Non Nationals or Foreigners
A brief question for english native speakers, I translated a couple of days ago a small sign with the entrance fees to a museum, there are two types of rates one for nationals and the other one (and here is where my question enters) for non nationals, i submitted it like that, but yesterday someone asked me which one was the right term, non nationals or foreigners, which one's the right one or more proper to use?it happens there too? oh well here in Guatemala, i saw it here. "foreign - nationals" I really started to wonder if writing "non nationals" might have come out all wrong, like rude you know. [to Jura, the previous additional detail was for chpr1] Latin America and third world countries have a tiny little detail... tourism represents the second biggest income for their economies, the first one is represented by the money immigrants send from the u.s and other first world countries, so given that situation tourists usually pay higher rates but not higher like "woah that's crazy expensive" but they do pay a little more and it usually benefits the community and the local people, i dunno about the rest of latin america but that's what happens here in G town.

Question

Non Nationals or Foreigners
A brief question for english native speakers, I translated a couple of days ago a small sign with the entrance fees to a museum, there are two types of rates one for nationals and the other one (and here is where my question enters) for non nationals, i submitted it like that, but yesterday someone asked me which one was the right term, non nationals or foreigners, which one's the right one or more proper to use?it happens there too? oh well here in Guatemala, i saw it here. "foreign - nationals" I really started to wonder if writing "non nationals" might have come out all wrong, like rude you know. [to Jura, the previous additional detail was for chpr1] Latin America and third world countries have a tiny little detail... tourism represents the second biggest income for their economies, the first one is represented by the money immigrants send from the u.s and other first world countries, so given that situation tourists usually pay higher rates but not higher like "woah that's crazy expensive" but they do pay a little more and it usually benefits the community and the local people, i dunno about the rest of latin america but that's what happens here in G town.

Answer

The term "non-national" is considered slightly more polite than "foreigner." People that don't speak English perfectly may not know that one is more polite and so it does not matter to them which is on the sign. The reason a museum in the USA would choose "non-nationals" is to make citizens feel more comfortable that the organization is more polite to people from other countries. This is especially true if there is a price difference, they are trying to assure the citizens that, even though other people pay more, the price is not meant to exclude "non-nationals." The reason a museum may choose to use "foreigners" is because it is a proper word, and the term "non-nationals" is something that has been invented because it sounds better.

Answer

In this case, I would suggest that you label the sign like this:
Regular Admission: ___
Discount Admission for Residents: ___

This way, the foreign visitors pay the regular fee, and the native Guatemalans pay a discounted fee, rather than there be one regular fee, and a higher one for visitors. This also makes it clearer because someone will know whether or not they are a resident, but might not know what category they fall in if they are labeled "non-nationals" or "foreigners" or "foreign-nationals" because that is such an uncommon term, and not something that is friendly to tourists.

Answer

I've seen signs like this in Russia.  (A two-tiered price system)

In which country did you see this sign?

Anyway in this instance, I prefer the term: foreign-nationals

Answer

Why are the entrance fees different in the first place? In Australia the entrance fees to museums, wild life sanctuaries and other tourist venues are the same price. for allThere is no 2 tiered system, nor any notices about foreigners/nationals.

Answer

si pones "turistas", queda mejor. me puedes explicar la referencia al catalan? jkn quiere decir joking?

Answers · 5

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