A photo book or a world map on the wall: you can create a memory of your world travels in many ways. But this is how you do it as a language and book lover.
The number one thing to collect is children’s books in the local language. I don’t have the ambition or the hope that I will someday read them all. But if I collect books meant for kids there is a small chance that I can.
While it is hard to learn many languages from scratch to the level where you can read adult novels, the learning curve for children’s books is not as steep.
Start of a habit
I started buying children’s books in different languages when I enrolled in the Celtic Languages and Cultures Bachelor program at Utrecht University. This kickstarted my interest in languages.
On my next holiday to Hungary I bought a grammar book, a dictionary and the second book of Harry Potter, because Hungarian interested me very much as one of the non-Indo-European languages in Europe. In the month after my trip, I translated the first page of the book before the new university term started and I focused on other languages again.
But my interest in language books stayed and I hoarded many language related books.
A few years later I started to buy children’s books as a travel souvenir.
I always look for a certain type of book and I often find it very easy to find what I am looking for. In these cases, it is like I get drawn to the right book. But on a few occasions, I find the right book in the last bookstore I try before giving up.
How to find the perfect book?
Theme
My number one condition is that it has to show something of the culture of the country I am visiting.
Amount of text
If I visit a country with a language I can’t read, I stick to books with lots of pictures and only a few sentences a page. The more likely I am to learn a bit of the language, the less text it contains, as to not discourage myself. If I am seriously interested in the language, I will buy books for different reading levels.
Beauty
Sometimes I consider it very unlikely that I will ever read the book and then I’ll go for the one that is most beautiful or unique. What is considered beautiful is very personal, but for me it is a combination of the art style and the use of colors. Sometimes I go for minimalism, but at other times I prefer colorful and clownish. Uniqueness is for me in the form and material of the book. I have a fine example from Malaysia with a pink cover and glitters.
Some books just have a ‘Wow’-factor. I get happy whenever I look at them. These are instant buys of course.
Sentimental value
As a Harry Potter fan, I was on a Harry Potter gathering streak for some time. Meaning I have Harry Potter books in Dutch, English, Welsh, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean and Norwegian. Not the complete series of course, just one of the books.
I also bought The Rainbow Fish, which was one of my favorites as a kid. The Rainbow Fish, Harry Potter, Wise Child, and Juniper are the books I’m gonna keep to read with my future kids no matter what.
Though now I am hardpressed to buy the illustrated edition of Harry Potter to provide a better experience (and because they look nice).
As a learning resource
If I have a basic command of the language, I will buy a more advanced book. I can easily read books in Dutch and English and rather comfortably in German and French. With a dictionary I can read books in Spanish and Korean, the first way quicker than the second. I think I could read books in the Scandinavian languages if I read up on the basic grammar and as long as there is furigana for the Kanji I can read a bit of Japanese manga and books for young children.
Challenges
- When the local language is not spoken enough or reading resources in another language are more common. This was a challenge in Malaysia (Malay), Finland (Sami) and Morocco (finding a book in the Berber language). That doesn’t mean that the offer of books in these languages is low, but rather that they are not sold in places I visited as a tourist.
- When most children’s books are translations of books that are well-known internationally. Sometimes it is really hard to find a book with a story taking place in the country you’re in.
End of a habit?
With the increase of online resources, I buy fewer physical books. I still buy books in countries I have never been to, but only if the cultural aspect is very prominent in the book’s story. Part of the reason for this is that I am trying to conserve space: I’m gradually transitioning into a less storage heavy way of living.
The dictionary function on e-readers is the other part of the reason: it is easier to start reading if you can just select a word to get the translation. While the dictionary is not perfect – I can never find the German words I look up on my e-reader and hence end up not looking up any word, increasing my reading speed many times – it is great when you just start.
Plus so many resources are available online nowadays: they are up-to-date and often interactive.
The best souvenirs for language and book lovers
1) Children’s books in the local language (as described above)
2) Buy your favorite book in every language. A friend of mine does that for The Little Prince.
3) Grammar books and other language learning resources
4) Buy a book about your own country to learn more about how the country you’re visiting perceives your culture. I have comics about the Netherlands in Chinese and Korean. They’re really funny.
5) Posters with the local alphabet
6) Notebooks with language heavy covers (or just one very iconic word)
7) A t-shirt or cap for yourself or kids/cousins with text in the local language. Imagine the fun you can have walking around with a cap saying 대박 (“awesome!” in Korean). Especially when some of the people you meet don’t recognize the letters as an actual alphabet.
8) English translations (or another language you can read) of books that were written by an author born in the country you are visiting. Check out the best Korean and Japanese books with English translation for inspiration.
9) Practice your language skills in a shop or restaurant and create an unforgettable (and proud or perhaps embarrassing) memory
