Jennifer Merin As soon as Ethel Cohen said, "Yassou. Ti kanete?" to the cab driver in Athens, she got a big grin and warm handshake.
Furthermore, the driver rewarded her simple greeting -- "Hello. How are you?" -- in his native tongue with a free guided tour of the city with commentary in English.
"I found people much friendlier when I tried using Greek phrases in ordinary situations," said Dr. Cohen, a New York-based physician. "I learned a few phrases every day, then carried a phrasebook for reference to communicate specific needs as they occurred. It was fun. I was able to connect with people and accomplish far more."
Cohen's experience isn't unusual. Travelers who attempt to learn a little of the language spoken at their destination find their efforts well rewarded.
You can do it, too.
Even if your pronunciation isn't perfect and you must repeat a phrase several times until it's understood, locals respond favorably to your verbal expression of interest in and respect for their cultural identity.
Greek is one of 56 titles in Lonely Planet's "Phrasebook" series, a collection of convenient palm-sized books that will guide you through greetings, health situations, personal comfort needs, financial negotiations and other intercultural experiences around the world.
The series, by far the most extensive in print, covers everything from French, Spanish, German and other globally spoken languages to more obscure tongues, including Ethiopian Amharic, Mongolian, Quechua (the ancient Incan language still spoken widely by Andean peoples in South America), Pidgin (spoken in Papua New Guinea), Thai and the dialect spoken by Thai Hill Tribes, and Lao.
For convenience, there are multi-language phrasebooks for Western, Scandinavian, Mediterranean, Central, Eastern and Baltic Europe, and Southeast Asia, as well as dialect books for Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, Egyptian and Moroccan Arabic, Latin American Spanish, and U.S. and Australian English.
Phrasebooks feature cultural backgrounders that advise you how to handle social situations without offending locals, and offer solid advice for dealing with challenging circumstances in remote locations (including how to say "I have my own syringe" in various Third World languages).
Lonely Planet's phrasebooks cover grammar and pronunciation, and have 2,700 words and phrases conveniently well organized into topical sections: greetings and civilities, food, accommodation, shopping, getting around, etc. The tone is adventurous and the books, priced from $6 to $11, are worth their weight in gold for travelers who want to maximize contact with local folks and lifestyles.
Before you buy, check other phrasebook series offering varied organizational formats and/or emphasizing aspects of travel that may better match your needs and travel style.
Berlitz's series, features 33 foreign language titles, plus English for foreign language speakers. Multilanguage phrasebooks cover Western and Eastern Europe and the "European Menu Reader" serves diners around the continent. Scandinavia has a multi-language book and individual titles for Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.
Multilanguage phrasebooks provide 300 essential phrases in each language, but lack dictionaries. Single language books have 1,200 phrases organized by situation, plus two-way dictionaries with 2,300 words. Prices range from $7.95 to $8.95.
Additionally, Berlitz's unique business-oriented phrasebooks (French, German, Italian, Spanish) feature terminology tips about protocol and etiquette to guide you through 40 different business situations that might arise in 12 industries. Each has a 3,000-word dictionary.
Viking Penguin's "Rough Guide" phrasebooks cover 20 languages, ranging from Czech to Vietnamese. Editors monitor foreign print media to keep current on popular word usage.
"Rough Guide" books list phrases by keywords in an A-to-Z format. If you want a beer, look up "beer" under "B" rather than shuffle through entries for "At the Bar," "In the Restaurant" or "Room Service" before you can quench your thirst.
Each "Rough Guide" phrasebook has a 4,000-word foreign language into English dictionary and phonetic pronunciation guide, plus scenarios for cultural context. Books cost $7 or $10; get free audio downloads at www.roughguides.com/website/travel/Phrasebooks.
Barron's publishes "Traveler's Language Guides" in several tongues, as well as other quick and easy learning titles.
The "Traveler's Language Guides" for seven languages have 1,500 phrases arranged by color-coded situations, plus 2,000-word two-way dictionaries, grammar and pronunciation sections. Business traveler chapters provide essential terminology and offer good advice on etiquette in sensitive situations, plus good cultural backgrounders. Books cost $12.
Copyright 2011 Jennifer Merin
Post a Comment | Share | Print
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.