Create a personalized travel dictionary for your next trip
By Anne Garber and John T.D. Keyes
When Carol Rand went to Europe for a summer-long holiday, she never dreamed she would end up living there. By her own admission, Carol was "never much of a student of languages." The smattering of Italian and French she scribbled down before her trip got her through, however, and she learned all her key words online! Once in Italy, her Italian skills improved quickly, and she now teaches business English in Milan.
You'll never know how useful a few words of a foreign language can be until you travel. In hindsight, Rand wishes someone had told her it's wise to print a handy sheet of key words, including little images. Just a handful of foreign terms—however badly pronounced—can open doors and result in a smiling welcome.
So for your next vacation or trip, take the time to create a small translation dictionary customized to all of your travel needs. It's very easy to learn the words and phrases you need and want from the many free translation services and resources online. You'll be glad you made the effort to create your own personal dictionary. You won't spend as much time searching for the words you need and you won't have to lug around a heavy dictionary in your suitcase or pocket!
Find key words and phrases to convert into the local language
According to Maria Ayala, a Spanish teacher at Simon Fraser University, the most important terms in any culture relate to greetings, food, and washrooms. Learning these words will make your trip easier and more fun.
Essential phrases that work wonders in any language, according to Ayala, are:
| • | Where is...? |
| • | How much is...? |
| • | How do you say...? (A phrase that lets residents know you don't understand them.) |
| • | Terms of politeness like please, thank you, and you're welcome |
Memorizing how to say these simple phrases in your destination language and daring to use them on your trip will help make your trip even more memorable.
The pocket-size Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book (Portside Language Services, 2002) by Eric R. Dondero is a great reference guide with essential phrases for more than 40 languages.
If you or any of your traveling companions have any food or environmental allergies, it is urgent that you do the following:
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Print out and memorize each of the words (in your destination language) for the things that you must avoid.
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Print out and memorize the phrase "I am allergic to..." or "I have asthma" or "I must get to a hospital immediately" in your destination language. This will help to get the attention of the server in a restaurant or the concierge at a hotel.
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Carry with you at all times a printout of these words and phrases or a page with clear pictures downloaded from the Internet. That way, even if your pronunciation is not exact or people have trouble understanding you for other reasons, you can still communicate your needs.
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If you or any of your traveling companions have other special needs, be sure to carry with you translations of the essential words and phrases so you can get the help you need fast.
Access free translation sites online
SDL FreeTranslation.com offers one of the most straightforward and easy-to-use options for moving single words—or whole documents or Web pages—from English to Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Norwegian, Japanese, and simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.
The translation on this site is done by a powerful automatic translation engine and it is very literal. It provides you only with the "gist" of what is being said or a "basic understanding of the original." Nevertheless, it works reasonably well for single words and phrases.
Other Web sites to visit for free online multilingual translation services include:
| • | PROMT Translator provides translation for English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Russian.
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| • | Word2Word provides links to a wide variety of free online translation services, including dictionaries, language classes, and language chat sites (so you can practice your new skills).
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| • | Yahoo! Babel Fish |
| • | WorldLingo |
When you pack for your trip, be sure to include a list of your favorite translation Web sites so you can find them quickly at Internet cafes as you travel.
Learn more of a language with books and software
The encyclopedia software Microsoft Encarta Premium is a good investment for families who travel, because it comes fully loaded with:
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Translation dictionaries for Spanish, French, German, and Italian
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Foreign language verb conjugations
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Foreign language help
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One-click access to foreign language characters for correct spelling
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Links to thousands of homework-helpful sites and periodic updates
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For links to free online language courses for more than 100 languages, including Haida, Kurdish, and Hindi, visit Word2Word Language Resources. This site also links to language chat forums, online dictionaries, foreign language newspapers, world alphabets, language schools abroad, and many more language resources.
Practice using your new language skills by visiting one of the foreign language chat sites on the Learn Foreign Languages Web site, the world's largest language exchange community. Links to more than 140 language exchange communities are listed, including Berber, Gaelic, Nepali, Tagalog, and Yiddish.
Help children make their own translation picture book
Agnes Chung, president of North America Asean Consultants Inc., represents the Sarawak Tourism Board (Malaysia Borneo) and has helped many families prepare for travel to exotic lands. She suggests that in addition to teaching your kids the basic terms of politeness in the destination language, get your kids involved in your adventure by teaching them words and phrases:
| • | I'm hungry |
| • | I'm thirsty |
| • | Bathroom |
| • | Snack, dinner, apple, drink, juice, water |
| • | Yes, no, I don't understand |
| • | I'm lost |
The best way to absorb useful bits and pieces of a language and culture in advance, according to Chung, is to peruse Web sites of the tourism boards for the countries you plan to visit. "You have to respect the people you are dealing with," she says, "so those Web sites always have the Dos and Don'ts, and enough vocabulary to demonstrate that you are making an effort to communicate. Sometimes, that willingness is all it takes—and remember to smile!"
One way to encourage your children to have fun learning the destination language is to involve them in identifying the words and phrases they might need to know or like to learn. Have them visit the tourist sites with you and make the list of phrases and cultural Dos and Don'ts together. Ask them to add any words or phrases it would be fun for them to know, for example: ice cream, candy, no problem, no way, cool!
Once you have gathered the words and phrases and their translations, help them download clear pictures from the Internet to go along with each word, phrase, and cultural Do and Don't. Gather all your information into a Microsoft Office Word file, organize it, print out the pages, and fashion them into a book—one for each child to pack and carry with her or him.
Older children can check out the fun resources for language learning on the Word2Word Language Resources site, Accents and Silly Translators, Alphabets of the World, Slang and Colloquialisms, and more.
