Whether it’s Del Boy’s interpretation of French to our reluctance to embrace foreign-language movies, Brits aren’t exactly known for our multilingual prowess.
Until it comes to beer, that is: new research from Amazon shows that the average UK adult can order a beer in three different languages, while 10% of us can sort out a pint in five or more tongues.
That’s pretty impressive, but did we ever doubt the British and their beer?
The survey in question featured 75,000 Amazon workers in the UK, as part of the Chatterbox series, which acts as a barometer on the views of citizens of today.
Drinks orders aside, it showed we aren’t a particularly fluent nation when it comes to different languages. But we do make an effort to learn the basics when we go abroad.
Alex Rawlings, a travel and language expert, comments: ‘In the Chatterbox survey, Brits say they know the phrase for “excuse me”, followed by “I don’t understand?” and “where is the toilet?” in an average of three languages, and that’s a good place to start.’
Five key phrases when travelling abroad
Alex Rawlings recommends perfecting at least five phrases before visiting somewhere. She says:
- ‘
- Learn a phrase that shows appreciation such as ‘Thank you very much’
- Learn a question phrase, something with ‘where is’ or ‘what is’, because people will be able to help you more
One respondent, Ben Walmsley, 31, confessesd that while his Spanish isn’t exactly top notch, trying goes a long way. He’s even befriened the head waitor at the Hotel Presidente in Benidorm, Spain, because of is persistence.
He went on to say: ‘I’ve always been rubbish at languages, but the head waiter at our hotel took a shine to me and my family, when we tried to mimic some Spanish phrases he’d say.
‘In return, every time we went into his restaurant, he’d give us his best Yorkshire accent speaking to us in English – which was equally as comical. By the end of the holiday, he was giving us the best table in the house, free drinks and bottles of prosecco.
‘It shows that giving it a go is the most important thing – people appreciate the effort and even if it goes wrong, it can be a bonding experience.’
In terms of where we stumble, the most commonly-confused words were found to be ‘fizzy’ and ‘still’, with 38% of us making an error there. ‘Left’ and ‘right’ also puzzled 27% of us, while ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ tripped up a quarter. Hey, at least we’re polite.
Like Ben, Alex says it’s important not to let the expectation of perfection put you off, arguing that even a couple of phrases can go a long way.
‘In Greece, people are so proud of their language that all they want to hear is you just saying one word in Greek, even if it’s just a small greeting,’ he adds.
Top ‘language cheats’ people use to get by on a holiday
The survey also revealed a few tips and tricks Brits like to use when holidaying abroad, to get by in a foreign country:
- 56% only learn to ask the phrase “do you speak English?”, while 24% are too embarrassed to try and speak a different language
- A further 13% have been short-changed and 7% have accidentally given a giant tip because they failed to calculate the exchange rate correctly
The expert, who speaks 16 languages, also explains what is holding us back and why it’s never too late to learn.
‘It’s not from not wanting to learn,’ says Alex. ‘It’s because we don’t actually need to learn as people are really good at accommodating us and speak English to us wherever we go. Unfortunately that appeals to the lazy side of us which says, “well, you know, why do I need to learn?”‘
He insists that it’s never too late to educate ourselves, though, and says: ‘The moment you start learning a foreign language, it will do something to your brain.
‘So don’t get left behind – it has so many benefits!’
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For one, you won’t be stuck drinking beer and only beer every time you go away.
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