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Kinda opposite here.

Damicci

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Got a friend in Fukuoka who wants to visit. but she doesn't speak much english. I figure I can prectice with her until next year when she wants to visit and maybe she'll get better. But has anybody had the experience of coming to the US and not knowing exactly how to get from gate to gate to transfer planes? she would be stopping in either SF or LA but she will havwe to go through Customs which I am sure will be scary for her. Only other option would be for me to go pick her up in japan >_< --> $_$.

Any ideas Comments experience or tips.
 
I haven't traveled recently, so I don't know how much of a pain customs are right now, but I didn't speak or understand much English at all when I first went to overseas and didn't have any problems going through customs. It made me a little nervous at first, but I just watched how people in front me(who were also Japanese tourists) carefully and did pretty much the same thing.

For transferring, it shouldn't be so hard that you would have to go to Japan instead, especially if she flies on the Japanese airlines. LA airport is pretty big, so she should read the signs well to not get lost there.
 
Yeah, it's certainly big. I had to transfer from one airline to another there, and it was a bit of a pain (there was a long walk involved that included crossing the parking lot).

I guess if she knows how to recognize where she's coming from and where she needs to be in English then she should be good to go for the most part. If you could it would be a good idea for you to learn her itinerary so that you can smooth out any trouble spots for her before she leaves, like making sure she knows how to ask how to get where and understand the answer. If her English reading comprehension is good, then she should be alright, like Misa said, but it's always better to make sure she knows exactly where she needs to be ahead of time to avoid any confusion and a possible missed flight. Trust me, those aren't fun.
 
Make sure there is enough time to transfer flights. She'll have to retrieve luggage, go through customs, then re-check it to her next plane. All she really has to know for customs is that she isn't importing anything, and doesn't possess any restricted items. Finding the gate is a simple matter of asking anyone that looks official where to find Gate #. SFO might be a better choice (or a direct flight) since I find that airport to be easier to navigate than LAX.
 
Erm, don't worry at all Damian, there will be so many Japanese in her airplane who will definitely will help her Saw it before, they even asked me for info ^^"
 
The smartest thing she could do is ask a ticket agent or something. She should be able to tell the gate though. But yeah... LAX is huge... I wouldn't want to go through there by myself for the first time in a foreign country.
 
If she's flying into LAX I'd say she could ask one of the flight attendants for help; they are pretty much guaranteed to speak Japanese. At the very least they could point her in the direction of an information center that can direct her to the right gate.

Or she could bone up on some basic phrases like
"excuse me, I don't speak english but I need to find gate XX... could you help me?"
"I'm lost"
"I'm trying to get to flight XXX to (destination), could you show me the way?"
Anyone working at the airport will probably be able to help.
 
I think SFO and LAX have a lot of Japanese going through their gates, and she probably will be able to get a lot of help from other Japanese and airport personnel, like RockLee said.

If she's worried, why not make a written list of English sentences and phrases that she can use, like the ones nice-gaijin-san mentioned, showing the list and pointing to the sentence she wants to say to other people?

Also, she can get one of those translator gadgets for travelers. It is quite effective for very simple phrases.

Speaking Translator for Travelers
 
I recently had an English contractor come out to Japan to do some short-term work for me. I made him a 'cheat sheet' of Japanese phrases in large type, with the equivalent English written underneath, similar to that mentioned above. He could scan down the list until he found the English phrase he wanted, hold it up to a local and point to the Japanese written above it, which they could then read. Stuff like "Could you direct me to the shuttle bus for Haneda?" or "I need to get flight number XXX to Sapporo - could you direct me to the check-in desk?".

At the top it had written something like, "I do not speak any Japanese, so I am grateful for any assistance you can offer me."

He said it worked a treat.
 
You guys rock. The cheat sheet is brilliant. I am havingher speak to me only in english for the next two months so she can practice. Thanks again guys.
 
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