Throughout the years, English language has been widely used as the sole international language and almost all the information you would like to research about travelling is available in English, be it travelling into remote areas in China or getting travelling tips getting around into a chaotic regions in Africa where people do not speak English at all! Learning English is not only an advantage, but rather it is crucial for one to survive travelling abroad. Nevertheless, it does not indicate that learning English alone is sufficient.
English is widely regarded as the most important travelling language and it is amazingly obvious when you can see there are many touristic signs in different corners of the world available in English. Precisely because of the massive practicability of the English language, it is also often regarded as a gateway to learning other foreign languages.
Learning English opens doors to more exposure of cultures and civilizations and if you take pleasure from experiencing diversities of culture and history that our beautiful earth has to offer, learning and enhancing your English skills will be rewarding. As for those who are already extremely capable of understanding English, taking one step forward and using it to help their understanding of other would be amazingly rewarding. Let’s fantasise into being able to read the famous Spanish literature “Don Quijote” in Spanish or studying the “Art of War’’ in its original old Chinese version. The joy of having been able to order local dishes in a foreign country with its native language would surely be an unforgettable, eye-opening and endlessly interesting experience. It is also worth mentioning not every culture and chapter of history are documented into English, the best way to get a more thorough understanding of that is still via perfecting the local language.
Learning English is considered as an important compromise for all to communicate with each other at a reasonable level in travelling. This world may be massive but the connections and differences between people are smaller than you ever thought it would be. The essence of being able to capture and celebrate our similarities and differences is by learning and practising each other languages in a fun and relaxing way when travelling. Learn English for it is the gateway to open the floodgate to experiencing varieties of cultures in travelling as well as opening doors to learning the local language which could be rewarding and even life-saving in exceptional circumstances. Happy travels!
*Enrico Chee