With summer in full force, many will be preparing for summer trips abroad. When travelling with limited knowledge of the local language, learning a few phrases can go a long way in making a good impression, forging connections, and preventing any miscommunications. We’re going to take a look at some lessons gleaned from the television series Race Across the World, on how to connect with locals when you have a limited knowledge of the local language.
Race Across the World is a television series which sees pairs of contestants from different regions of the UK take part in a challenge to race from a specific starting point to a destination thousands of kilometres across the world, without the use of smartphones, and with only a restricted budget, a paper map, and limited knowledge of other languages. In this year’s series, teams travelled 12,000km from Palermo, Sicily, to Hatgal in Mongolia. Over several weeks, the teams had to travel to different checkpoint locations, deciding on the best routes and accommodation options while balancing speed and budget.
We’re going to take a look at how teams connected with locals in the extreme context of a race across two continents with limited resources or foreign language knowledge, for some inspiration on how to overcome language barriers when travelling abroad.
The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication
In Race Across the World, it is often by showing curiosity and openness to local customs and traditions that contestants form relationships. By actively participating in activities planned by hosts, trying new foods, sharing cultures, and expressing interest and thanks, contestants show appreciation for the welcome extended to them. The contestants were often invited to celebrations or dinners involving singing and dancing; universal forms of non-verbal communication that enable them to bond with others. A pair of friends from Liverpool witnessed traditional throat singing at a community hall in Mongolia, while a father and daughter team from County Derry sang a traditional Irish folk song while at dinner with their hosts in Kazakhstan. When faced with challenges negotiating transport or accommodation options and fares, the contestants often also had to use other non-verbal ways of communicating, like writing figures on paper, pointing at maps, or using physical gestures.
Bonding Over Familiar Cultural Reference Points
In one episode of the series in which a brother and sister team from Manchester stayed with hosts in Türkiye, one of the hosts connected with the contestants by sharing his own memories of the country, including showing the contestants a photo of a Tesco store on his phone. What is a mundane detail of daily life for the UK contestants is a curiosity for someone unfamiliar with the culture, and meaningful memory for the host. The team also bonded with a taxi driver and fellow passenger on a trip through Uzbekistan by mentioning the familiar cultural reference point of the Manchester United football team, with a playful exchange over their allegiance to rival Manchester teams.
Regional Slang
The friends from Liverpool bonded with local hosts in Kyrgyzstan when the host picked up on their use of the word “boss”; a slang term which they explained to their host means “very good”/ “really good”. In turn, the host taught the pair a local equivalent: “Bazar zhok”.
Navigating New Places
In Mongolia, the father and daughter team had booked a stay with local hosts for the following day in a location called Jargalant. However, it turned out that Jargalant is the name of multiple settlements, translating to “happy town”, and they ended up taking a taxi to Jargalant in the Arkhangai Province instead of the Khövsgöl Province, in a detour of several hours that forced them to stay overnight. When reading maps and navigating new places, local knowledge, such as knowing the customs surrounding place names, can be crucial to avoid ending up somewhere you hadn’t planned.
Knowing the Words for “Hello” and “Thank you”
Often, if nothing else, knowing the words for “hello” and “thank you”, together with an openness toward new cultures, can go a long way in showing warmth and politeness, making a positive impression on locals, and opening pathways to communication and connection.
If you’re curious to learn more about languages and localisation, you can check out our other blog posts here.
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26 June 2026 14:56