“It’s nice when they speak back to you in Chinese!” Insights into linguistic accommodation in language travel

Abstract

Linguistic accommodation is a topic as quotidian in tourism practice, as neglected in tourism literature. The purpose of this research note is to bring some insights into the nature of linguistic accommodation among a group of language travelers, using the lens of serious leisure (Stebbins, 1982). These travelers tend to have atypical patterns of linguistic accommodation, since they struggle to accommodate linguistically to locals, instead of expecting locals to accommodate to them. Although the struggle to accommodate may entail frustrations, it also leads to a sense of achievement.