Just 1 in 10 Brits attempt foreign language whilst on holiday

Sept. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- Research by one of the UK’s leading independent online travel agents has found that just 1 in 10 British tourists attempt to speak the native language of the country they visit.
The study was carried out by www.sunshine.co.uk, in order to discover more about people’s attitudes towards embracing foreign customs and language whilst on holiday. 1,982 people that had holidayed abroad in the past year were polled.

Of the 89% that claimed to never have attempted to speak a foreign language on holiday, more than half, 52%, said they were ‘too embarrassed’ at the thought of making a mistake, whilst 8% felt the country they were visiting should ‘accommodate the English language’.

21% of those that have never attempted to speak the native language on holiday put their decision down to ‘lack of knowledge’, whilst 12% felt it was ‘unnecessary’.
When the 11% of respondents that did attempt to speak the native language of their holiday destination were further questioned by sunshine.co.uk, it was found that 47% felt it was ‘important to at least try’ and 18% admitted to wanting to ‘show off’ their skills.
Of the 1 in 10 who had attempted to speak a foreign language on holiday, 38% claimed to have made a mistake.

Chris Brown, co-founder of http://www.sunshine.co.uk, commented on the findings of the poll;

“I think when holidaying abroad, British tourists should really try to embrace the culture and language of the place they are visiting. Just reading up on a few key phrases before jetting off can be incredibly useful. It will not only help you get by during your holiday, but you might even impress a few people.

“Some people are evidently too embarrassed to attempt speaking another language, out of fear they’ll make a mistake. The way I see it, even if you do come across as a bit silly, at least you made the effort! Even if it’s just a case of learning how to say ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’, at least you’ll have a couple of phrases under your belt. You never know when you might need it!”

LINK http://www.sunshine.co.uk

ENDS

For more information, or to arrange interviews with Chris Brown, please contact Shannon Haigh of 10 Yetis PR Agency on 01452 348211 or email shannon@10yetis.co.uk  
Editors Notes

http://www.sunshine.co.uk is the UK's leading online independent travel agent and was founded by Chris Brown and Chris Clarkson, the same people behind Holiday Watchdog which was bought by TripAdvisor in February 2008 for an undisclosed amount of money. Sunshine.co.uk offers low cost holidays and budget flights to destinations all over the world as well as great deals and discounted hotels.

TravelMole recently voted sunshine.co.uk as the best Travel Agency in the 2010 web awards