English language experience in Morocco and Korea

[albatross710]

We are making our own travel plans in Seoul & Morocco. I'm now exploring the success of travelling as English language travellers in so far as taxis, shops, restaurants.

We are staying in Myeongdong, Seoul and the Medina of Marrakesh.

I'm assuming airport arrival will be fine. Anyone have comments on

Seoul train to city : finding way around the transit system in english
Seoul street taxis and/or Ubers?
Non-tourist shops and restaurants?


In Morocco, how are the taxi with English? Is there Uber or equivalent?
shops and restaurants?

Jut gathering my thoughts and plans as to how much preparation I need to do.

 

[algae]

I'm also very curious about the English experience in Morocco, and Marrakech in particular.

Following out of interest .....

 

[AIRwin]

I've been to Japan but not Korea (except for a few hours outside GMP) so would also like to know...

 

[Matt_01]

I posted limited detail about Seoul here I do not speak word of Korean and found no trouble in using the trains, getting around or ordering food also I did not use taxis or uber. I stayed at The Plaza which is basically in the same area as you are staying and there are number of places that are worth seeing and within walking distance, venturing out to other areas is also not difficult. I cannot remember if the train lines are color coded but it was easy to get around, and I am pretty sure I did not use any apps, just the odd look at the maps on my phone. Also from memory most places I went to did have english signs and english speakers.

 

[drron]

When we visited Seoul 35 years ago we used the trains a lot and had no problems with english as our only language. you would think it wouldn't have got worse since then.
They of course they have thousands of english speakers living in Seoul but they do have an American accent.

 

[jboy90]

Seoul is fine, particularly where you’re staying. Have been before and with only English, it’s no problem.

Have also been to Morocco. You’ll be fine in Marrakech as it’s a very tourist catered for city. A few words of French might be useful, but I managed to have a brilliant time with just English. Don’t miss the gardens there!

 

[Danger]

I was last in Morocco last May. You should have no problem with English.

There is a local rideshare operators whose name escapes me. However, I think they operate to some extent with fear for their lives given taxi operators treat them with disdain. I took the train into the city from Casablanca airport and couldn't get a driver to collect me from the station, despite several accepting (and charging me for) the rides. On departing the Hyatt Regency, I booked a rideshare again, but couldn't get one to actually come into the grounds of the hotel. I think getting a ride from outside a local restaurant or a far less tourist hotspot shouldn't be a problem.

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I had a feeling Seoul would be absolutely fine. Morocco will be fun I'm sure as we hope to push out a little.

As a BTW, I find that the Nemo series of language apps on iPhone has helped me previously for trips to Italy, Philippines and Spain.

I've downloaded the french and arabic which I'll use as I'm driving around Brisbane over the next 6 weeks. (Once you get the hang of the way the app works it's consistent across the languages. )

 

[Princess Fiona]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I had a feeling Seoul would be absolutely fine. Morocco will be fun I'm sure as we hope to push out a little.

As a BTW, I find that the Nemo series of language apps on iPhone has helped me previously for trips to Italy, Philippines and Spain.

I've downloaded the french and arabic which I'll use as I'm driving around Brisbane over the next 6 weeks. (Once you get the hang of the way the app works it's consistent across the languages. )

English not widely spoken in Seoul IME amongst taxi drivers.

I don’t speak a word of Korean though and I survived

 

[RooFlyer]

I have visited Morocco three times, and have travelled widely there, including well into country areas.

Didn't use taxis or Ubers, but in larger shops restaurants and hotels in the 'tourist' cities, you can usually get by with English and pointing. In remote areas, it would be pointing and signing French of course is the main language outside of Arabic; if you have some French, use that first.

I'd be happy to answer other questions on Morocco, but for now I would venture that Casablanca is, on the whole, a hole and taxis etc at the airport are a rabble. Ditto at Rabat airport (although the airport has since been redeveloped). Marrakesh is great. A TR here. with some travelling tips here.

 

[henleybeach]

English not widely spoken in Seoul IME amongst taxi drivers.

I don’t speak a word of Korean though and I survived

Agree! We struggled with taxis in Seoul, no one spoke an ounce of English

 

[Black Duck]

Seoul - trains are easy with quite a lot of English signage. Buses a little harder and not much English in taxis but there are specific English speaking ones you can book if necessary. That said in 6 trips to Korea I have always managed just fine. I do take the time to get a destination written in Korean but these days the translation apps are pretty good. Get the "Papago" app which is very good. You can write or speak in English and it will come up in Korean as a conversion which another person can answer and you will get the english version of what they have said. Not prefect but the best I have found and my Korean friends think it is more accurate than google or others. Even google is fairly accurate now.

A lot of the younger people speak at least some English too. I haven't checked lately to see if it still works but there was also a phone number for tourists to ring and they will explain what you need to the person you are with.

Myeongdong has a lot of tourist as does nearby Insadon and Jongno so more English will be spoken there.

I have been able to manage all over the country as well without too much problem. Heading back in a couple of weeks and my Korean is still sadly minimal.

As for Marrakech, I don’t know what it's like now but I was there in the mid 70's and there was sufficient English to get by. If you speak French it would help. I survived despite being a very young women travelling only with another young lass. We did rather stand out at that stage especially as my friend had very long red hair.

