Other
than numerous work opportunities available to the multilingual and
qualified, there is also a more light-hearted side to having a flair for
language. Take holidays and travel, for instance. The experiences
encountered are generally richer and more varied than those of fellow
travellers or holiday-makers who don't speak the local language. If food
is high on your list of priorities when travelling, then you'll be
delighted with the culinary benefits that await you especially if you
try to avoid the standard tourist food to be found. Being able to
ascertain exactly what something is, what it's served with, request a
slight variation or an explanation as to ingredients facilitates and
enhances the dining out experience. It's also useful if you have special
dietary requirements and avoids any nasty surprises or worse.
Therefore, if you're not naturally gifted in the language department but
are keen to communicate in the local vernacular, learning or simply
noting some culinary terms will be extremely handy.
The
cultural benefits are also plentiful and local knowledge far outweighs
the information frequently encountered in guide books. A conversation
with a friendly local curious to know where you are from will often lead
to tales of local events and personalities, many times coupled with a
desire to gossip and offer words of advice to foreign visitors.
True-to-life insights can only be gained from those who are not being
paid to glamorize and resort to excessive adjectives.
The
knowledge gained from reading local literature, informative signage
with no English language translation and other information as well as
from verbal communication enhances the experience of foreign travel and
allows a deeper understanding of history, culture and traditions on top of simply discovering local habits.
In
terms of travel, being multilingual means getting more for your money.
The multilingual traveller gains the enjoyment of communicating in his
or her acquired language, making acquaintances and the ability to see
things from a different perspective not only to that previously held but
to that held by other mono-lingual travellers.
Knowing languages has so many benefits.
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