Language barrier scuppers walker

Here's a story from a few months ago which recently came to my attention.

A man who planned to walk from Bristol to India without any money has quit, after getting as far as Calais, France.
Mark Boyle, 28, who set out four weeks ago with only T-shirts, a bandage and sandals, hoped to rely on the kindness of strangers for food and lodging.
But, because he could not speak French, people thought he was free-loading or an asylum seeker.
He now plans to walk around the coast of Britain instead, learning French as he goes, so he can try again next year.
Mr Boyle, a former organic food company boss, belongs to the Freeconomy movement which wants to get rid of money altogether.
Cold and tired
In his online diary at the start of his journey to Porbander, Gandhi's birthplace, he said he was given two free dinners on his first evening away in Glastonbury.
Later, he was joined in Dover by two companions, and the three managed to get to Calais.
But in one of his last entries, he wrote: "...not only did no one not speak the language, they had also seen us as just a bunch of freeloading backpackers, which is the complete opposite of what the pilgrimage is really about.
"That really scared us and given that we now were pretty much out of food, hadn't slept in days and were really cold, we had to reassess the whole situation."
Mr Boyle said he could not explain in words the disappointment he felt at abandoning the journey and he apologised to his supporters.
But he added: "Whilst walking in the UK, I intend to learn French and to hit the continent again as soon as we feel we are ready."
End

I am not quite sure what the moral of the story is here but, depending on his route, I guess Mark would have journeyed through many countries which do not speak English. The French are particularly stubborn when it comes to reaching out to non French speaking "tourists", but they are not alone. With hindsight, perhaps a LangCommLive dialcard would have been just the ticket! Bring in the Telephone Interpreter when the situation arises where understanding across languages is required.

www.langcommlive.com