 

[albatross710]

Marrakesh is great. A TR here. with some travelling tips here.

Thanks for the TR. looks exciting.
Thanks for other tips Black Duck

 

[Scarlett]

We stayed in Riads in Marrakech and there wasn’t much English used: got by with very basic French. Very basic!

On arrival into RAK we just jumped into a local taxi and give the name of our riad in the old town, which in hindsight was probably not too smart. It was night time and the taxi wasn’t allowed to access the centre (walled old town) so after paying the driver at one of the main entry points we figured we’d walk. This was before ubiquitous smart phones and cheap data so didn’t know the exact route, but I’m a male with the usual exaggerated sense of direction so there wasn’t going to be an issue!

What I didn’t foresee was the pack of kids who had snatched up our luggage and had briskly moved off down some dark alley before you could even say boo! I’m pretty certain the driver had told them the name of our riad, so I figured they were ‘helping us’ rather than robbing us. We tried to follow but lost sight of them at some point. From my superior geographical sense I had figured it would be a five minute walk from the city gate to the riad. At the ten minute point and still travelling through dark alleys I was starting to get somewhat nervous, but istr we came to a door after some back and forth walking and were directed to our riad close by. Kids had delivered our bags and wanted some exorbitant amount of money: I gave them maybe the equivalent of a couple of dollars and indicated that was that. I recall there was some commotion, but I just told (maybe intimated might be more correct) the staff member who’d let us in that was all they were getting and he could tell the kids whatever he wanted and we walked inside. I figure it was probably a routine scam of taking you on some circuitous and longer route to make it seem like you should pay more…

Also, we had a meal on the balcony of a cafe overlooking Jamaa-el-Fnaa square which was blown up about a month after we were sitting exactly there, soooo, whilst a nice place to wander about with cheap food, good golf courses, and spectacular Atlas Mountains to visit and walk around, it’s not all roses.

Oh and another thing, we were booked to go on a dawn hot air balloon ride over the city and Palmeraie, but it got cancelled the afternoon before because the King was going to be flying in and the airspace around the city was closed.

 

[albatross710]

Oh and another thing, we were booked to go on a dawn hot air balloon ride over the city and Palmeraie, but it got cancelled the afternoon before because the King was going to be flying in and the airspace around the city was closed.

thanks for the tales. We have an 11:50pm arrival so we've asked for the hotel to arrange the pickup. Looking forward to the adventure

 

[Seat0B]

thanks for the tales. We have an 11:50pm arrival so we've asked for the hotel to arrange the pickup. Looking forward to the adventure

We did exactly this when staying at a Riad in Marakech a couple of years back. On the first morning, they escorted us into the souk and Jemaa Al Fna and pointed out the route and key land marks so we could navigate. Did not get lost once after that. When we went back to the airport to leave , we had the riad arrange a car and driver for us. No idea if we paid too much for that, it was cheap enough that we did not care. We also got them to arrange us a car and driver for a day trip to the High Atlas Mountains. Spectacular. Took us to Berber marketplace, several local restaurants and ordered for us, a widows’ olive oil collective and two carpet places where we actually bought a woven bedspread that we use as a table cloth. We ate every night in the market at stalls sharing tables with local families. Oh it was magic. English of varying standards was widely spoken and we were able to do everything we wanted with English and a bit of (ancient) French.



in the souk in the medina


Courtyard of our Medina. Also had a roof top dining area



on our trip to high Atlas.

No requirement to wear a headscarf. After listening to owner of our riad (French guy with Moroccan wife) I chose to when out and about - he said that it will assist in avoiding unwanted attention and provides a buffer of personal space in crowds that women may enjoy. He was totally right. We went in a lot of crowds especially in souks and other markets, and I was not touched, bumped or jostled even once.

 

[albatross710]

Thanks for the info @Seat0B. Just a two weeks now until we depart Aus.

 

[Seat0B]

Thanks for the info @Seat0B. Just a two weeks now until we depart Aus.

Ooh exciting. You’ll have a great time I’m sure.

 

[albatross710]

Things went really well on our stay in Morocco. Can recommend it as a place to visit and very glad we went. These days English passed in all of the places we stayed and visited, Marrakech, Atlas Mountains and Fes. By the end of the time in Fes we had found ourselves a place where we were the only guests in a Riad, more like staying in a family's spare room. In the local restaurant we frequented the last night we were given a table in the kitchen.

For communications, my AU roaming plan only gave inbound SMS service. I easily picked up a local Maroc telecom SIM at a street vendor and for 10dh/GB I paid for 5GB more than enough for my stay, so about $AUD7.50.

We travelled by train from Marrakech to Fes. Purchased tickets online through the ONCF official website. Service was on time all the way.

I'll include a few random pics here, more for the reminiscing of Morocco travellers.



The Moroccan bread is now a favourite.



Any meat can be skewed and served with chips and rice. These were some spicy and tasty sausages.


My first tagine of meet balls and an egg. Very nice.
Each riad prided itself in presentation. This family run riad was on it's game.



It is difficult to describe the Marrakech main square at night. Exciting, overwhelming, addictive, entrancing.

 

[Seat0B]

We loved the Riads, the variety of breads and flat breads, and the atmosphere at Jemaa al F’ naa very much too. We have another visit to Morocco on our hit list.

So glad your trip went well.

edit for spelling