Travel and the Language Barrier

My Friend in Namche Bazaar

Making Friends Around the Language Barrier

I met the man in the above photograph in Namche Bazaar, Nepal. Namche is a town in the Himalayas on the trek to Everest Base Camp, and it hosts a large Saturday market full of color and endless photographic opportunities.

This particular man came up to me and said . . . something.

It could have been the most profound thought anyone has ever said to me. It could have been a fart joke. I have no idea.

I just smiled at him.

I could have gotten embarrassed and walked away. I could have looked around for another English speaker to talk to, ignoring the man's seemingly friendly approach.

But I just smiled. He smiled back. Sometimes the most important things to communicate are also the easiest. We were now friends.

After the mutual smiles were exchanged, each of us understood the other was committed to some kind of exchange. Once you are past this first step, it’s surprising what you can communicate via impromptu sign language.

The man let me know he was interested in the camera hanging around my neck. I showed him how to use it, gave it to him, and let him run around the market taking pictures.

This was a long, long time ago, before the age of digital, so there was no immediate viewing of the shots he took. But the man seemed quite happy just hearing that satisfying sound of the shutter clicking open and shut. Open and shut. Open and shut.

He took a lot of pictures. On expensive film. But that was a small price to pay to make a friend.

None of the pictures the man took turned out to be very good. But when he was done, he handed me back the camera and posed for me.

I got one of my all-time favorite images.

And I never would have gotten it if I had let the language barrier slow me down.

Eating around the Language Barrier

In other times and other places, I have ordered meals simply by pointing. In these cases, I often have no idea what I am eating, but that just adds to the whole experience.

Your typical street vendor in Bangkok doesn't speak English. I can only say "please," "thank you," and "please don't let your chicken to poop on me" in Thai. But I don't let the lack of ability to communicate stop me from culinary adventure.

I point. I smile. I eat.

Hanging Out Around the Language Barrier

I have spent long periods of time just hanging out with locals when we have no common language.

I once sat under a tree in Vietnam with a local family for an hour or so while waiting for a boat. There was a little girl with a t-shirt that said "Hawaii." We tried to communicate to them that Hawaii is the place where we are from. It turns out that "Hey! That is where we are from!" is really hard to get across in impromptu sign language.

People often suggest that you need to learn to say "Where is the bathroom?" in the local language.

But come on!

It is really, really easy to sign that you need a bathroom (and the worse you have to go, the less you care about embarrassing yourself, the clearer your signs are).

I would suggest you learn to say things like, "Hey! I am from the place on your t-shirt!" or “Please don’t let your chicken poop on me” instead.

In my experience, phrases like those are far more useful.

I know lots of people who are terrified of travel in Asia because of the language barrier. But learn a few phrases, be patient, smile a lot, and you will be fine. With the right attitude, it can be great fun to go into every casual interaction knowing it will be an adventure.

That is just part of the experience.

Learn patience. Learn humor. Make friends.

Because travel will let you hone your charades game, making you the envy of everyone at game night.

It is even easier to make friends around the language barrier when festivals encourage interactions. This is Holi (India)