Travel News: Travelling Brits happy to speak the lingo

December 17 2010 , Written by thediversetraveller Published on #Brits abroad, #gaffes, #holidays abroad, #languages, #ownersdirect, #tourists, #Travel News, #travelling

Perhaps it's the famous Brit reserve or that many of us, and yes I do include myself, fear ridicule, that makes us Brits notorious for only speaking English when abroad. N.B. my embrassing language gaffe is at the end of this post.

But it seems times are achanging, according to a new survey carried out by holiday home specialists, Owners Direct. Their research found that, the fear of being the butt of foreigners’ jokes is no longer stopping us from having a go at the local lingo.

Happy to "parlez vous"

The research found that:

The majority of holiday makers (95.2 per cent) are happy to chat to the locals in the local langauge.

The most common languages spoken abroad are Spanish (70.7%), French (57.3%) followed by German (19.1%) and Italian (15.4%).

By contrast, not surprisngly, very few people are prepared to have a stab at Greek, Arabic, Portuguese, Cantonese, Dutch, or Norwegian when on holiday.

One holiday maker recalls asking for her “head baked Al Forno” when she requested a hairdryer, while another called an elderly lady a “squid”, probably mixing up the Greek for good morning (Kalimera) for Calamari (squid).

Other common holiday gaffes included saying: “I am full (plein)” in French, which means pregnant and saying: “good morning” at midnight.

Another holidaymaker in Hong Kong ended up red-faced when she mistakenly told the locals in Cantonese she worked as a “prostitute”, while a tourist in Portugal mistook the word ‘fruit preserves’ for condoms.

The most commonly used words and phrases by Brits abroad, in any language are, “Hello”, “please”, “thank-you”, “goodnight,” “where are the toilets,” and “a bottle of house red please.”

Angela Southall, Marketing Manager of Owners Direct said: “We found this survey fascinating ... But I think the survey also demonstrates that people ... [are] keen to immerse themselves in the culture of the country they are visiting.”

Do unto others etc

Interestingly, the main thing that puts people off speaking a foreign language abroad is not fear of getting it wrong, but "lack of knowledge" (52% of Owners Direct respondents). Just over a third (37%) mentioned they didn't bother because "English is widely spoken". Fear affected a few (15%) who mentioned being deterred by the "embarrassment factor".

However, when it comes to our attitudes to non-English speakers in our own country, we seem to forgot the tolerance shown by the people we met on our travels. When respondents were asked if they thought the British were helpful to tourists, the vast majority felt we should make more effort, and that we expect everyone to speak English.

With over £50 million earmarked for languages in schools in 2009/10*, hopefully this attitude will change for the better. And with the 2012 Olympics less than two years away, wouldn't it be a beautiful thing if could show the non-english speaking visitors to our country some of the tolerance they show to us.

Share your language gaffe(s)

I'll go first.

Many years ago, on a trip to Lagos, I was asked in Yoruba, "Where is your husband?" I responded something like. "Me o ni oko, i.e I don't have a husband." However, I actually said any of the following, "I don't have a - farm / stone / car / penis." Yoruba is a tonal language, and to this day I struggle to place the tones in the correct place. So it was no surprise that my answer was greeted with raucous laughter.

* Source: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk

Survey details: The Owners Direct Travellers Survey was carried out in September 2010 among 328 holidaymakers who have booked villas, apartments and bed & breakfast accommodation abroad via the Owners Direct website - www.ownersdirect.co.uk.

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