For those of us who know the English language, traveling is a whole lot easier. Aside from being the native tongue of nearly over 400 million people, it is also the world’s lingua franca and most widely-spoken second language.
However, it’s good to move beyond your own borders, if possible, and learn other languages to help you communicate while traveling. Here are three other languages that are especially useful for travelers.
Spanish
Spanish is a great language to learn, opening up the doors to a whole host of fascinating countries like Spain, Colombia, and Mexico. The language of Cervantes has almost 500 million native speakers (more than English!) and is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn.
French
Parlez-vous français? Another Romance language that is super useful for those who love to travel is French. Aside from endearing yourself to surly Parisian shopkeepers, you will also find yourself able to communicate with a wide variety of Africans, Europeans, and even some North Americans (hello, Quebec!) with French.
Arabic
Arabic is a difficult language to learn, but knowledge of this Semitic language will open up all kinds of doors for you. Spoken all over North Africa and in the Middle East, knowledge of Arabic is a huge tool for travel.
