How do non-English speakers navigate through international airports (specific question about Amsterdam)
A relative will visit me in Amsterdam. She does not speak English or any other major language, nor has much experience with air travel. How do people in similar situations find their way?
She will arrive with a flight from outside the Schengen area, but she does not need a visa for EU. The airline is from her country, so until landing there will be no language barriers. However, afterwards, I don't know how will she find her way to the passport control (and talk with the officer), and so on. Schiphol is an easy airport to navigate, but still difficult for someone who is not used to airports and air travel, and without the knowledge of a major language.
What am I supposed to do? Does the airport organise assistance in such cases?
I will be waiting outside after the customs, but as far as I know there is no way for me to go "any closer" than that.
Best Answer
I started writing a comment, but it became a bit much. And it contained several suggestions that fit as an answer.
If your guest owns a phone, she can call you as soon as she lands, and you can guide her through the whole procedure of getting out of arrivals. Sure, she needs a phone contract that allows for roaming.
Can she read Latin script? If so, either of you, on the phone, can spell out signs.
Is your guest not blind? She can carry, on paper, a few notes on what signs to follow. An arrow should be recognizable whatever language she speaks, so all she needs is a note that reads 'Arrivals' and 'Passport control'. Related to this, the pictogram of a piece of luggage is widely used to direct arriving passengers.
She's arriving in a plane from her country, so the airline staff can be expected to speak a language she also speaks. She can tell the staff she does not know what to do when disembarking, and it is likely that staff will ask for some kind of assistance for her once off the plane.
You could of course also game the system by requesting the need of a wheelchair. I would be surprised if not someone would be with her all the way through picking up her luggage.
(And, as was also pointed out in the comments, whenever I fly to an obscure destination in some obscure country, following the crowds is pretty much always the surest bet.)
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Does Amsterdam airport have English signs?
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More answers regarding how do non-English speakers navigate through international airports (specific question about Amsterdam)
Answer 2
Also you could arrange "special assistance" upfront with the airline, this is usually for handicapped or elderly people and they will wait with a wheelchair at the gate for her but they will guide her through everything.
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