Speaking in Tongues

It may not be your first consideration when planning an overseas trip, but it's nice to have the ability to communicate with local people when you're passing through their towns. Whether you are taking several years to complete a round-the-world mission, or if you are taking two weeks off work to visit some sun-drowned Mediterranean islands, knowing some of the local tongue is an invaluable asset. It's always possible to 'wing it', that is to see what you can pick up on the road. Imagine how much easier it would be to find your bearings in the middle of Beijing if you had done a Chinese course London before you'd left home, though? It is incredibly difficult to just improvise in a country where you can't even make head or tail of the written word. Similarly, a Russian course London would almost pay for itself if you were to give this enormous country the time it deserves to travel from one end to the other.

Perhaps it would be easier if you were travelling in The Netherlands, as the language is similar to English, and is at least in a Roman script. It is extremely common for words to be mixed up because of the similarities, though, and a Dutch course London would prevent you being offended when hearing the common sentence ending 'hoor'. It is used in a similar way to the Canadian 'eh', but it sounds like the English word 'whore'. "I told you that the supermarket is over there, hoor" is nothing to get upset about!

Conveniently for us, Turkish hero Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ordered a linguistic overhaul after World War One, and changed the national written word from the Arabic-style Ottoman script to the current Romanised alphabet. It is entirely phonetic, and therefore easy to read, and with a short Turkish course London, you will soon be ordering baklava (pastry) and tavuk kebap (chicken kebab) to your heart's content. The writing in the Czech republic is similarly easy to read, and a few weeks' worth of Czech course London before you fly to Prague will do wonders for your ability to explore the area, especially if you've had some absinth beforehand!

22 August 2008