It's always a bit sad to hear someone say they didn’t want to travel somewhere because they were worried about not being able to get by in a foreign language. Struggling to communicate can be half the fun of a trip (at least in retrospect!) and we can learn so much from cultures with different languages and customs.

Today Amanda has gathered together some tips and tricks from a number of travellers who have experience both in learning languages and in getting by in languages they don’t know. We start off with the highly multilingual Leyla Giray Alyanak, who has an incredibly useful language tip, and then move onto another clever linguist, Kerstin Pilz, who reminds us that it’s not just the words in another country but the more subtle cultural differences too which are important for good communication.

Finally, Amanda chats with David Soto Jr., a very interesting man who’s currently living in a van with his dog and travelling around North America. He recalls one of his first experiences in trying to speak Italian and hits upon a fun trick that can really help us loosen up and do better at coping in another language!

Links:

Leyla Giray Alayanak at Women on the Road http://www.women-on-the-road.com
Kerstin Pilz at Travelpilz http://travelpilz.com
David Soto Jr. at The Primitive You https://theprimitiveyou.com
Previous episode on languages: Food in a Foreign Language http://notaballerina.com/01
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10 How to Cope in Another Language