Zermatt Dec 30th

Tony

I saw your posts of St. Moritz & it looked like a great time, with a lot of great information. Thanks for sharing your adventure!
In the spirit of full disclosure, I printed out some of the info you shared on buses & routes you took, & hope to use them to make it a bit easier to navigate.

We've never been to Switzerland before; & as the hours count down to our departure, we can hardly contain our excitement.

I do have a question for those of you who travel internationaly frequently; I speak no other languages, my girlfriend has some conversational French. I'm trying (& failing) to learn some German words/phrases. I've also heard/read that many people there speak English. All things concidered, I'm not too worried about being able to communicate.
Question: Is it better to try to speak another language & do it horribly, or to try to find someone who speaks your language to make it easier to communicate?

Thanks again

bigmike

bigmike69 wrote:Tony

Question: Is it better to try to speak another language & do it horribly, or to try to find someone who speaks your language to make it easier to communicate?

bigmike

Absolutely try :thumbup:
A hello, thank you, please; at least trying acknowledges your a foreigner pleased to be abroad.
Go for it!
Personally, I think the phrase "sorry, I do not speak ********" goes a long way.
:P

2nd vote for trying. Most tourism workers will speak some English as it's seen as an international medium in a resort such as Zermatt. It will be used by Dutch, Japanese, Belgians, Spanish visitors etc.

Do try and get the tourism basics nailed to get better service in bars and restaurants )

I have a reservation for....

Is this the train for.... Which platform do I need

Two large beers please )

etc

If all else fails, write it down!

Do take care to get into the correct class of carriage on Swiss trains. You can be charged for a 1st class ticket just for walking through a 1st class carriage to get to a 2nd class one.

Thanks for the responses all! I was actualy thinking along the same lines; that's why I'm still trying to get some useful phrases down. (thanks goodness beer is beer in German!)

I've heard that about the swiss trains. One need to be where he's supposed to or else ($$).

We have a copy of Rick Steve's Switzerland guide, which has a section of useful words & phrases in German, French & Italian. It's all I will be reading on the plane!

Cheers!

bigmike

Mike, great to hear you are using my report as a rough guide. I hope you find it useful and correct when you are in St Moritz.

I've fond that I can order drinks and from a menu in French and German, they'll soon work out you are an English speaker! If you make an effort, they'll be ok with you and probably reply in English anyway, but if you go in all guns blazing shouting loudly an pointing you might not get a great response!

Simple things to remember:

Say good day to everyone in the language spoken in resort, ie Bonjour or Guten Tag

Duex bieres sil vous plait/Zwei bier bitte - 2 beers please

Comment ca va/wie gehts - hows it going?

Ces't tout merci/das it alles danke - thats the lot thanks

You'll probably stumble through te rest of it. Dont ask for directions though, as they'll speak for 20 minutes in the natural tongue, so you might as well have not bothered!!

Have a great time!!

Thanks! I'm sure it will be all we hoped for.

We're not loud, demanding folks, (at least WE think that). The last thing we want is to be the stereotypical arrogant Americans; we're basicaly in someone's home as visitors. Act with courtesy towards others & you'll receive the same.

I've printed out various town maps with street names & the location of our hotel(s) as well as bus schedules to help us get about without looking like complete idiots. (we'll see how well that works).

I'm sure it will be very easy to spot us as tourists... we'll be the one's smiling from ear-to-ear!

Happy Trails!

bigmike