Tips for travelling in non-English speaking countries: The art of local lingo

Hablas Ingles? No? Uh oh.

There's a sinking feeling whenever you get that shake of the head, that shrug of the shoulders, that indication that no, the person you're trying to communicate with does not speak English. And why should they? This is not England.

It's Spain, perhaps. Or maybe France. Or Japan. Or Russia. Or Mexico. Wherever it is, English isn't the first language, and you're going to have to figure out how to communicate without fluent or even competent use of the local tongue.

There's an art to this practice and it's one of dedication. It's one that involves persistence and tenacity and a refusal to feel embarrassed. It's a game of trial and error in which you have to accept there will be plenty of the latter.

But it must be done. You have to communicate. To be polite. To be respectful. To survive.

So here's how it works: do some research beforehand. You should know, at the very least, the language in which you'll be expected to make yourself understood. That language may not be the obvious one: in northern Spain, for example, you'll get by in Spanish, but people will love you forever if you can say a few words in Basque, in the north-east, or Galician, in the north-west.

Learn a few simple greetings ("Hello", "How are you?"), but make sure you know the way locals actually say them, instead of what Google Translate comes up with. Romans, for example, don't greet each other with a formal "buon giorno", or even a casual "ciao", but with the word, "Salve!" The Japanese, meanwhile, really would appreciate a small bow and the formal, "Ohayo gozaimasu".

Learn how to ask, in the local language, if people speak English. That's respectful. Learn to say please and thank you. Learn to explain that you're from Australia in case the citizens of certain other English-speaking countries are not universally loved.

Most importantly, however, learn to communicate without the use of words, because there's no way you'll have the skill or dedication to master a foreign language for a simple two-week holiday. You'll need to improvise.

You'll need to read body language and look out for non-verbal cues; look for pointing and shrugging and wild gesticulation. It will also be handy to listen for the few words of the local language you actually know, ones that might be similar to English, clues that will become small pieces of a communication jigsaw that will eventually, hopefully, become a clear picture.

Of course, you probably won't have to do any of this – many people around the world are at least familiar with English. But every now and then you'll get that sinking feeling. And it will be game on.