| Know some of the local language. For example, "I'm an unsophisticated American, do you speak English?" in the
local language is a good phrase to start with. Try to also recognize (or even say)
the phrases for "toilet," "men's room," "women's
room," and "I'm lost." Try this link to learn helpful
phrases the slow and easy way: Registration for travlang's Word of the Day by e-mail
Don't be an ugly American. If you're
ugly, that's beside the point. You may be traveling abroad in foreign lands for that
very reason. What I mean here is to try and avoid the quintessentially American
habit of arrogantly expecting everyone in the world to use American English (even if they
DO know how, why SHOULD they in their own town?), to accommodate American customs, and so
on. You'll be received MUCH more warmly, and even given some help when you need it,
if you simply TRY to be humble and TRY to speak the local language. I can't tell you
how many times my fractured French saved me only because it demonstrated that I was worthy
of a Parisian's time and effort to help me in English.
Use
pictograms. Kwikpoint has a handy little
laminated pocket cards that have
hundreds pictograms suggested by linguists. You
simply pull out a card and point to pictures representing different food
items, lodging, transportation, bathrooms, etc. It's designed to be
usable ANYWHERE in the world. Kwikpoint International Translator
Use appropriate gestures.
Don't use your left hand, which is considered unclean, in Africa to accept gifts
or business cards or whatever --it's an insult to the giver. If you act
like you are playing an imaginary flute in the air in France, you are indicating
that whoever is speaking at the time is long-winded. How do you know
what's right and what's not? Ask your guide or another local about
gestures when you arrive in a new area. Or try this website: Web of Culture - [gestures]
or this book Gestures
: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World
Let them eat glass. Don't get it?
Click on this site and you'll get it (maybe): http://hcs.harvard.edu/~igp/glass.html
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