Mind your language

By WENDY INNES

You've been to night classes and listened to the tapes and now you're winging your way to a foreign destination, wondering whether anyone will understand your carefully rehearsed phrases.

Of course they will. The first sentence you speak will be the hardest. After that it is plain sailing.

Before your departure, practise with your travelling companions. Survival questions such as "How much does that cost?" are essential. But equally important are enthusiastic responses such as "How beautiful!" and "That was delicious!"

Familiarise yourself with "helper" expressions such as "Please could you repeat that", "I'm sorry I don't understand" and, for dire emergencies only, "Does anyone here speak English?"

Tourists soon discover that there is no truth in the theory that everyone speaks English, but there is no doubt that most people want to speak it. And they will want to practise on you. This can result in the absurd situation where you both stumble along earnestly in each other's language. Do not weaken. Tell yourself that you have saved hard for this journey and refuse to resort to English.

It is possible to shop, order a meal or use public transport without saying a word. Make yourself say something, even if it is stating the obvious.

Local people will not necessarily approach you and launch into a scintillating conversation. You may have to take the initiative. Resolve to put into use all the topics you have studied, even if this requires manipulating the conversation so you can bore people with those carefully learned details about your family, your pets or where you went on your previous holiday.

You will muddle your genders and put the wrong endings on verbs but within a few hours you will have learned: mistakes don't matter. Some do, of course. Don't expect things to go too smoothly if you try to book a restaurant for yesterday rather than tomorrow, or confuse the words for arrival and departure.

Build up your confidence on the first day by asking questions to which you already know the answer. Even if the Post Office is clearly visible at the end of the street, stop passers-by and ask them the way. You will discover that it is one thing to ask a question, quite another to make any sense of the answer.

Once you have found a phrase that works, use it a few times and then see if you can move on to expressing the same idea in different words. "I'd like a coke please." "Do you have a coke?" "How much is a coke?" Not deep thought, perhaps, but essential steps in extending your repertoire.

If you plan to buy a T-shirt, go over all the phrases in the "Shopping" chapter. "Do you have one that is bigger/cheaper/a different colour?" "Is it machine-washable?" Practise these questions with a friend and then deliver them with aplomb. Admire the merchandise; say you are from New Zealand. If you are lucky this will progress to a deep discussion on the economy, the environment or, at the very least, a heated tirade on customers who waste a shopkeeper's time.

If numbers intimidate you in your own language, you will be overwhelmed when confronted by them in a foreign tongue. Always ask to have prices and times written down.

The telephone can also be daunting, so before picking up the receiver write a list of everything you need to ask.

Read advertisements, signs and public notices. Turn on the radio or television. The language will almost certainly be too fast but you will absorb the intonation - the rise and fall of voices. Cooking, gardening or craft programmes that involve illustrated instructions tend to use slow, clear language and the host speaks directly to the viewer.

Watching the news expands your vocabulary as well as your horizons. The weather report is the programme of greatest interest to the tourist. Now you know why they always use those little pictures of suns and clouds. If the ads are hard to follow the first time, at least their endless repetition will ensure you ultimately get the point.

Going to the movies can give you a tremendous sense of achievement but remember there will be no subtitles, so it is probably best to choose a film you have already seen.

If you care about writing skills you could try keeping a diary in the target language. It doesn't have to be detailed - perhaps key facts and a few descriptive phrases.

Language is more than words. Gestures and facial expressions also play their part. Observe when to shake hands, how deeply to bow, or when to resort to a Gallic shrug. If, in a French country, you use "euh" rather than "um" you will give the impression that you are pausing before uttering a profound thought rather than desperately searching for basic vocabulary to express a fairly mundane one.

And never forget that universal expression of goodwill - a smile.