Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown offers language tip

The Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown held court Saturday to a standing-room-only crowd and took questions for a full hour at the L.A. Times Travel & Adventure Show in downtown Los Angeles.

Her major destination this year: Japan, specifically Kyoto, but other spots as well. And yes, it will all be filmed as part of her Travel Channel journeys.

Some of her comments during the session were common sense, others were slightly more nuanced.

Here’s an example: Most travelers at some point pose the question, “Do you speak English?” She points out that this may be construed as a challenge or a put-down.

Better to show a little of your own vulnerability rather than putting someone else on the linguistic spot.

Brown suggests maybe saying, in a kind voice: “No Spanish — English?”

We like the subtle shift that’s a reminder for all of us to be a little more gracious. Thanks Samantha.

— Mary Forgione, L.A. Times staff writer

[Photo: Samantha Brown in China. Natalie Behring/Travel Channel]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 1:21 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under Asia, Celebrity, China, Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.