Travel Tip 57
How to overcome language barriers.
Eugenia Sandoval Quispe in Sangarará speaks Spanish with me, but many of her neighbors only speak Quechua.
Travel long enough and you’ll run into a language barrier at some point. It happens to me in Peru since I still haven’t learned more than the most basic Quechua. When I lived in Asia I ran into language barriers all the time but can’t remember a time when it was really a problem because I always found other ways to communicate.
Here’s my top three tips for overcoming or working around language barriers.
1. Use sign language
It’s amazing how much you can get across with a combination of gestures and facial expressions. If you like communicating with sign language, check if there are any offensive gestures that you should avoid in the country you’re visiting.
2. Draw pictures
This is my favorite way to get a message across because it turns a communication barrier into a fun game of Pictionary. If you plan to rely on this much, carry a pen and a small notebook.
Even after five years in Peru, I only know a few words of Quechua, so I rely a lot on gestures and smiles.
3. Learn a few basic words
With a few basic words you can get across a lot, especially if you also use some hand gestures and facial expressions. With just the word “please” you can ask for just about anything. Say please and point to anything on a menu or in a shop. A simple “thank you,” accompanied by a genuine smile and handshake or hug can also convey so much. Also try question words like where, when and how much.
If you want to get beyond the basics, learn a few nouns. Verbs in most languages are more complicated than you need to deal with for a short trip. If you’re renting a car, learn the word for gas or fuel. If you’re going to the beach learn how to say umbrella and chair. Online translators have mostly done away with phrasebooks, but if you’re going somewhere without cell service, or if you really want to unplug on vacation, get a phrasebook.
The first day of the festival, the Saqras enter Paucartambo ready to dance for four days.
Blog
Paucartambo, a small town a couple hours from Cusco, has the most elaborate festival for the Virgin of Carmen every year from July 15-18. This year I went a day early and stayed a day late to see the full experience with the Saqras, my favorite of the nineteen danzas in Paucartambo.
An actress plays Tomasa Tito Condemayta in the annual battle reenactment November 18th.
Article
The Indigenous Rebellion that Inspired Peru’s Independence
This weekend Peru is celebrating their independence from Spain, so to celebrate July 28th here’s my BBC article about the first battle that Andeans won against the Spanish army. I wrote this with my friend Steve Hirst, and we had a lot of fun interviewing all the elders of Sangarará. We found that although history recorded the battle was won by the Christianized Túpac Amaru, the real hero was an Indigenous woman, Tomasa Tito Condemayta, who the Spanish erased from history. I’ve also written blogs about Sangarará’s Unu Raymi Festival and Waqra Pukará.
