Monday, February 19, 2007
A Brief Lesson in Foreign Communication
If you have ever traveled abroad, you no doubt are aware of the frustration that comes with trying to navigate a country whose language you cannot speak, pronounce, or even recognize as a legitimate form of communication. I've certainly had my share of mishaps, causing me numerous times to wonder, why again did I not go to a Spanish speaking country? In my futile efforts to participate in any conversation, my words come out as an awkward combination of Czech, Spanish, and German: Ja se dam die pollo, bitte.
My recent trip to Greece was no exception. Allow me to demonstrate:
In Czech: In Greek: In German:
No = Yes Ne = Yes Ja = Yes
Ne = No
Ja = I
The funniest story, however, was by far the experience had by my father. Picture, if you will, my exhausted parents finally making it to the train station in Prague. They manage to buy their tickets to Ostrava, but before they set off, they really just want to know what the bathrooms are. Being ever polite, my father asked, "Do you know where the restrooms are?"
If you have ever spent any amount of time in Europe, you've probably noticed that any signs pointing you to a "restroom" are labeled "WC" or "toilet." The answer he received was something along the lines of the following:
"Oh, yes, we have many good ones near the train station. If you go outside and take a left there are some fairly cheap ones. A little farther down you'll find one that serves excellent Czech food (..huh?..). There aren't many options to the right, and the ones in the train station aren't that great, but I recommend you look at this map."
After a few minutes of more confusing answers, he finally realized that Czechs do not know the word restroom. Czechs do, however, know the word for restaurant. He politely thanked the man, and decided to wait until they got on the train.
My recent trip to Greece was no exception. Allow me to demonstrate:
In Czech: In Greek: In German:
No = Yes Ne = Yes Ja = Yes
Ne = No
Ja = I
The funniest story, however, was by far the experience had by my father. Picture, if you will, my exhausted parents finally making it to the train station in Prague. They manage to buy their tickets to Ostrava, but before they set off, they really just want to know what the bathrooms are. Being ever polite, my father asked, "Do you know where the restrooms are?"
If you have ever spent any amount of time in Europe, you've probably noticed that any signs pointing you to a "restroom" are labeled "WC" or "toilet." The answer he received was something along the lines of the following:
"Oh, yes, we have many good ones near the train station. If you go outside and take a left there are some fairly cheap ones. A little farther down you'll find one that serves excellent Czech food (..huh?..). There aren't many options to the right, and the ones in the train station aren't that great, but I recommend you look at this map."
After a few minutes of more confusing answers, he finally realized that Czechs do not know the word restroom. Czechs do, however, know the word for restaurant. He politely thanked the man, and decided to wait until they got on the train.
# posted by Jessica @ 6:50 AM 
