Five Sure-Fire Ways to Break the Language Barrier
Dive into cross-cultural connections by bringing a bridge language to the table.
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My best travel connections have had little to do with making a flight and everything to do with making friends.
Like many, I was intimidated by the idea of traveling in a country where my language is not spoken. But I took off anyway and found ways to communicate with local citizens, establishing a kind of lingua franca, or bridge language, that neither of us spoke.
Soon I was breaking the language barrier and making the kind of personal connections that become the best souvenirs. Here are my top five strategies.
1. Let Your Smile Do the TalkingIndia is a country of many languages (780 recorded by People’s Linguistic Survey). When I encountered Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, and other languages unfamiliar to me, I learned the power...
