The Truth About Language Barriers

When traveling, it is common to find yourself in a situation where you have no idea what anyone around you is talking about. Not because they are crazy, but because the words they are speaking have no meaning to you. Have you ever tried communicating with someone who couldn’t understand you or you were unable to understand them? It’s called a language barrier, and when traveling it is common to find yourself in a setting related to this awkward situation.

Now, being an American in this kind of predicament is both a curse and a blessing. English is the most commonly spoken language world wide, but that means as an American and having the most widely spoken tongue be our first language we sometimes forget that the world isn’t like us. We often feel that we don’t need another language because why should we if the rest of the world is being taught English (or so it seems)? The blessing to the story is that when in doubt, even in a foreign country you can find a fellow English speaker somewhere along the streets.

Being on the road a lot, I encounter other travelers (and locals) from multiple cultures. I think I have the hand motions for “will you take a picture” down pretty well, but asking for directions is always a fun time. And how do you say “excuse me sir, you have a spider on your shoulder” without him freaking out when you try to help and flick it off for him. That was super fun (and embarrassing). No matter how modern the world may be, language barriers exist. I know some French, but does that mean I am going to understand an entire french menu or an entire french website? hahahaha. No.

The barriers not only exist within the world, but within a country. Some believe in order to experience a barrier, you must cross a border or jump an ocean, but that is simply not true. Take Chinatown for example; I’ve been to three different Chinatown’s, each one was in an English-speaking country and  yet I could make sense of nothing around me. It happens everywhere, no matter the town, no matter the country, no matter the language. And what about the internet, like my blog? There are millions of websites and thousands of languages, how many are inaccessible to you because you simply do not understand the content? I want to market to the world, but am I going to be able to translate every post into thousands of different languages? Absolutely not. Heck, I couldn’t translate it into one other language. Everyone who visits this site will have to be able to somewhat understand English. Unless of course I get super handy and start using a software like www.smartling.com.

So how can you help break the barrier?

Be Patient. The worst thing you can do in a situation regarding foreign languages is let your short temper and impatient mind get you frustrated. The more annoyed you look, the higher the wall grows. It’s important to remember that the other person is trying their best. Being in a different culture is already tough and feeling like the locals hate your guts make travel anxiety even worse. Also, be patient with yourself when you are the one with lack of language knowledge.

Don’t correct their grammar. So what if they spell a word wrong or get a phrase mixed up. As anyone knows, learning a second language is tough, so give them props for even remembering what to say. Wouldn’t you want them to cut you some slack as well?

Be Animated. Talk with your hands, point directions and use any body part to help get your communication across.

Remember, we have technology. Hey, guess what! We live in the 21st century!! You know what that means? Endless resources to try to figure out sayings and translating almost any language. Google translate is an option, along with Google in general. Like I mentioned earlier, Smartling is also a fantastic way language barriers are being broken. This company is breaking down the walls of language barriers across the world by helping websites translate their content into multiple languages. This includes everything from documents, mobile apps and entire websites. How is it possible? A handy translation Software and a solid team of developers and translation experts that work with bloggers, entrepreneurs, businesses and other website providers to transform the written content on a site. Each day the wall of language barriers shrinks thanks to new technology like Smartling who are not only helping to expand website audiences but also helping bring the audience to a site they enjoy and understand .

So how can you help language barriers be broken? With education, with technology and with opportunity. If you’re reading this blog I’m assuming you have an interest in travel. If you have an interest in travel you will experience language barriers often, in your country or abroad. It is important to have an open mind and to be patient, we all may not speak the same language or understand the same things, but we all have the same non-verbal communication and all feel the same effects of the spoken wall that divides cultures.