Do You Speak English

One of the great things about travel is that you experience different ways of doing things -- this helps us all realise that there aren't right and wrong ways of doing things -- just different ways.To really experience different cultures, you have to make a bit of an effort and that can sometimes mean trying to learn to use the language of the country you're visiting. No-one expects you to be able to be fluent in a number of languages (even though I really, really wish I was) but practising some useful phrases before you go will help you when you get there and will be appreciated by those whose country you visit.Here are some sites to get you started on your multi-lingual journey:.Learn French: http://www.

frenchtutorial.com/
Spanish: http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm
Italian: http://www.eurocosm.

com/Eurocosm/learn-italian-GB.asp
German: http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/
and Japanese: http://www.japanese-online.

com/.Don't overlook the possibility of getting pen-friends to help you with language lessons. The Internet has made this a very pleasant prospect: http://www.world-pen-pals.com/.

The great thing about this BBC site is that it has audio versions of current news stories, so there's no excuse for any atrocious school pronunciations: http://www.bbc.co.

uk/education/languages/.You can also do an absolute beginners course online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages/french/talk/index.shtml and once you feel confident, progress to the intermediate level.

The courses come in three versions: video, audio or transcript - so there's no excuse!.This site helps with 70 languages, and all you do is indicate your native language then click on the flag of the language you want to learn to be taken to a beginner's course. Again, there's audio reinforcement, so you can learn how to speak like the locals speak: http://www.travlang.com/languages/.

And this site boasts over 790 languages: http://www.lonweb.org/ From Abkhaz to Zulu, Moldavian to Tulu, Ancient Greek to Urdu - it's all here.

So if you can't find what you need, you must be planning a holiday in another galaxy!.

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By: J M Stewart