Travelers lose more translation moments. What is the solution?

Christopher Elliott
| Special to USA TODAY

Misunderstandings are common when traveling internationally, especially when there are language barriers.
While translation apps can be useful, they should not replace basic education or cultural awareness.
Assumptions about shared practices, such as date formats or measurement systems, can lead to confusion and frustration.

If you are reading this article in English, you are in luck. You can travel the world and still be understood by many people, because 20% of the world also speaks English.

Kind.

Damian Comito recalled recently ordering coffee at a restaurant in Rome. Instead, his waiter brought him a steaming plate of fried zucchini. Cominto, owner of a limousine company in Berth, Washington, had no idea how the waiter thought he wanted a plate of frittelle di zucchini instead of a cappuccino.

“Luckily a helpful local intervened,” he recalls. “We laughed about the incident.”

It goes both ways. Stephanie Rytting recalled her first visit to Paris after learning French. She visited a café and confidently ordered a ham sandwich, a so-called croque-monsieur. Only she called it a croque-madame, a ham sandwich with an egg on top. (Talk about egg on your face!)

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“The waiter politely corrected my mistake,” Rytting recalls travel advisor who specializes in France. “And I sheepishly accepted the sandwich.”

Will we have more lost-in-translation moments? No question about it. More and more Americans are traveling to distant destinations where fewer people speak English. Places you wouldn’t dare go without a telephone, a strong 5G signal and Google Translate.

Then again, maybe you would.

So let’s talk about what’s behind these linguistic problems and how we can solve them. I know you’re already reaching for your translation app, but trust me, that’s only half the solution.

What causes these translation errors?

Many translation problems don’t arise where you think they do. Despite as many funny “I ordered the wrong dish” stories as you can find – and you can find a lot of them – most restaurant orders are pretty simple. (Here’s a pro tip: Most dishes have a number on them. Use the number to order what you want; try not to pronounce the name of the dish.)

Bill McGee, an expert on frequent travel and airline policy, says some of the worst translation problems are based on assumptions.

‘Sometimes it’s very simple things, like the metric system. Or 24-hour clocks instead of 12-hour clocks at airports and train stations. Or dates written day-month-year. Or elevators that have both a ground floor and a first floor,” he told me.

And too many Americans simply assume that things are done as if they were at home: that they use the imperial system, the 12-hour clock, that they write their dates month-day-year. (And the elevator? Heck, I don’t even know what the elevator is saying to me half the time.)

“The stigma of the ugly American still lives on, and it will continue to do so until we recognize that much of the world does things differently,” McGee said.

Can a translation app help prevent mistranslations while traveling?

Americans go through different phases when they are abroad. First, there is the assumption that everyone speaks English because the people around them are trying to speak English – perhaps they are practicing their English?

The second stage is the realization that the English they speak is often limited to ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. And that’s when they turn to a translation app like Google Translate.

“Translation apps are not a substitute for organic fluency,” says David Koo, chief operating officer of Global rescue. “But they can help overcome important communication barriers when it comes to local navigation, reading menus, managing public transportation, shopping or getting help, even in an emergency.”

Koo, who speaks several languages himself, also turns to a translation app, even if he knows a language fluently. That’s because he’s heard too many stories, like the fried zucchini or the egg sandwich. And because he works for a company that specializes in security services, he knows that bad translations can be dangerous.

For example, try telling a doctor at a hospital in Rome about your drug allergies. If you do something wrong, I promise you won’t laugh with the staff.

How to avoid getting lost in translation

Getting zucchini instead of a cappuccino is one thing, but sometimes clear communication is essential when you’re traveling. I almost made the day-month-year mistake when booking hotels in Europe. Always double-check that you have the correct date, and remember that outside the US they use the day-month-year format for bookings.

“There are situations when traveling where accurate communication is a must,” says Aleksander Alski, who manages U.S. sales Vasco electronicsa developer of translation equipment. “Getting lost in translation can affect our travel experience.”

That’s true. Last summer, while hiking in Southeast Asia, I asked a pharmacist in Chiang Mai, Thailand, if they carried salicylic acid, a medication that helps remove warts. She nodded enthusiastically – and handed over a box of Cialis.

“Oh no,” I said. Everything’s fine, you know, there, I said, looking down. The problem was a little lower: my feet had blisters from walking around. She turned several shades of red before she found the salicylic acid.

So, how do you avoid a lost-in-translation experience?

Learn the language. No, not the whole language – but enough so that you can at least say ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Another useful phrase: “Where is the bathroom?” In Japan, my most used phrase was, “Excuse me.” These small efforts can clear up a lot of confusion.
Don’t assume anything. Don’t assume that everyone speaks English (even if the locals you meet pretend to). Don’t assume they do their dates and measurements the same way. Assumption is the beginning of a misunderstanding when it comes to language.

Buy an app and use it. Download Google Translate or buy a Vasco translator and use it when you travel, even if you think someone understands you. Keep in mind that people will often answer “yes” to your question if they don’t understand what you said because they are trying to be polite. Instead, type whatever you want and show it to them.

Here’s what I think is going on: it’s really English. Everyone thinks they know it, or they think they should know it, because they took a few semesters of it in school. So people muddle through their conversations and make a lot of mistakes. At the same time, Americans often want to take Spanish or French in high school. And that works sometimes, except when it doesn’t.

As a result, it feels like everyone is talking past each other when they travel – even if they speak the same language. It is something to pay attention to when you go abroad.

The trick is to keep everything on track. The next time you’re traveling and find yourself accidentally ordering a plate of fried zucchini instead of coffee, consider it a culinary adventure rather than a failed translation. Who knows? You might discover your new favorite dish.

Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a non-profit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidentiala travel newsletter, and the Elliott Reporta customer service news site. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can do so reach him here or email him at [email protected].