126
votes
Accepted
How to use public transport in Russia with limited knowledge of Russian?
While you will generally experience a strong language barrier, the public transport system should be the least of your worries. With a bit of beforehand knowledge it can be an easy, interesting and ...
- 2,811
92
votes
How should I ask for a "pint" in countries that use metric?
Just ask for "a beer".
I don't think you'll find a completely universal approach that fits all cultures perfectly. However, in the continental beer cultures I'm the most familiar with (Dutch, German, ...
- 5,612
78
votes
How do I ask Japanese restaurants in writing not to serve me any meat?
Please do not use Google Translate for Japanese without native speaker proofreading. The example sentences you provided are somewhere between comical and borderline offensive and sound rather like a ...
- 99.1k
72
votes
Language used at passport control in Frankfurt international airport
As at most international airports in Europe, all of the passport control officers will speak English. I was there a month ago, speak no German, and had no problem communicating with them.
- 3,238
70
votes
Accepted
Why don't American traffic signs use pictograms as much as other countries?
The US has never signed the Vienna convention on Road Signals, which is what is used everywhere in Europe. Neither have Canada and Australia, who mostly follow the US standards on the road-signs.
As ...
- 22.5k
60
votes
Accepted
Is it okay to mix in local language when I know it poorly?
It doesn't matter where you go in the world, the locals are pleased when an obvious foreigner makes an effort to be polite in the few words they know. (Even France, these days.)
But as soon as it is ...
- 1,411
57
votes
Accepted
Is it rude to speak Swedish in Norway?
No, in itself it is not rude. You can do it in a rude way, by just ignoring the signals if the other person is not happy about it.
Offer the person you talk with the choice.
I would start with a ...
- 62.6k
48
votes
Travelling to Greece without knowing the language
Millions of people per year visit Greece, and I'm willing to bet that a large portion of them do not speak any Greek. It's a very popular holiday destination for English speaking people. I can't ...
- 38k
40
votes
How to know if a meal was cooked with or contains alcohol?
I have never seen such an icon. The only way to know is to ask for it. Common sense is that in a lot of countries where alcohol is prohibited by religion or not really within the local culture, you ...
- 6,168
40
votes
Accepted
Friend is worried about language barrier at airport in France
There should be no problem. 99% of city names are the same in French as they are in the native language, and when they're not the same, they're very similar (Moskva/Moscou, London/Londres). Find the ...
- 2,094
39
votes
How to solve the language problem in Ankara, Turkey?
One way you can help these situations is:
Start by asking whether they speak English, in Turkish. I don't know any Turkish, but Google Translate says it's "İngilizce biliyor musunuz?" Make sure you ...
- 38k
39
votes
How to politely indicate that you only speak English and would like to continue in it?
You can just say 'Hi, I only speak English, sorry.'
You can expand that a little to the situation by adding 'good morning' or whatever is right for the time of the day, either in English or if you ...
- 62.6k
37
votes
Accepted
In which countries in Asia is Mandarin more understood than English?
For that list of countries, the answer is none: English is more useful than Chinese in all of them.
The only country in Asia outside greater China where Mandarin is an official language or spoken by ...
- 99.1k
34
votes
Accepted
Place with signs in Chinese & Arabic
This is not Arabic, but the Uyghur language, spoken in what is currently administered by China as the province of Xinjiang; like many languages spoken by Muslims in Central and South Asia, it uses a ...
- 505
31
votes
How to politely indicate that you only speak English and would like to continue in it?
Alternatively, you could learn a couple of phrases in German/Dutch/etc. like 'Hello, sorry I do not speak German/Dutch/etc. Do you speak English?' This is my tactics that does not require much effort :...
- 1,237
30
votes
Accepted
How to make sure that you get off at the correct bus stop in Thailand?
Even when I can read signs, it's not always easy to navigate public transport. [Try the New York subway system, although there may be announcements they are not always intelligible. Add in a few ...
- 4,558
30
votes
How can I convert an address in Thailand from English to Thai?
If you're looking for a fully automated way, you can't. Thai romanization is nonstandard and lossy, and Thai script has many redundant letters, so you can't tell if a "kh" is supposed to be ...
- 99.1k
29
votes
Accepted
Travelling to Greece without knowing the language
You'll manage. I speak from recent experience: I completed last year's Athens Classic Marathon (which incidentally led to this question, but I digress). Unlike you I didn't book via a travel provider ...
- 6,085
27
votes
Accepted
Is English spoken widely in Ireland?
You'll get along fine with just English. According to Wikipedia:
There are a number of languages used in Ireland. Since the late nineteenth century, English has been the predominant first language, ...
- 6,085
27
votes
How to solve the language problem in Ankara, Turkey?
I am Turkish. Firstly I will say that my English isn’t perfect - if you don't understand me please comment and I’ll try to clarify.
It’s a good choice to start with hello (merhaba) or excuse me (...
- 379
26
votes
How to know if a meal was cooked with or contains alcohol?
It varies a lot, largely depending on where you travel to. I have definitely seen some menus with alcohol symbols next to some dishes to indicate that they're cooked with e.g. red wine. Most of these ...
- 782
26
votes
Friend is worried about language barrier at airport in France
Many airports don't announce flights at all. I can't remember the last time I was at an airport that does and I can say with confidence that London Heathrow, Amsterdam Schiphol, Detroit and ...
- 18.7k
26
votes
Is it rude to speak Swedish in Norway?
It is neither rude, nor arrogant, but I am not sure if I see any point in doing so. If you don't understand Norwegian very well, you are very likely to have larger difficulties with the rural dialects ...
- 58.6k
24
votes
Accepted
Using Modern Standard Arabic in Arabic-speaking countries
The first thing to be aware of is, while you can use Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) / Fusha (pron. 'foos-ha') to be understood, unless you also learn some local Amiyah (colloquial dialect) vocab and ...
- 12.7k
24
votes
How do I ask Japanese restaurants in writing not to serve me any meat?
lambshaanxy's card is perfectly fine, but I would like to bring up a cultural point when asking for accommodations for your meal.
Japanese restaurants are not accustomed to altering menu items to ...
- 553
24
votes
Accepted
Using English in Europe
How much is English spoken around the EU?
44% of EU inhabitants speak some level of English, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union:
Officiallanguages
...
- 59.6k
23
votes
Accepted
How much Farsi do I need to travel within Iran?
Very little.
I travelled there last year, firstly for a wedding and then two weeks exploring with @Stuart and another friend. We didn't use a tour, and went to Tehran, Shiraz, Yazd, Esfehan and Rasht,...
- 160k
23
votes
Why don't American traffic signs use pictograms as much as other countries?
The US has English as a de facto, but not official, national language. At a state level, 31 states have enshrined English as an official language (28 have it as the only official language). Over 90% ...
- 1,448
22
votes
How should I ask for a "pint" in countries that use metric?
Non-English speaking countries will vary in their standard terminology and standard serving size. For example within Germany, it might be anything from 0.2L (standard for "Kölsch"), 0.3L (standard ...
- 4,524
22
votes
Accepted
Going to France with limited French for a day
I never had any French lessons and I have been traveling in France, often solo, every now and again in the last 35 years or so.
I never ran into trouble, the only time I was told to speak French (as ...
- 62.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible