How to improve your English while traveling

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

What to do before the trip and how to act during the trip in order to overcome the language barrier and communicate with foreigners.

A common situation: you study English for a long time and build excellent dialogues with the teacher, but for some reason you cannot say a word abroad. Even simple situations baffle you: you are not able to talk to the seller in the store or ask how to get to the museum.

I'll tell you why this happens and how to deal with it.

What to do before traveling abroad

Suppose you are going to America in the summer. Before packing your bags, do three things: get to know the culture of the country, think about the situations in which you will have to communicate with the locals, and, of course, tighten up your linguistic skills.

1. Overcome the language barrier

To start communicating with foreigners, it is enough to know just a couple of words: you can wave your hand and say hello. But for this you must be comfortable with the carriers of a different culture. If you are standing nearby and thinking how to get away as quickly as possible, you have a language barrier.

Communication can be verbal and non-verbal. Verbal is the use of words. And when you shake a person's hand, smile at the meeting - this is a non-verbal option. The language barrier presents difficulties in both verbal and non-verbal communication with representatives of another culture.

If this barrier exists, it doesn't matter how many times you travel abroad. Progress in learning English will be slow, or not at all. You can quickly become disappointed: why am I learning a foreign language, since I cannot use it?

The language barrier can be broken down on your own or during training with a teacher. It is better, of course, to turn to professionals - they will help save time and energy.

Ideally, in the first month of study at a linguistic center or language school, it is worth starting classes with native speakers. Let it be very short lessons at first. You need to physically get used to it and stop being afraid: sit down opposite, wave your hand, smile and say "Hi!"

Practice cannot be postponed: the more theoretical knowledge you accumulate, the more difficult it is to start speaking.

If you do not have the opportunity to find an offline interlocutor or do not have the courage to speak to a foreigner in person, you can use special online resources.

Find a service where you can communicate with native speakers for free - via Skype or using special mobile applications. Choose those where there is a video - you need to get used to seeing the interlocutor, hearing spoken language, accent and intonation.

Here are some resources where you can practice communicating with foreigners:

• HelloTalk;
• Interpals;
• Speaking24;
• Speaky.

Pay attention to two conditions when searching for an interlocutor:

1. He must be a native speaker - British, American, Australian. Representatives of other countries will not be able to give what the carrier gives.
2. It is important which country you are going to. If you want to develop your communication skills around the world - communicate with Americans, because it was American English that became international. If you are going, for example, to Australia, New Zealand or Ireland - communicate with representatives of these countries. They have their own colloquial vocabulary and specific pronunciation.

2. Set tasks for each trip

Learn from mistakes. Analyze your weak points, think about the difficulties that arose last time: you could not agree on a car rental, withdraw money from a bank or buy a train ticket?

Develop several typical situations, find words and phrases for them and think about how to build a dialogue. For example, you need to go to the store to buy souvenirs, or go to the market for groceries. Make a plate and write down individual words, phrases, and in what cases they can be used.

Repeat what you have recorded several times - the more the better. And use the cheat sheet when you find yourself in the appropriate situations.

3. Learn the cultural characteristics of the country

The ability to build communication - including non-verbal communication - is no less important than language proficiency. You need to understand how to act in typical situations: when you are going to the store to shop, ask the administrator to fix the air conditioner in your room or buy tickets for a tour. You can do everything right if you study the cultural characteristics of the country before the trip.

Using America as an example, I will tell you how to behave in different situations.

Say hello to strangers

Imagine you are walking down the street and just eyeing a stranger - Americans say hello in this case. Usually the person says:

- Hey, how are you doing?

In response, you should smile and say:

- Hey!

Or:

- Hello!

Learn to make small talk

Americans are used to small talks. They will ask how you are doing, what do you think about the weather, about the evening. This is an easy and casual conversation that does not force you to be frank.

- How about the weather? (How do you like the weather?)

- Beautiful day, isn’t it? (Nice day, isn't it?)

Address the interlocutor by name

All service personnel will begin to contact you by first and last name. This is a well-known trick in order to win over a person, so don't be afraid to respond in kind: the shop assistants and the staff at the reception always have badges.

Give thanks

When you complete the dialogue and achieve what you wanted, be sure to smile and thank. Americans appreciate this. Also use reciprocal constructions: "please", "not worth gratitude".

- Thank you so much! (Thanks a lot!)

- You’re welcome. (Please.)

Leave a tip

If in Russia this is done at the discretion of the client, then in America a tip is required. More than 10% of the check amount can be left, less - not. Waiters have low wages, they practically live off tips and may even refuse to serve you next time.

If you follow the generally accepted rules of behavior and use a spoken living language, you can pass for “your own”. For example, my friend knew only a few words, but when she entered an American store, she smiled and said:

- Hey, guys! (Hi guys!)

And everyone asked: “Oh, what an interesting accent! Which state are you from?"

How to expand vocabulary abroad

As soon as you finish all the preparations and get on the plane, practice will begin. And already at the airport you can get new experience and knowledge.

1. Get used to the presence of foreigners

Yes, it will be uncomfortable at first. But you have to physically get used to the presence of foreigners. For example, just stand with them in line at the airport at passport control.

And then make it a rule to visit places where there are many native speakers: shops, cafes, restaurants, museums. Over time, you will no longer feel uncomfortable being around representatives of another culture.

2. Observe and repeat

See how others behave. In America, for example, it is customary to greet a customer who walks into a store and ask him how he is doing. These are the rules of good manners, and you just need to smile and say hello politely. If you walk in and lower your eyes without saying a word, it may be considered rude. Therefore, do not fuss and observe how others behave.

3. Watch and listen

Look for familiar words everywhere: on price tags, signboards, signposts, information counters. Try to catch these tokens in the flow of speech. This way you will learn to hear how they sound in conversation - and foreign speech will no longer seem like incomprehensible gibberish. Repeat words and copy the pronunciation of native speakers.

The next step is to try to distinguish between phrases and sentences. Listen to the announcements at the airport, subway, train station - they often repeat the same designs. Listen to how they communicate in line at the reception or in the supermarket, note the manner of communication, phrases and words. Try to reproduce them with the same intonation when it comes to your turn at the store or ticket office.

4. Show initiative in communication

Come to the reception and say: ask for a towel, hairdryer, bottle of water, spare room key - whatever, simulate the situation.

Important! Don't be afraid to make mistakes. From the first, second and even third time you may not be understood. Set a goal to explain what you want in any way. Show with gestures, draw a picture. Once you reach your goal, it will be easier to understand where you went wrong and how to say it correctly.

If something went wrong, you can use a translator program. But do not overuse automatic assistants - there are many inaccuracies in their work.

Finally, I will note that in order to consolidate knowledge and gain new ones, it is enough to travel abroad only once or twice a year. Good luck!