And, of course, "Please charge me in local currency"...

I agree that trying a language you wouldn't expect can have its advantages. Knowing Russian helped me check into a hotel in Germany and celebrate my birthday in China.

I'm astounded by Google Translate -- that you can take a picture of something and it'll translate it on the spot with a data connection. Having the offline dictionary also helps immensely.

Basic motions seem to be universally understood, and I've rarely (maybe never) failed to get the information or service I needed by being polite and using some judicious motions. I've found almost everyone to be helpful and try to understand when it's obvious there's a language barrier. I don't know any Mandarin beyond "Thank you," but I turned up at a silk factory in China and somehow got them to find a bed for me in their courtyard when the only hotel in town didn't accept foreigners.

Of course, a translation of anything crucial and specific (such as "I'm allergic to nuts") might be worth having written out on paper.

I also agree that knowing a few words in the local language can be helpful but can also be awkward (as in the beer example above). If I'm in China and have carried on a brief conversation in English with a native Mandarin speaker, I'd feel weird ending with "Xie xie" -- as if to say, "Look, I can speak some Chinese too!"

Enjoy the travels and don't worry too much.

Seth