10 Tips for Trips: Travel Secrets from Fluent City

by Mandy Menaker

Hopefully, you have been busy getting yourself fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Arabic or Chinese at Fluent City in time for summer travel. Is it your first trip out of the country? Here are a few things to consider:

1) Check your passport and visa. Every country has different visa requirements. Make sure you check ahead of time, as you may need to apply in advance (Brazil) or have 20 dollars in cash ready to go when you land (Turkey). Travel.State.Gov has a comprehensive list of the visa requirements for each country – check the list here to find out the process for getting a visa for each of the countries you plan to visit. It would suck to get all the way to the airport on the day of your trip and not be able to board the plane!

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Say Hello

by Eva Grodberg

Using a simple two-word phrase can greatly enhance your trips to France, Spain or anywhere else French or Spanish are spoken.

Although I don’t remember where I read this, it was definitely before my 2005 trip to Barcelona and Madrid. That was the first time I made a conscious effort to always use a two-word hello in shops and restaurants – and noticed significantly better communication with people when I was traveling. In Paris, which I have been visiting since 15, using a two-word phrase made a drastic improvement in the quality of my trips.

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