The Value of Learning the Local Language When Traveling

When it comes to travel planning, I also like to learn the language of the country I am travelling to. It’s different from writing a list of things to pack or an itinerary because language learning requires consistent regular practice. Language learning is a lifelong-journey.

I am a native English speaker born in the United States. I continue to learn new vocabulary, learn etymology, and new ways to express myself in English. Speaking with my friends and family is going to be different from speaking to a conference full of people. I still make plenty of mistakes. I continue to find new words to add in my arsenal to further flavor my writing and speaking.

I am not saying you should plan your trip three years in advance to become fluent in the language. My goal in language learning is not about achieving fluency and perfect listening comprehension, but enough to be functional.

I get questioned on to why I bother to learn the language of the country I'm travelling. They say, "people speak English there anyway because they need our American tourist dollars." That is mostly true. The locals can speak a functional amount of English to speak to us, but I see this dynamic from the standpoint of privilege. The world caters to Anglophones. In theory, if English is the only language you know, you don’t need to learn any other language because everybody else in the world is learning English. (Side note: I will debunk this theory. I have met plenty of people who are monolingual in non-English language through my work.) If “everyone” is learning English, why don’t we Anglophones reciprocate by learning another language?

I recognize that privilege and because of that I willing to learn the language of the place I'm traveling to. Even if I learn a few words, my travel experience is so much better. Plus I noticed people are nicer to me and I even gain new friends abroad. Admittedly it isn't a comfortable experience. Sometimes I feel less intelligent than I am but that's okay. We are put in this world to be lifelong learners.