How to Communicate with International Visitors
Not all visitors who come to Northern Ireland are fluent in English. Non-native English speakers may need additional help in to participate fully in arts, culture and heritage experiences. Many international visitors will not be familiar with Northern Ireland’s geography or history.
This checklist may help you to communicate with visitors from overseas.
1. Adjust how you speak
Face-to-face staff should be trained to speak more slowly and distinctly and with more frequent pauses when addressing people who do not have English as their first language. Even if people are native English speakers, the regional accents of Northern Ireland may be unfamiliar.
2. Beware of assumed knowledge
Give explanations of Northern Ireland’s geography and history, keeping them as simple as possible. Use maps to show the locations of places that you refer to.
3. Give international context
Where possible include reference to other countries, especially the ones that your visitors are from.
4. Give a multilingual welcome
Being able to greet visitors in their own languages makes a powerful welcoming and hospitable impact.
5. Simplify your narrative
Visitors who are not native English speakers will find it easier to understand familiar words and short sentences with pauses between them. Avoid or explain colloquialisms.
6. Provide written words
Reading a foreign language is often easier than listening to it. Short texts, either in print or digital form, in frequently used English words and simply constructed sentences, can help people who are not completely fluent in English.
7. Translate key information
Providing translations into other languages can demonstrate your commitment and care for non-English speakers and add enormously to their experience.
8. Communicate visually
Images and objects enrich the experience and simplify explanations for everyone and are especially helpful for people with limited English.
9. Work with your group
One member of a group of non-English speakers is often more fluent and can act as interpreter. A guide should adapt to allow time for this, including in question-and-answer sessions.
DC Tours - History of Terror Tour
DC Tours have adapted their walking tour covering the history of The Troubles so they can sell it to overseas markets. They adapt the content for people with little or no background in Irish and British history. They have also enhanced their offer by collaborating with a native Spanish speaking tour guide who lives in Belfast.