Strange title right? Well not so much, this phrase “Mamma Mia, Papa Mafioso!” is a direct result of being in a foreign land – Italy and wanting to communicate in the local language – Italian without any formal education, stringing together a sentence with the few Italian words that are common knowledge. In Italian “Mamma Mia” literally means “my mother’’ but it is used as an exclamation synonymous with the English “wow” “oh my God” “oh my” “oh man” “oh boy” and the Hindi “wah” “hey bhagwan” “baap re baap” and Mafioso is the adjective of the noun Mafia denoting one from the Mafia or more generally a crook. You will have to wait to hear the anecdote behind this because this post is actually about learning a foreign language to enhance your travel experience in that foreign land.

Yes English can get you by in most countries but can you really get to the pulse of a non English speaking country by communicating in it – NO. So why not learn the language?

The advantages of learning a foreign language are innumerable. Yes it is believed that learning a second language protects against Alzheimer’s which is reason enough but if this doesn’t convince you there are plenty of others.

If you are a traveller at heart but still have not gathered the means to travel abroad, learning a foreign language gives you the means of travelling to that land through your lessons while sitting in your own country. All foreign languages are taught with an emphasis on the country’s culture so you are transported for the duration of the lesson and even thereafter as your curiosity is piqued and you will find yourself googling facts, people, history and places in your free time.

Those who have the benefit of studying at the language classes conducted at the Embassies of these countries can also get the thrill of technically being in those countries for the duration of the classes.

These Embassy Institutes and Cultural Centres hold numerous cultural programmes that give you a chance to appreciate their art, music, dance and culture. To be noted, these cultural programmes are, more often than not, free and open to the public so even if you do not have the time yet, to attend the classes, you can just follow their pages on Social Media to keep abreast with the happenings and attend the programmes irrespective. Sometimes you may also get treated to a nice glass of wine and hors d’oeuvre (a small savoury dish, typically one served as an appetizer) but please let that not be your only reason to attend the programmes and don’t attack the food and drink, as I have often seen happen, be good ambassador for your own country. Where these Embassies have restaurants or cafes you get a taste of the food, often at subsidised prices.

For those that do start taking the classes there is much incentive to working hard at the language. Especially for those that have limited means but a passion to travel abroad. Most foreign language teaching institutions offer scholarships for meritorious students for courses at Universities in their countries. These are typically for a month and may not cover all the expenses and the airfare but the tuition is invariably covered and depending on which language you learn you are given some sort of a stipend. Given that these Universities have subsidised meals at their canteens and you can easily find shared accommodation even a meagre stipend can go far. Some of these Universities give you the added bonus of taking you for complimentary sightseeing to other towns and cities over the weekends saving you from spending for transport and the entrance fee to the monuments. So if you have some pocket money or had a part time job that you have saved up from you can benefit hugely from such a scholarship, add a couple of weeks to your trip and backpack to see more of the country, thereby having an opportunity to further improve your command over the language. The Visa fee for these scholarship incumbents is often waived by the Embassy so you save there as well.

Studying a foreign language upto the level of being able to converse in it brings a whole new dimension to travelling in that country. Your interaction is now, not limited to conversations sometimes in broken English at Tourist Information kiosks, Hotel Receptions and the like. You now have the ability to ask for directions from a local, interact with people learn about them and tell them about your country and culture. Over the years, I have found speaking the local language as such a useful tool in disabusing people of their notions about my country, people are brimming with curiosity without any means for assuaging it, come on the picture and where the next half an hour goes is a mystery. Wouldn’t you like to sit at a café and pick up a spontaneous conversation with your server or the table adjoining you to get leads on things locals do and places to visit off the beaten track.

Then there is the advantage of speaking a foreign language when you are not in that country. Let’s say you speak fluent English and Korean, you are travelling in England you come across a Korean who is having trouble communicating, viola! you become the translator and your knowledge has been put to good use, you have helped a harassed tourist, done your good deed for the day and brought kudos to your own country.

If, you cannot find the time to attend formal classes and want to learn a language from the comfort of your home there are paid online courses for a host of languages. There are also plenty of free online courses if you browse the internet. I have enjoyed learning German for free on the Deutsch Academie website in advance of a trip to Austria and put it to good use. I recollect one Taxi driver who would often ferry us between our resort in Gossl and Bad Aussee who spoke English but always insisted on chatting with me in German to help me practise mine.

