I’ve done it in Arabic, Lao, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese. I gained language functionality in these foreign tongues with minimal, yet consistent, easy effort. Functional isn’t conversational. Functionality is using practical words for ordinary situations. Here we’re reminded to learn hello
Tag: language
On foot in Panama City, I ordered a fruit shake from a drive through window. I was charged for, and got four huge shakes in styrofoam cups. I thought my Spanish was functional. I was on a tight budget, yet had no choice
When drifting in a land not one’s own, it behooves a visitor to take time to think about why learning numbers abroad is a great idea, along with the phrase: How much? Some vagabonds will disagree, as I’ve observed the majority assume that
After virtual teleportation up and across the grand globe, and finally touching down in Southeast Asia’s humongous hub of Bangkok, I was unsurprisingly bombarded with the Thai language. Bangkok is a city of around 15 million people, so there’s no shortage of eavesdropping
If I travel to England or Ireland and look at the signs and names around, I can often remember something without giving it much thought as these are the same names or labels I grew up with in Massachusetts. However, a person who
Imagine traveling to sultry South America, somewhere near its northernmost tip. The climate, geography, way-of-life and language are different; yet it is a tropical wonderland in the backyard of the USA’s southeast. It can be reached in under three hours from the Florida