When I was doing some training with the SAS, we met up and were eagerly speaking to each other in a little bunch like GIs do, maybe 3 or 4 of us and 3 or 4 of them, when suddenly the Scottish one spoke, we Americans had no idea of what he was saying and looked to the Englishmen to translate, but one of them just looked back at us knowing why we were looking at him and said, “don’t ask us, we can’t understand them either”.
Early on we made a rule: if, after you ask the local to repeat himself twice after the initial query and you still can't translate into the human, just say "thank you" and move on to the next local.
I proposed to fiance on top of Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK. I am glad I had a map because if I had to rely on the local populace for directions, our frozen bodies would still be buried in snow on that large hill.