Learn Basic Foreign Language Phrases for Travel
With Key Nouns and Verbs, Speak French, Spanish, Italian, More
Sep 16, 2009
People everywhere appreciate travelers who attempt to speak their language. Phrase books can be helpful, but are limited, and do not help users build language skills. Often phrase book translations are not word-for-word, making it is difficult to figure out which words are the nouns, verbs or other parts of speech. By learning some basic words travelers can become less dependent on phrase books, and engage more directly with the people they meet – grammatical errors and all. It can be a bit unnerving at first, but very rewarding too.
Begin Studying the Foreign Language Before Traveling
Native speakers, phrase books, language dictionaries, on-line language sites, and applications for phones and iPods are a good place to begin acquiring a specific vocabulary in a foreign language. Applications that let the learner hear, as well as read the words are best. The quality of programs vary, especially for non-European languages, but it is fairly easy to find useful programs, and many are free.
Focus on Just a Few Verbs of the New Language
In addition to learning the basic courtesy words like hello, good-bye, please and thank you, and command words like stop, yes and no, it is very useful to learn the present and past tense forms of a handful of verbs in the target language. The most necessary verbs are:
- To be (some languages, have two "to be" verbs – one indicating location, such as "I am home," and another indicating state of being, such as "I am lonely.")
- To have
- To go
Develop a List of Useful Nouns in the Target Language
After mastering at least the present tense form of these verbs, begin collecting a list of useful nouns to go with them. Consider words for food, drink, transportation, and services like internet cafés, banks and post offices. Then try piecing together nouns and verbs to make some basic phrases and sentences.
Learn the Interrogatives and Add Modal Verbs for More Fluency
Travelers can greatly expand their ability to communicate by learning the question words, who, what, when, where, and the basic way to form a question. Add some modal verbs like would and could, for more flexibility.
Travel With Photos as a Conversational Aid
An important aspect of traveling is getting to know people in other countries and cultures. Lack of language doesn’t have to be a barrier. Before leaving home, prepare a small booklet of 10 to 15 personal photos likely to have universal appeal. Include photos of:
- family members, especially children and pets
- celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or major holidays
- recreational and leisure time activities like hiking, biking, playing ball games, etc.
- scenes from home doing ordinary things like gardening, cooking, playing
Learn simple phrases to describe each photo. As a bare minimum, use a possessive pronoun and a noun can get the idea across. For example: my garden, my grandparents, our Christmas tree. Don’t be afraid to pull out the photos and share them. People are curious about visitors, especially in small towns or remote areas, and pictures are a great ice breaker.
Learning a rudimentary vocabulary allows travelers to use a bit of the local language and to have some flexibility in forming phrases. Most residents in host countries appreciate any attempt to use their language, and when that language is added to a few hand gestures, smiles, and a bit of good-natured laughter, communication happens.
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