Things You Need To Know Before Travel To Asia
Travel To Asia – To avoid shock, going to Asia for the first time on an independent trip or on a voucher, it is worth learning about the features of this region. I am in no way advocating condemning a nation or putting one person above or below another. I just want you to be prepared for the fact that people in Asia are different. No better or worse than us. Just different.
So, we will talk about the mentality of the inhabitants of mainly the countries of Southeast Asia. States and cities such as Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the subject of a special conversation. In the meantime, I want to share the experience gained during my travels to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Burma. It partially extends to India and China.
Asian have their own English
You have probably already heard the tales of Internet teachers of English that in any country in Asia English is just like a second native language. In fact, in Southeast Asia and India, of course, a lot of people know English. But they have their own, specific. Another accent, which is quite difficult to understand from the unaccustomed. For example, sounds that are not in their native languages, they do not even try to pronounce.
And this applies even to English teachers who replace English sounds as they please. The article sounds like te or de. And the sound [t] is replaced by [s] in general it is not clear why. Can you imagine teachers doing this in Russia, even in some rural schools? And ordinary people twist their tongues as best they can! For example, my husband in Pattaya is called exclusively Malas, although in fact he is Marat. Yes, even the Thais do not pronounce the endings of the words: “light” they have is not “light”, but “bark”, “style” is not “style”, but “flock”, etc.
In addition, Asians have their own vocabulary in each country. All these English travel gurus will tell you that the stop will be a bus stop, the bus station will be a bus station, and the luggage storage will be a cloakroom. But you will be surprised to learn that in Asia, when you say these words, you will not be understood. About their grammar and ways of constructing phrases, I can still tell a lot of interesting things, but this is already a topic for a separate article.
Level of intelligence and education
The Asian famous phrase of the satirist Zadornov about Americans is more applicable to Asians. This means that you need to be prepared for the fact that the average level of education and intelligence of the average Asian is lower than that of an ordinary resident of Russia, Ukraine or Belarus. You could argue that there are smart and stupid people everywhere. Of course, this is true, but I am talking about the main mass, about the average temperature in the hospital. Try to ask a passer-by, a store clerk or an employee at the reception – most likely, by a confused look and a half-open mouth, you will understand that “the program caused an insurmountable error of the system.”
This is partly due to the level of education. Theoretically, of course, it is free and compulsory for everyone, but in practice, quality education is available only for money. And even in paid quality education, little attention is paid to subjects that develop logic. And it’s very noticeable.
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To some extent, the level of development of Asians is also explained by the lack of need to think, think, engage in self-development, and make a career. They are already doing well, they live almost in paradise. The risk of dying of hunger and cold without finding a job, there, as you understand, is minimal.
How does this manifest itself?
For example, you ask on the street how to go somewhere or how to find some landmark. Be prepared that the locals are not even aware of the existence of this attraction – simply because they are not interested in anything other than what concerns their lives directly. For example, in Thailand, people think in neighbourhoods. And everything that goes beyond the neighbourhood in which they live, work, go to the next shop, they don’t care much. Therefore, they may not even know where the street is located, running parallel to the one on which they live themselves.
Hence the carelessness of Asians. They may leave wooden furniture outside during the rainy season or not clean up after a picnic on the beach. Someone will be indignant: “What do they think, who should clean up for them?! What if it washes it all away at sea?!” and they don’t think so. Not used to it.
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The level of psychological age of the average Asian is a child or teenager. This is especially true of those with whom you will have to face most often – sellers, service personnel in the hotel, drivers. Their manner of dressing in all bright, colourful, decorating their vehicles, helmets, phones with cartoon characters and Hello Kitty seems to us naivety and lack of good taste. Treat them like children, and everything will immediately fall into place.
Asia Bad or good
By no means am I saying that this is bad or good. Sometimes we, serious Europeans, should learn something from Asians at least a part of their childlike spontaneity or ability to “not steam”.
In Asia, you won’t meet people reading on benches or on the subway, retirees playing chess or solving scanwords. There are very few bookstores, and the assortment in the language of the country there is very small.