Essay

Pain-free travels

By Samantha Loong

Let's face it. Traveling, as relaxing as it's supposed to be, can be a real pain. It can hurt your head organizing flights, accommodation, transport and itineraries. And it definitely hurts your bank balance before, during and after your trip.

Despite all that, I often find myself drifting toward the travel section of bookshops. Each magazine and book is always filled with amazing destinations, magnificent sights, wondrous food and cool cultures. A while ago, I found a book called Point It. It's a tiny, palm-sized book filled with photos showing different kinds of food, accommodation, transportation and much more. The idea is that when travelers don't know the language of the country they're visiting, they can use this book to point at the pictures. Not sure what it is you're eating? Just point at a picture of a cow and look quizzically at the person serving you.

I thought this was an excellent way to lessen the pain of communication barriers when travelling, and I showed the book to an adult English conversation student of mine. He said he was surprised that an English teacher would be advocating pointing instead of speaking. I was equally surprised at his response, as I prefer to think of my line of work as promoting good communication in all forms — whether it be in English or some other method. Speaking English will only get you so far in a country where it's not the native language. It's not uncommon to hear stories of painfully obnoxious English-speaking tourists who decide that shouting in their mother tongue will actually make the listener understand, when in fact, no one enjoys being yelled at, whatever the language might be.

English might get you somewhere in tourist traps, but having something like a book with pictures really breaks down barriers and opens up many more travel opportunities.

When verbal communication fails, using gestures can also help to make one's journey a little easier. What your gesture means of course, varies from country to country. When I was an exchange student in Japan, I remember a teacher telling the group of us that using the American gesture for "OK" in Japan would probably be interpreted as "money." My rummages in bookshops have also revealed another interesting book, Don't Get Me Wrong, a book about global hand gestures. Each page shows a photo of a gesture and what it means in different countries. It was an enlightening read, especially when I discovered that the hand gesture often seen held high at rock concerts has an entirely different meaning in Italy: "Your wife is cheating on you."

No journey — be it traveling to another country, or learning another language — will ever be without a few setbacks. But whether it's pointing, gesturing, drawing or speaking, any trip can always be made more painless by adding a smile. And when you think about all the amazing destinations, magnificent sights, wondrous food and cool cultures awaiting you, it's hard not to.

Shukan ST: September 9 2011

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