Communicating in Peru

I disagree with the statement made by the author of the article “Peru — Exploring Machu Picchu and Beyond” in the January ’09 issue. He stated, on page 24, “… most Peruvians speak little English, even those in the tourist industry.”

My wife and I visited Peru and Bolivia as part of a group in 2006. We stayed in modestly priced hotels and essentially were on our own for most meals. I can speak and read some Spanish but by no means am fluent, and my wife speaks very little Spanish.

In Lima we stayed in the upscale Miraflores area but at a very modest hotel. Some of the help spoke reasonably good English.

I went to the beach by climbing down a very steep stairway and noticed a sign in Spanish on the roadside indicating that cell phone use was prohibited. I wondered why and thought that a policeman patrolling the beach might answer my question. His English was about as good as my Spanish, but we had a good discussion about the sign, also finding out where each other was from. (By the way, the road is curvy and so cell phone use makes driving dangerous.)

Later my wife and I went to a drugstore and then a grocery store, where we found a number of people who spoke English. Of the five restaurants we visited, only one had people who spoke little English, and that was in an area mainly visited by locals.

In Cusco, a very busy local restaurant had only one waiter who spoke reasonably good English, but all the stores we visited, even small ones, had people who spoke English. Even the little kids on the street trying to sell things were able to get out the right English words.

Aguas Calientes is very much a tourist town, so English was not usually a problem; we did find some stores where the proprietors spoke little English, though they were able to understand many English words.

A middle-aged woman who sold crafts in one store spoke little English; still, she was able to communicate well and even chastised us for having only two children and two grandchildren. She was even able to accurately communicate some of the local history that was not talked about in the tour books. And we liked her cats.

I could go on about Machu Picchu guides speaking excellent English and about all of the people speaking some English in the tourist spots surrounding the Sacred Valley, but you get my message by now.

Learn some of the language of the country you are about to visit and don’t be afraid of trying to use it. The local people appreciate it. Besides, it’s fun!

JIM STREATOR

Claypool, IN