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We went to France 4 years ago so prior to that I was learning basic French.

Last October we went to Rome so prior to that I learnt basic Italian.

Three weeks ago we went to Germany for a week so prior to that I brushed up on my German which I knew quite a lot anyway.

I know a little Spanish but that is all.

All of my efforts paid off when in the various countries, I found that if you had a go, not only did the locals appreciate it, but it was fun as well and I found the Germans to be the most polite and curteous of people which was a pleasant surprise.

On one occasion recently in Germany I asked someone for directions in German and they both looked at me confused and said in their broadest Norfolk that they weren't local. I said in my broadest Whittlesey that I'm not local either. They actually came from 25miles down the road.

John H 

12 years ago when I was fresh out of school I could hold a halfway decent basic conversation in French.  I have forgotten so much!

When I last visited, 2 years ago I found it took me a week and a bit to feel it coming back enough to dare to ask for things - but I was there with my mum who's always been a better linguist than me and I kind of let her take over!  This summer it's just my partner and I going independently for the first time and I'm the closest we have to a French speaker between the pair of us.  We're both trying to brush up on vocab so we can scrape by and I'm just keeping everything crossed that it goes well.  Ah well, it'll be fun trying to remember!

Quote: Originally posted by Leoba on 06/7/2007

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12 years ago when I was fresh out of school I could hold a halfway decent basic conversation in French.  I have forgotten so much!

When I last visited, 2 years ago I found it took me a week and a bit to feel it coming back enough to dare to ask for things - but I was there with my mum who's always been a better linguist than me and I kind of let her take over!  This summer it's just my partner and I going independently for the first time and I'm the closest we have to a French speaker between the pair of us.  We're both trying to brush up on vocab so we can scrape by and I'm just keeping everything crossed that it goes well.  Ah well, it'll be fun trying to remember!

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You feel such a sense of achievement when you've completed the shopping and had to ask for some of those...and some of those, you've ordered a meal and what arrives it what you thought it was going to be, and when you've asked for directions, you end up where you wanted!

Enjoy the whole experience, sure you might cock a few things up, but the locals will definitely appreciate the effort