Holiday phrases

Helpful holiday phrases

Going on holiday, but don't speak the language? Print off the relevant phrasebook from the BBC for a quick fix.

Make the most of your holiday

A recent survey by hotels.com revealed that 20% of Brits try to speak the local language while abroad and roughly 6% also admit to have "waved their hands and arms around" or "spoken loudly and clearly in English" in an effort to make themselves understood.

Even very basic language skills go a long way to fostering goodwill and making trips abroad even more enjoyable. Why not find a short-course to prepare for your holiday or learn some useful holiday phrases on-line?

If you don't have time for a course there are still lots of ways you can get to grips with the basics.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Listed below are sites where you can learn some basic phrases at no cost.

Bengali:

• Survival Bengali - useful words and phrases from Virtual Bangladesh

Dutch:

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Dutch phrase book from duchtrav.com - useful list of Dutch phrases for travelers

Eastern & Central European:

• List of useful phrases for several Eastern & Central European Languages

French:

• French steps from the BBC - Practical spoken French in just 24 manageable steps

• French slang from the BBC - Essential slang for impressing the locals

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Tiscali on-line phrase book - a more expansive list of French phrases for the holidays

• Living Language - a range of useful French phrases

• Restaurant phrases from toptable.com

• single-serving.com phrase book - a useful, printable phrase book to take on holiday

• Imagiers - suite of free multimedia applications dedicated to French learning

German:

• German steps from the BBC - Practical spoken German in just 24 manageable steps

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Tiscali on-line phrase book - a more expansive list of German phrases for the holidays

• Living Language - a range of useful German phrases

• single-serving.com phrase book - a useful, printable phrase book to take on holiday

Greek:

• Basic Greek from the BBC - a short introduction to Basic Greek

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Basic Greek from the Corfu Travel Guide - 10 essential holiday phrases

Italian:

• Italian steps from the BBC - Practical spoken Italian in just 24 manageable steps

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Tiscali on-line phrase book - a more expansive list of Italian phrases for the holidays

• Living Language - a range of useful Italian phrases

• single-serving.com phrase book - a useful, printable phrase book to take on holiday

Polish:

• Basic Polish from the BBC - Quick Fix Essential holiday phrases

Portuguese:

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

Russian:

• Way to Russia - basic language tutorial and on-line phrase book

• single-serving.com phrase book - a useful, printable phrase book to take on holiday

Spanish:

• Spanish steps from the BBC - Practical spoken Spanish in just 24 manageable steps

• On-line phrase book from smartphrase.com

• Tiscali on-line phrase book - a more expansive list of Spanish phrases for the holidays

• Living Language - a range of useful Spanish phrases

• single-serving.com phrase book - a useful, printable phrase book to take on holiday

Thai:

• learningthai.com - the top 10 most useful phrases in Thai
• Thailand Holiday Help-line - Phrases in the Thai language from Thaifocus.com

Turkish:

• On-line Turkish - an on-line phrase book with helpful audio files
• Basic Turkish Phrases - basic phrases taken from the Kusadasi City Guide

Other:

• Travlang phrases - basic holiday phrases for more than 80 different languages

• Quick fix from the BBC - basic holiday phrases for 34 different languages