Let’s Talk: A Clever Means to Bridge Language Boundaries

let's talk
The 'Let's Talk' shirt inspired a couple of Japanese girls to (at the very least) snap a picture next to this traveler

For those traveler who find themselves too shy to kick-off a conversation in a language that they’re not fluent in, or for those that are outgoing enough to wear their native tongue on their sleeve (quite literally), Let-s-talk has taken a nifty concept and fashioned it into reality.

By wearing the phrase “Do you speak English?” broadly on the front of a shirt, an American in Moscow invites a native speaker to engage them in conversation just as long as the reader speaks English.

But here’s the trick: the phrase will be written in Russian. The idea is that if a native speaker reads ‘Do you speak English’ in their own language, they are more likely to talk with the wearer of the shirt. Clever? We think so.

Let’s Talk originated with the goal of making it easier to meet people around the world in mind. But one important question was raised. How does a foreigner get in contact with people when they don’t speak the same language?

The answer is simple. Let them know which language would allow you to communicate with them.

And what better way than by wearing a t-shirt on which the following message is printed “Hello!  Do you speak English/Spanish/German/Chinese/Japanese …. ?”etc. The shirt can be printed with around 200 different languages to choose from.

This message is written in the language of the country where you plan to go and says which language you can speak,
for example : “Bonjour!  Parlez-vous anglais” (A shirt in French for those traveler’s that speak English).

It’s especially fun if you’ve got a penchant for potentially perilous conversation and won’t easily blush at so openly proclaiming oneself a stranger to a foreign land.

Visit the site and make your own Let’s Talk shirt.