into a bigger town. A man pulled over asked me sometging in Slovenian and when I said the name of the tiny town he guestured for me to get in. So I did. The car ride was fun because somehow despite neither of us speaking the other language, I learned that the bus to the bigger town was leaving in about an hour and he dropped me off right next to the stop. Luckily the word bus is often similar in other languages, and it is avtobus in Slovenian.
Some other phrases which are helpful are: yes, no, thank you, bathroom (although often you can say "toilet" and people will know what you mean, or you can make the pee-pee face and cross your legs and they will get the point), bus, and, to bring it back full circle, hello, good morning or good day.
In many cultures it is rude to just walk up to someone and demand or ask for what you need without first saying hello, good morning or good day. In fact, even in some places in the US this is the case. So, at the very least, I always make sure that this is something I know how to say. Here are some of my favorites! I am going to spell them phonetically so excuse my poor spelling.
In Japanese, you say Ohio!
In Slovakian, you say Ahoy!
In Swedish, you say Hey! (Spelled Hej)
Here are a few more casual greetings:
In French instead of Bonjour (formal), you can say Salut!
In German instead of Gluten Tag, you can say Servus!
I have a list of common words and phrases that I want and usually I just plug it into chatgpt before I go to the country and then I copy and paste the list into my notes app (Google Keep) which will be offline. If I am going to be moving around, I will ask it to do the list for the next five countries all at the same time.
If I am doing something specific, like hiking, I will have it put together a list with common phrases for that activity like, "Where can I find water/food? Can I camp here? Do you have a room available? How much does it cost?" And of course "bus, bathroom, thank you" still come in handy.
I also like to learn a few numbers, especially if I plan on going to the weekly markets, and then the word for "kilo" or "gram" so that I can buy tomatoes or cheese! So at least "one" or "half" is handy to know. I mean, half a kilo is about a pound and I can eat a pound of most things!
So that's it, that's what I do as far as languages in other countries. Your turn!
What do you do regarding language when you are traveling? Do you have a go-to list of phrases? Do you stay in hotels or do tours so that you don't need to worry about it??
