I plan on going abroad in the coming year & want to know enough of the local language to ask basic things. Does anyone know something like 100 or 250 words that I could memorize to get across basic ideas & questions? I don’t care about being grammatical correct just enough to cave man speak during my time there.
Okay.
Toki Pona has 137 words. So that.
The invention of language made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
what is six times nine999999
You didn’t mention the language, it will be hard for people to answer.
It’s something quite personal. Visualize your day to day at your destination, what kind of situations and needs will you encounter, and jot down the words that you need to construct the sentences you’ll need.
You might want to supplement your list with something like a visual dictionary.
I strongly recommend not talking to other humans, it never ends well. Have you considered a cat?
Zero.
Communication doesn’t need to be written or verbal. Body language can effectively convey almost all basic human needs and wants.
Instructions unclear. Got my ass kicked due to cultural body language differences.
You know what you did
The minimal amount of words to communicate is 0.
If you want to be functional in a new country, you’d need to figure out what kinds of things you want to say and how functional you want to be.
- Hello, Bye
- Thank you
- Excuse me
- Sorry
- Do you speak [your native language]? [Native Language] please?
- Where is …
- Check in?
- The bill?
- How do I get to…?
- I am from… [your country’s name in the foreign language]
- Yes/No
- How do you say [word] in [foreign language]?
- The bathroom?
- the hospital?
- the hotel?
- Help me!
- Emergency!
- Payphone? Portable charger? ATM?
- Taxi stand, Bus stop, Train Station?
- Restaurant/Eatery?
- Water, Food, [Your dietary restrictions]
- More/Less, High, Low, Left, Right, Up, Down
I’d add to this list:
That’s too expensive! Cash price? Stop here! Speak slowly, please.
And any words you might need to relate a dietary restriction: no meat, no dairy, no shellfish, no gluten.
I try to learn the following sentences in the language of a country I go to if I don’t know anything at all about that language:
- Hello, as polite as possible
- Goodbye, as polite as possible
- A beer please
- I’m sorry I don’t speak <language>: do you speak English?
I find this quite enough to strike up a conversation in most of the world. When people don’t automatically switch to English - perhaps because they don’t know it well enough - then I try another “universal” language like Spanish or French (universal mostly because of past colonialism, sadly). That implies speaking those languages of course.
If the locals won’t speak English because of a prejudice against English (mostly French-speaking regions) I don’t even bother with the “I’m sorry…” bit. I just let them figure out by themselves that conversation is going to be difficult.
If the locals are anti-Americans - very common, and getting more and more common - I affect a British accent. I wouldn’t fool a Brit for a New York minute but I’m convincing enough for a non-native English speaker to avoid being associated with the US.
I affect a British accent
Lower-effort life hack: wear a Canadian maple leaf prominently. Put a patch on your bags, get a baseball cap, wear a t-shirt. Project “Canadian” any way you can.
Canadian is much easier, because you don’t have to fake an accent.
I would. As much as I’ve tried, I can’t lose the Texan accent, I hate it because that’s totally not how I sound in my head.
Ez pz, you’re from Alberta. It’s the Texas of Canada.
but I’m convincing enough for a non-native English speaker to avoid being associated with the US.
That’s fucking brilliant.
The thing is, do you want to talk to people, or understand the answers? Because learning a few phrases is great but if you can’t understand the answers :shrug:
My standard basic phrases are Please; Thank you; Excuse me; I’m sorry; Where’s the bathroom?; and I’m a vegetarian. It’s not elegant, but it covers my most basic needs.
For places I want to go, I have a list in the local language that I can point to, and I learn the basics of written language so I can navigate (maps, store signs, menus, etc). I also watch TV in whatever the language is before I leave, preferably with English subtitles (sometimes that’s a local program, othertimes it’s a US or UK show dubbed into the local language).
I plan on going abroad in the coming year
See world. Oceans. Fish. Jump. China.
Depends
Great game to play with friends using a limited vocabulary
For many European languages and some non-European ones there is the CEFR, so you could look for an “A1” or “A2” level language course in whatever you want to learn. They aim to establish exactly this basic level of communication.