I will also address the notion a lot of people have that they simply can’t learn a foreign language, a notion I do not agree with. At least give it a try. You can always drop out if it is too difficult, who knows maybe in the process of attending those classes you will make like minded friends who come from walks of life you otherwise do not come in contact with and maybe even meet the love of your life.

Is age a criterion in learning a language? Not if the people who I have studied with are the proof. I have found people from the 50s right upto their 80s in the classes I have attended, the younger of these with full time jobs and familial responsibilities having no problem in learning the language. I found them to be more committed than my younger colleagues and I was grateful for the knowledge, experience and wisdom they brought into my life

Does learning the language bring stress to a life already burdened by work pressure and family commitments? I would say no, if anything the classes are a de-stressor, a way of escaping be it may for a couple of hours over the weekend. Can people with onerous jobs and professions do justice to a language? Why not? Such people have reached positions of responsibility by leading an organised, hardworking life. They have to drink, eat, wash, talk etc. it just takes a split second to dwell upon the words for the actions in our daily life in the foreign language we are learning and we have built a vocabulary, where stuck you quickly refer to an app on your phone and refresh your memory.

Learning a language with your partner can be a very fulfilling experience. Maybe you never had a classroom romance; here is a chance to have one with your own partner and if you had had a classroom courtship then it’s your chance to relive it. You get to spend time with each other away from your natural habitat, this could get rid of any indifference that has crept into your relationship, attending classes could give you common ground where common ground has been lost because you both have been in particular roles all your time together and some of those roles don’t exist anymore, for example your children have grown up and left the home or you have retired and find yourself at odds with yourself or each other. You will both have a sense of achievement for yourself and your partner and where one is better than the other a beloved tutor to help you out. A code language to communicate in and to whisper sweet endearments cara mia, mon amour, liebchen…

If you are a perfectionist then you will find time and make the effort to learn correctly, not for the marks as you would have done in your younger days but for your pride. If you are not, no problem, when you speak a foreign language no one is judging and if you make a blunder you may just get some strange looks or guffaws but nothing worse. For example, this English speaking lady once recounted to me that the entire month she travelled in Italy, eating at a restaurant almost twice a day she would confidently ask for ‘lo sconto per favore’ meaning to ask for the cash receipt, realising only after saying this about 50 times that she had been asking for a discount (lo sconto) rather than for the receipt (lo scontrino) and thus been subjected to some strange looks and demurs. My advise after a meal in a restaurant in Italy please ask for the “Bill please” – “Il conto per favore”!

And if you really put your foot in it, so what, you still couldn’t do worse than my mother’s “Mamma Mia, Papa Mafioso“ which she blurted out giving us momentary anxiety but an unforgettable adventure to laugh about for years to come.

My mother and I were at a restaurant in Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, she in a Sari, I on the other hand was dressed like any European. We had found the restaurant thanks to our guide book and had enjoyed a fantastic meal. When we asked for the “Bill” from the Major Domo / Maître d’/ Head Waiter he stopped for a chat. He asked if we were friends, annoying me as we were often asked this question and it never dwelled upon me that it could be that my mother looked much younger and not that I looked older, as I always took it. My mother responded that we were mother and daughter; he looked at us in utter disbelief and said ‘No impossibile’. A reaction we were accustomed to, especially from foreigners, my mother being of a more wheatish complexion to my sun kissed peaches and cream, we would often nonplus those who stereotyped skin colour based on nationality. My mother tried to explain that we come from a huge country with various different skin colours going from the palest white to the darkest brown but to no avail, he would have nothing of it. Finally my mother trying wittily, exclaimed “Mamma Mia, Papa Mafioso” meaning to say she is my mother and my father is from the Mafia, thinking that this should put an end to the inquisition. By now the other tables were also intent on our conversation and my mother’s makeshift Italian reverberated in the restaurant, pin drop silence ensued, images of scenes from the Godfather where real Mafiosos pulled out their guns at being slighted came to my mind. I whispered to my mother aghast “What have you said? Let’s run!” she replied matter of fact and fearless “We haven’t paid yet”. After a pause that felt like aeons my mother bravely renewed her request for the bill, the waiter remained deadpan but withdrew only to return with four other waiters, but thankfully not with a weapon, as my imaginative mind expected but with a bottle of Limoncello, a typical Italian liqueur made from lemons which I had hitherto never imbibed and pointed us out to the waiters repeating mother’s phrase, they and the other diners burst out laughing he toasted us with the Limoncello repeating “Mamma Mia, Papa Mafioso” still unable to get over the sheer cheek or wit of it.