First, phrasebooks seem to me to assume a certain sophisticated/technical mental state on the part of the traveler: somebody who is planning what he’s going to say before he leaves home. Phrases such as, ‘From which platform does the train for Zagreb depart?’ I’ve cobbled together a crib sheet of the phrases I need most, and they more closely represent the mental state of a 3-year-old than a Polish station agent:
I want (would like)…
I am looking for…
Where is…(the bathroom)?
Yes, no, water
How much…?
How do I…?
…this one/that one
I don’t understand
Do you speak English?
Beer (by brand, always: never use the word for beer)/wine (generic, typically, unless you’re south of Milan)
Salad/vegetables
Most phrasebooks contain these phrases, but you have to collect them from all over and write them on one page that you can use to memorize the prononciations and refresh. Then, phrasebook authors want you to get on well with the locals, so they do a good job with these next ones, encouraging formal usage so that the speaker will elicit a sympathetic response to a foreigner trying to muscle his way through a six-syllable, eight-dipthong phrase for ‘have a good day’.
Please/thank you
Excuse me/I’m sorry (likely the first phrase I use, anywhere: the first significant thing you do in a new country, unfortunately, is to disobey/disregard some rule/custom for which you need to apologize)
Good morning/afternoon/evening
Hello/hi
And there are a bunch of phrases that, when I read them, I just wonder at the astounding variety of people there are in the world:
Can you take our order now?
We haven’t been served yet
This isn’t what I ordered
The room isn’t clean
Reading these phrases I can’t help but picture a couple traveling together, having spent too long looking for the perfect restaurant, hungry to the point of irritation, shifting uncomfortably in their seats while they wait for their needs to be anticipated by someone for whom tips are not a significant income component. But there is a huge category of missing stuff that I haven’t even found regularly in Lonely Planet phrasebooks: these are the phrases that you learn if you have any interest in a place whatsoever. These are the phrases you learn once you’re done glaring at unresponsive waiters and getting into it with old ladies who muscle past you in line at the bakery. These are phrases that you would use if you were planning to stay longer than a few days.
I’ll have what he’s having
What’s this called?
How do you say…What’s your name? My name is…
You’re welcome (when in doubt try the word for ‘please’)
It’s very good
I’m content / happy
What’s your favorite? My favorite is…
You’re very kind
This last one I learned from my grandfather; it’s a magic phrase. The first time I heard him say it, we were getting cherry pie in a diner and I just sat back in wonder that such a simple phrase could be so powerful. It travels well.
