Language barriers can be a real struggle when traveling. But never fear， Japan has a clever solution for its English-speaking visitors.

Officials in the Iwate Prefecture have developed a lineup of tourism signs that display about menu choices， payment options and locker room etiquette in simple， illustrated form.

The signs are already on display around the city of Morioka， a regional development director， Takefumi Shimomukai， told The Japan Times. Theyre intended to make English-speaking tourists feel more welcome in the area， he added.

Twenty-six images are available for businesses to download online. Many of the signs have to do with dining. But they also provide advice for using onsens， Japans popular hot spring baths.

Shimomukai says they wanted to do something simple but fun to attract peoples interest. The area is less of a draw for foreigners than tourist centers like Tokyo and Kyoto， and communication troubles have made some locals unwilling to reach out to visitors. “Until recently some owners believed their profits from serving only locals were sufficient， and due to the language barrier， they may have left foreign visitors with a feeling that they were not welcome，” he says.

Slightly more hi-tech approaches to dealing with communication problems have been rolled out elsewhere in Japan， as the number of foreign visitors grows. A new app was trialed that translates rail announcements into a visitor's own language， and some regions offer 24-hour multilingual hotlines for advice on everything from finding a doctor to sending luggage home.

語言障礙是旅游中存在的一大困難。但是不用擔心，日本已經(jīng)為講英語的游客想出了機智的解決方案。

日本巖手縣推出了一系列旅游標志，以簡潔明了、圖文并茂的形式呈現(xiàn)菜品選項、支付方式以及更衣室禮儀等信息。

盛岡市發(fā)展負責人Takefumi Shimomukai對《日本時報》表示，該市正在使用這套標志。他們的目的是讓講英語的游客在這里有賓至如歸的感覺。

商家可以在線下載這26幅標志圖片。其中許多標志和用餐有關，但也有一些是關于使用日式浴池的建議，因為溫泉浴在日本非常流行。

Shimomukai表示，他們想要做一些簡單而有趣的事情來吸引游客。與東京和京都等熱門旅游城市相比，這里對外國人的吸引力較弱，而當?shù)厝艘驗闇贤▎栴}不愿意與游客接觸?！艾F(xiàn)在仍有些商家認為，他們只服務當?shù)赜慰途湍苜嵉阶銐虻睦麧?，而由于語言障礙問題，他們可能讓外國游客感到備受冷落?！彼a充道。

隨著外國游客數(shù)量的增長，日本其他地方也出現(xiàn)一些解決溝通問題的方法，這些方法更加的科技化。曾經(jīng)進行測試的一款新型應用軟件可以將地鐵公告翻譯為游客本國的語言。還有一些地區(qū)提供24小時多語種咨詢熱線服務，你可以尋問求醫(yī)、寄送行李回國等方面的建議。

Word Study

illustrate /'?l?stre?t/ v. 給……加插圖；闡明

She went on to art school and is now illustrating a book.

sufficient /s?'f??nt/ adj. 充分的；足夠的

These reasons are not sufficient to justify the ban.

trial /'tra??l/ n. & vi. 試驗；試用

Children learn to use computer programs by trial and error.

multilingual /，m?lt?'l??ɡw?l/ adj. 說（或用）多種語言的

He recruited two multilingual engineers.endprint