In order to travel the world, you must know a foreign language (English is implied, of course). However, this is not entirely true — you can travel around the world knowing only Russian. Here are some tips for a monolingual Russian who finds himself in a foreign land. Let mi speke frome mai hart:
Find a compatriot who can help you with the most necessary things (for example, buy tickets home). If you have a computer, look for it on social networks (our compatriots abroad actively use Twitter and Vkontakte). You can also drift in the flow of tourists for a while — try to learn your native speech.
Buy a phrasebook. I know cases when a person with a stack of phrasebooks in a backpack traveled half of Europe and had no problems anywhere. It would be great if you read at least the most basic a couple of days before the trip and learn a couple of phrases.
Use the "call a friend" service. If you find yourself in a situation in which there is no way without a language — dial a friend and let him be your telephone translator. It is, of course, expensive, but sometimes very useful.
Use sign language. Most situations can be played out by pantomime. "Telephone", "Police" and other words can be depicted, even with a fairly limited acting talent.
Use paper — write or draw what you need. If you want to buy a ticket, write the date on a piece of paper, draw the right number of people and write the name of the city where you need to go. And in general, have the habit of carrying a piece of paper with the address of your hotel in your wallet — you can show it to the taxi driver and he will take you home.
Well, in the end, stop shaming yourself already — spend a couple hundred hours of your life trying to learn English a little and not have any more problems. Senk yu!
