Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiaopanda
I'm an anglo saxon in singapore, a nd travel a heap.....especially in SE Asia.
I am an Australian by birth, and I think that the basics "hello, goodbye, how much? No thank you, Where are the toilets?" These you should know in any country you go to. I have no facility in language, and often there is an english speaker who can help, but my BEST advice? Just go for it! Be brave! Be bold! Try, butcher the language and be able to laugh at your bad BAD language and order heaps of beer...  |
S'pore is a great place to butcher languages! You get to do so in Bahassa Malay, Hindi, several dialects of Chinese, and a whole bunch of Filipino dialects too! (I guess you could use all of these just in Newton Circus alone!) Add on what we can do to our poor English language and we have the makings of a real comedy show. But somehow, business gets done, people move from place to place, shop in the stores, find directions, etc. And no one seems to mind when anyone makes a mistake with the languages. Not being able to fluently speak a language should never stop anyone from traveling. As you say, just a few 'polite' words will carry the day. The rest is just adventure!
Stitchawl