TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

When you travel abroad to a country where you don't speak the language, you need to prepare yourself for the sudden shock of not being able to communicate easily with others.

You can prepare yourself beforehand by listening to some language-learning CDs or mp3s and by flipping through a language guide. However, nothing will prepare you for the real thing - suddenly finding yourself in a country where you can't understand them, and they can't understand you!

There's no reason to get overwhelmed though. You can turn it into a fun learning experience. When people realize you can't speak their language, most often than not they will bend over backwards to try to help you out. Remember that you are just as exotic and interesting to them as they are to you!

For those who like gadgets, there are some talking translators available that allow you to type in a word or phrase, and it will actually "speak" that sentence for you in the other language. These translators tend to cost anywhere from $50 - $550. Are they worth it? For most travelers, probably not. You might want to get a cheaper one and program it to say some emergency phrases, just in case. Other than that, you're pretty safe just carrying a guidebook, using sign language and hoping for the best.