Do you learn the basics of a foreign language before travelling?
Hello, how are you?, good day, thank you, please and good bye - just some of the basic greetings and manners that Brits expect from each other on a daily basis. So why do UK holidaymakers think it's any different when travelling to another country?
The latest survey, by travel money specialists VIDAFX.co.uk, found that 90 per cent of holidaymakers spent the whole of their trip solely speaking English.
A further five per cent said they tried to learn key words and phrases such as ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘water’, ‘beer’ and ’hotel’, but were not confident of engaging in more complex conversation.
A dedicated one in 20 tourists said they tried to learn as much of the local language as possible and felt they got more out of their holiday and a warmer response from locals by doing so.
Not all holidaymakers were found to be too lazy to learn the language some were simply too shy to try words in fear of getting them wrong
French and Spanish were the most commonly attempted languages followed by Greek, Italian, German and Turkish.
The vast majority of those who said they would only be speaking English whilst abroad said they did so because English was spoken so widely there was no point in spending time learning foreign words.
A spokesman from VIDAFX.co.uk said a mixture of laziness and shyness was keeping holidaymakers from improving their language skills.
He said: “English tourists are renowned the world over for being particularly poor at languages and our survey shows that many are either too lazy or too afraid to give the local language a go.
“The majority of those polled said they were happy to spend the whole of their trip speaking English with a significantly lower proportion willing to learn what they believe to be a few key words and phrases."
Many of those polled admitted to being too shy to attempt the local language through fear of getting pronunciations wrong and embarrassing themselves.
Interestingly women were found to be significantly more likely than men to attempt the local language.
VIDAFX.co.uk's spokesman added: “Whilst for many holidaymakers there really is no need as such to learn the local language it was good to report that one in 20 tourists tried their best to communicate with locals – regardless of whether they could’ve got by without doing so.
“Not all holidaymakers were found to be too lazy to learn the language some were simply too shy to try words in fear of getting them wrong.”
Do you learn the basics of a foreign language before travelling or do you think there's no point? Tell us what you think in the comments below or tweet us @FemaleFirst_UK
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