Lost in Translation...
Hey Travel Lover
How many languages can you speak? How many languages do you understand? Have you encountered language barrier before?
According to a Chinese Proverb, “To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world.” Do you agree? I envy people who speak more than one language, they can indeed see the world through different angles and aspects.
Raise up your hand like so 🙌🏾 (pun intended) if you have heard of Duolingo. Lots of people have. I heard about it from a dear friend and instead of sticking to one language at a time, I greedily grabbed two – Spanish and French. I did this because I wanted to visit Spain and France, and I wanted to be prepared. What I wasn’t prepared for was the similarities both languages had. With my foray into the Duolingo world, I’ve come to realize that reading a language is different from speaking it. We learn every day 😌
When I visited Paris in 2022, I walked past this restaurant that was bustling with boisterous people and I thought to myself, I’d love to eat a meal here. I go in and I realize it’s a French restaurant without an English menu. Thinking I’d do my Duolingo pals proud, I ventured a peek at the menu, zip, zero, zilch….I couldn’t pick a meal🫠🤭🫣 I ought to have resigned to sign language at this point, as in, see someone else’s meal and say let me have that. Instead of doing the seemingly simple stuff, I gambled with a meal on the menu😌
I was convinced that despite my little knowledge, I knew what I had chosen and I paired my meal with a glass of red wine. I sat down to await my gourmet special, luckily I didn’t have to wait for too long. When my meal arrived, it was all shades of what I didn’t want. I angrily and hungrily asked for it to be packed as I knew I couldn’t eat it. Sensing my disapproval and disappointment I was told to leave and not worry about the bill or food. It was a hostile environment at this point and I left with mixed thoughts.
Fast forward to same week in Madrid. Those who know me can testify that I don’t joke with my proteins 🍗🍖. Some have even gone as far as calling me a carnivore….yeah yeah, happily one. I love Madrid!!!!!! I can shout it from the roof top. The people are warm, wonderful and welcoming. On Day 2 of my trip, after sight seeing, I stepped into a restaurant close to my hotel and asked for the menu. Luckily it was in English and Spanish. I quickly picked chicken wings and sausages😅 I didn’t realize each dish comes with fries, I also decided on the potato salad, a Spanish delicacy. Alas I had one too many to eat.
While my experience in Paris wasn’t a palatable one, the experience in Madrid was utterly hilarious. Perhaps if I had French or Spanish in my repertoire of languages, maybe my experiences would have been somewhat different. What a divide language barriers actually bring.
So Travel Lover, in case you have one or more non-English speaking countries on your bucket list, learn from me😅. How many languages can you speak? How many do you understand? Have you encountered language barriers before? Let us see your responses in the comments section.
Till next week
Live, Love, Laugh
Ajalaress
PS: If you enjoyed the article, kindly like, comment and share. Thank you