To avoid feeling lost when communicating abroad, it is essential to prepare cheat sheets for various situations in advance, advised language specialist Marina Evstratova.
She suggested developing a travel plan that helps anticipate the situations you might encounter. For example, determine whether you will need to shop for essentials or if meals will be provided at your hotel. Based on this, you can select the appropriate vocabulary in the foreign language.
Evstratova recommended that travelers learn more about the country they are visiting, including local customs and traditions. This knowledge will help understand what behaviors are acceptable and also allow you to prepare suitable phrases.
However, it is important not only to speak but also to understand what your conversation partner is saying. Problems can arise when a person focuses only on their part of the dialogue.
Often, a person might be able to respond to a question but fails to understand it due to the accent or an unfamiliar sentence structure. Therefore, it is crucial to learn to listen and understand the interlocutor. A partner, a tutor, or AI chatbots that simulate dialogues can assist with this, noted Evstratova in an interview with “Gazeta.ru.”
She also advised tourists to learn a few phrases indicating they are not fluent in the language. Additionally, it can be helpful to record what you need to say on your smartphone or on paper.
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