A fear of the language barrier keeps many people (read: English speakers) out of Europe, but the “barrier” is getting smaller every day. English really has arrived as Europe’s second language. That said, having an interest in the native language wins the respect of those you’ll meet. Start conversations by asking politely Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Do you speak English?). Remember that you’re surrounded by expert tutors, and try not to let your lack of foreign language skills isolate you.
Speak slowly, clearly, and with carefully chosen words. When speaking English, choose easy words and clearly pronounce each syllable (po-ta-toes). Avoid contractions. Be patient—speaking louder and tossing in a few extra words doesn’t help.
Keep your messages grunt-simple. Make single nouns work as entire sentences. A one-word question (“Photo?”) is just as effective as something grammatically correct (“May I take your picture, sir?”). Things go even easier if you include the local “please” (e.g., “Toilet, bitte?”).
Can the slang. Someone who learned English in a classroom will be stumped by American expressions such as “sort of like,” “pretty bad,” or “Howzit goin’?”
Risk looking goofy. Butcher the language if you must, but communicate. I’ll never forget the clerk in the post office who flapped her arms and asked, “Tweet, tweet, tweet?” I answered with a nod, and she gave me the airmail stamps I needed.
Be melodramatic. Exaggerate the native accent. The locals won’t be insulted; they’ll be impressed. English spoken with an over-the-top German accent makes more sense to the German ear.
A notepad works wonders. Written words and numbers are much easier to understand than their mispronounced counterparts. Bring a notepad. To communicate something difficult or important (such as medical instructions, “I’m a strict vegetarian,” etc.), write it in the local language.
Assume you understand and go with your gut. Treat most problems as multiple-choice questions, make an educated guess at the meaning, and proceed confidently. I’m correct about 80 percent of the time—and even when I’m wrong, I usually never know it. I only blow it about 10 percent of the time. My trip becomes easier—and occasionally much more interesting.
As our world shrinks, more and more words leap their linguistic boundaries and become international. Sensitive travelers choose words most likely to be universally understood (“auto” instead of “car”; “holiday” for “vacation”; “kaput” for “broken”; “photo” for “picture”). They also internationalize their pronunciation: “University,” if you play around with its sound (oo-nee-vehr-see-tay), can be understood anywhere.
Here are a few internationally understood words. Remember, cut out the Yankee accent and give each word a pan-European sound (“autoboooos”).
| Hello | Bank | Toilet |
| No | Hotel | Police |
| Stop | Post (office) | English |
| Kaput | Camping | Telephone |
| Ciao | Auto | Photo |
| Bye-bye | Autobus | Photocopy |
| OK | Taxi | Computer |
| Mañana | Tourist | Sport |
| Pardon | Beer | Internet |
| Rock ’n’ roll | Coke / Coca-Cola | Central |
| Mamma mia | Tea | Information |
| No problem | Coffee | University |
| Super | Vino | Passport |
| Sex / Sexy | Chocolate | Holiday (vacation) |
| Oo la la | Picnic | Gratis (free) |
| Moment | Self-service | America’s favorite four-letter words |
| Bon voyage | Yankee / Americano | |
| Restaurant | Amigo |
Many Americans are confused and dismayed by German sentence structure, which sometimes tacks verbs onto the end of a sentence. Mark Twain joked that German newspaper writers, under deadline, often didn’t even get around to writing the verb before they had to go to press. Actually, this verb placement usually occurs only when the sentence has two verbs—most often when you’re saying that you want or like to do something, or when you’re saying that something will or would happen. In these sentences, the main verb is exactly where we’d expect it to be in English, and only the secondary verb is sent to the end. To keep things simple, you can say Ich gehe nach Deutschland (I’m going to Germany)—and the verb (gehe) is right there where English speakers like it, after the pronoun. But if you say Ich möchte nach Deutschland gehen (I would like to go to Germany), then the two verbs split up. The main verb (möchte, or “would like”) stays where it is in English—right after the pronoun. But the secondary verb (gehen, or “go”) moves to the end. So the German sentence order is literally, “I would like to Germany go.”
There are also a handful of conjunctions such as weil (because) or wenn (if) that push the verb to the end of the sentence: “I’m going to Germany because it is so beautiful” is translated as Ich gehe nach Deutschland weil es so schön ist, which is literally “I’m going to Germany because it so beautiful is.”
My favorite German teacher insisted Deutsch ist leicht und logisch—German is easy and logical. And it is, if you know the rules.
Tongue twisters are a great way to practice a language and break the ice with the locals. Here are a few Zungenbrecher that are sure to challenge you, and amuse your hosts:
After your German friends have laughed at you, let them try these tongue twisters in English:
| If neither he sells seashells, nor she sells seashells, who shall sell seashells? Shall seashells be sold? |
Red bug’s blood and black bug’s blood. |
| Soldiers’ shoulders. | |
| Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. | Thieves seize skis. |
| Rugged rubber baby buggy bumpers. | I’m a pleasant mother pheasant plucker. I pluck mother pheasants. I’m the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker that ever plucked a mother pheasant. |
| The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick. |