During your travels around the world, communicating with local people can be an important part of your cultural discovery. As a foreigner in a different country, however, communication can sometimes be difficult because you may not be fluent in the local language and "false friends" can create misunderstanding. False friends are words that look or sound similar in different languages, but their meaning is actually different.
For instance, you may be enjoying your holidays in Barcelona, Spain, and you may want to attend a special Barcelona event. You must be careful with your communication because "asistir" is the Spanish word meaning to attend. It's not the same as the English meaning for "assist" which means to help.
During your South of France holidays, you're also likely to encounter a number of false friends between the English and French languages. If you'd like to say that you're currently on holiday to a local friend, you'd use the French word "actuellement" which means 'at the present time.' Whereas, the similar-sounding word "actually" in English means 'in fact.' So you must be careful!
Even on your Poland getaways, you'll discover some tricky language as you travel around the country. For example, if you want to catch public transport to explore Poland, you'd use the word "komunikacja." This should not be confused with the English word "communication" which refers to exchanges of information between people.
Overall, you must be wary of false friends wherever you travel.
September 29th, 2010 on 4:11 am
love Krakow! old city from aches