Make Language Learning a Key Part of Your Sustainable Tourism

During the worldwide Covid epidemic travel and tourism came to a sudden halt and local businesses in areas that were popular destinations had first hand experience of how important tourism was to their livelihood. Fast forward a few years and 2024 has been a banner year for tourism. Unfortunately there has been such a flood of tourists in cities like Barcelona, Seville, Rome, Venice, Tokyo and Kyoto that now there is a strong backlash against tourism. 

Tourism now makes up over 10% of the world economy – airlines, trains, buses, hotels, restaurants, bars, vineyards, shopping centers, etc. depend on tourism for their sustenance. However, many locals in popular destinations find themselves unable to survive in these towns and cities. In many cities local organizations have gone to the extent of harassing tourists while some cities have added special surcharges for visitors. 

A big part of the complaints from the local populace is that “their way of living” is disturbed by the tourists and that they feel like they cannot flourish in their own cities and towns. Often the money tourists spend does not go to local businesses but to international chains. In some cities online companies like AirBnB and VRBO etc. have made it very lucrative for home and apartment owners to use their properties for short term rentals making it difficult for locals on relatively lower salaries to live in their cities. 

Another issue that locals raise against tourism is that tourists often come unaware of the local culture and don’t learn the local language at even a basic level. They expect the local business people to understand English or their own native language, causing stress for the business owners. In Japan many businesses now charge extra for non-Japanese speakers as they have to hire staff that can speak English. 

Most tourism promotion is done through photos or brochures depicting beautiful beaches or ancient monuments or renowned museums. Also promoted is nightlife and in some cities availability of drugs and services that are illegal in other places. An important opportunity that is usually not included in these attractive offerings is the possibility of learning the local language. Language is the gateway to a culture and it allows a tourist to interact with the local street vendors as well as people in the street and stores. 

Nearly all major tourist destinations now have very convenient language schools that allow one to learn some basic survival language in just a week. One can start such programs on a Monday and within a few days be able to introduce oneself and ask for directions and talk to a local vendor. Many of these schools also arrange tours of the local sights and can also help find a place to live with local families or in shared apartments. Some schools even have their own dormitories where students can live for short periods of time. 

Some benefits for joining local language school programs are: 1) You have instant access to friends from around the world as well as teachers who are local and know about the culture and can guide you in local etiquette; 2) Within a few days you can learn and use basic survival language with locals. Of course if you stay longer you can reach a very high  proficiency; 3) Since most language programs also offer city tours or short day trips you can have a great immersion experience. 

One of the challenges of learning a new language is being able to retain what has been learnt and then use it. This is where Encore!!! Language learning app plays a very vital role. The app comes with a distributed library of language content that can bring you to a level where you can comfortably speak to local people and make friends, have enough ability to live comfortably i.e. carry out most day to day functions of shopping, visiting museums, eating at restaurants, taking local transport etc. You can also add new material to the app. 

Using MyEntries of the app a student can place lessons in the app and use the unique functions of the app viz.:  i) Make a playlist ⇒ ii)  choose number of repetitions ⇒ iii) choose pause between repetitions ⇒ iv) play the playlist and then v) “listen-speak out-repeat” as you do you go about your daily life taking walk, visiting a store, exercising, etc. Periodically use the TEST function to verify how much of the learnt information you have retained.  

Author: Dr. Jasprit Singh, President Gurmentor, Inc.

A Learning Company https://gurmentor.com

Professor Emeritus, Electrical Engg. & Comp. Sci. and Applied Physics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor