Why you should learn a language before you can travel..

Learning a foreign language can revolutionise your travel experience. English is spoken as a first language by approximately three hundred sixty million people out of a global population of over seven billion. Many English speakers seem to believe that wherever you go on holiday you can get by speaking English, so there’s no point in learning any other languages. They believe that if people don’t understand you all you have to do is speak slowly and turn up the volume. 

You can more or less get away with this belief, as long as you stick to popular tourist resorts and hotels where you can usually find someone who speaks English.  However, if you want to venture beyond such places, do more than just take photos and post them on social media, to get to know the locals, to read signs, menus, etc., knowing the local language is necessary and will make your travel experiences so much more exciting and authentic. 

A basic ability in a foreign language will help you;

1. to safely navigate around your destination.
2. to immerse yourself in the culture more fully,
3. to meet people with very diverse life experiences and outlooks.
4. to ensure you can order food and drink, find your way around, buy tickets, etc. 

If you have a more advanced knowledge of the language, you can have real conversations with the real people you meet, which can be so very rewarding and will definitely add a new dimension to your holiday, you may even establish lifelong friendships. 

Ludwig Wittgenstein once said “The limits of my language are the limits of my universe”. Don't limit your travelling experience!