Top Tips to Make the Most of Your Summer Holiday
As an international family, we love travelling and spending quality time together while we are away.
The excitement starts as soon as we book our holiday, carries on while we are packing our suitcase and are ready to leave home. During our journey, little man usually asks us to teach him a few works from the language of the country we are travelling to.
I am Brazilian, so luckily I find it relatively easy to speak Spanish and Italian, as they are both Latin languages. Hubby’s parents are from Cyprus, so he can speak Greek. Together, we can speak a few languages, which is quite handy during our holiday.
According to a recent survey by Holiday Autos, not all Brits are as knowledgeable with languages as we are. Nearly a third don’t actually make any effort as they expect everyone to speak English while abroad.
Over a third of Brits end up speaking slower and using gestures in order to communicate on holiday. It is essential to be able to communication as things sometimes could go wrong, like suitcases can go missing and you might need to try to figure out what happened to it. According to the research, 10% of the 1,500 people surveyed struggled to communicate when they lost their luggage abroad.
After reading the research, I thought it would be useful if I could put together our tips on how to make the most of your summer holiday, so you are not lost in translation.
Learn one word a day
I am currently learning French and I find Youtube videos very useful and learning a foreign language. I started to learn in September and by now I can say numbers, colours, animals, fruits and a few sentences in French. The research found that British people can say around 15 words in French and 8 sentences in Spanish, so we could improve this by learning one word a day, starting from the day we book our holiday.
Ask friends for help
If you have any foreign friends, or perhaps you know a mum from your child’s school that speak the language of the country you are going to, you could perhaps invite them over for a playdate and use this as an opportunity to learn their language. My foreign friends absolutely love teaching me their languages and learning Portuguese. It is a fun way of getting used to the language before you go away.
Take a dictionary
I love my Greek dictionary, it is very useful to learn new words and it helps me when I am not sure what to say on holiday. I highly recommend packing a pocket dictionary in your suitcase, or a book with common sentences, so you can make the most of your time abroad.
The video below, you will see what could happen when people are lost in translation on holiday! It’s quite funny and it has happened to all of us at some point.
What are your best tips for a relaxing and stress-free holiday?
This post has been written in collaboration with Holiday Autos, however the opinions expressed in this post are honest and my own.