The Ideal

Language flexibility is the ability to communicate effortlessly with other people in their native tongue. It allows you to gain a rich insider's view of another country and make new friends during your travels.

The Obstacle

However, achieving language flexibility isn't always easy. Knowing what to say and randomly approaching people can be challenging - especially if you're familiar with the language.

The Path

To overcome these obstacles, you can hack the language learning process and turn connecting with others into a game. Here's how:

Step 1: Identify common phrases

English has roughly 1 million words. However, native speakers only use about 3,000 in daily life.

Make a list of the most common phrases you'll need when traveling, such as greetings, asking for directions, and expressing gratitude.

My travel tool of choice is ChatGPT Plus. I'm already subscribed for work, so that it is the best travel tool is a plus.

My go to prompt everyday is "Give me the 10 most common phrases for doing {activity of the day} in {language of the travel location}.”

Or I take a photo of a menu and say "help me order {food} in {target language}.”

You may want to focus on practicing essential phrases quietly to yourself first.

Step 2: Practice with native speakers

Now that you've said these phrases several times to yourself. The next goal is to find native speakers to try to phrases on. Don't overthink it. Just try.

If you make mistakes, or you nail the phrase and then they unleash a water hose of words on you - you're golden.

The more you practice, the more confident you'll become.

Step 3: Think of it as a game

Set daily or weekly challenges for yourself, such as striking up a conversation with a stranger or ordering food in the target language. I like to count the number of phrases used. Then save the number next to the date in a note on my phone.

If you're focused on increasing a number you may find it fun to randomly talk to strangers.

Celebrate your successes and learn from your mistakes. Each challenge you overcome will bring you one step closer to language flexibility.

Step 4: Immerse yourself

The prior suggestions lean heavily towards the extroverted.

If you're a bit more introverted, surround yourself with the language by listening to music, watching movies, and reading books in that language.

If you're looking for the best way to read books in that language - check out LumiReader.ai.

The more exposure you have to the language, the more natural it will feel when you speak it.

By following these steps, you'll develop:

1) Confidence in your language skills

2) The ability to connect with others

3) A deeper understanding of the culture

4) Memorable experiences during your travels

Language flexibility not only enriches your travel experiences but also opens doors to new friendships and opportunities. By hacking the language learning process and turning it into a game, you'll be able to frictionlessly communicate with people from all over the world.

Joke of the week:

What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual.

Two languages? Bilingual.

One language? American!

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