I am not a global traveler. Until 15 months ago my total “international” travel was accounted for by a 2 day trip to Canada (1 day Toronto, 1 day Montreal). Then suddenly I had 4 trips to London in 15 months which certainly acclimated me to 9 hour plane rides.
Now I can officially cross a non-English speaking country off my list – Germany. I had the pleasure of spending 2 days in Munich recently which was quite interesting. My biggest fear was how to deal with the language barrier and get around. I had all of my addresses printed out and was ready for the world’s best game of charades.
The most interesting part was how little I needed to mime out my requests. Other than a local coffee shop where a coworker handled ordering I didn’t encounter a single instance where the counterpart couldn’t understand some English.
Growing up in America I never had interacted with people who spoke other languages as their primary communication. It was English 100% of the time. I’ve now seen behind the curtain at how the rest of the world gets on – they have always been multi-lingual and they get through.
Language often reflects culture. You can tell a lot about a person based on the speed they talk at, their comfort with silent pauses in conversation and how comfortable they are with humor in conversation. Those items are clues no matter the language spoken. Use them to help you with new people, situations or just to test your beliefs of people you already know. You’ll be surprised at the results.