The language of a country is one of the core parts of its culture. For this reason, it is natural to assume that speaking a country’s language can have a key role in understanding the culture. However, not knowing a language is not a big barrier in today’s world, where everyone has a translator app on their phones. Additionally many tourists, who are the main people interested in other cultures, hire native guides to help them learn more about the country and the culture in an accessible language.
From the creation of smartphones, people have always developed apps to help with everyday tasks, one of which is actually understanding and communicating in a non-native language. While still not allowing to speak fluently in another language, these translator apps can give tourists a big advantage when visiting a foreign country. They are a great means of communicating to the native population and, therefore, will give a better understanding of the culture itself.
Another big factor are the tour guides, who. When traveling abroad, to explore the cultures of different countries, many people choose to hire tour guides. Guides are well-educated people that know the culture and can translate their speech to international languages. These people are always there to help non-natives who might find it hard to understand another country’s culture by themselves. Therefore, the necessity to learn another language is eliminated.
In conclusion, while a country’s language has a big impact on its culture, nowadays it is not a big requirement in understanding the culture. Always having easy access to translating programs or hiring guides eliminates the need to learn a language.