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Languages in Tips for travel in developing countries
Languages in Tips for travel in developing countries
Try acquiring some knowledge of the local language. Yes, you can probably get by on just English in most of the world, but even the ability to say "hello", "please", "thank you", "excuse me", and so on in the local language goes a long way. "Leave me alone" and "don't touch me" aren't far behind. Numbers, "how much does it cost," and "too expensive" are also quite useful.
In several countries, especially in former British colonies, you can often get by with just English. For example, in India, nearly every educated person speaks some English and many are fluent. Even many of the less educated have some English, at least recognize some simple words and phrases. In such situations, it is possible to travel almost any region using simple English -- basic words and phrases. The key is to use just such common words and phrases, and learn to pronounce them in a more local (or locally comprehensible) accent.
For long trips in a region, consider learning a regional language if there is one. For example, Russian is widely used in Central Asia where many countries were once part of the Soviet Union. It may be better to learn a bit of Russian than to tackle all the local languages ? Tajik, Uzbek, Turkoman, Uighur ? and may be almost as useful. French plays a similar role for parts of Africa, Spanish and/or Portuguese in Latin America.
For English speakers Russian, French or Spanish may be easier to learn than the local languages.
See our talk article for more detailed discussion.
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Tips for travel in developing countries Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.