Little help? Ever learned basic travel phrases in under a week?
 

How did you get it done? What was your plan?

Why didn't you use Google translate?

What did you actually use to learn the basics?

I ask because I want to help travelers visiting any of the Category 2 Languages from the Foreign Service Institute, learn the 20 most common travel phrases so they can come across as respectful, endearing, and charming even if they lack the skills to have a conversation in the aforementioned language.

Let me know what you folks think!

Vincent Vega UX (nod to Pulp Fiction)

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Is a strategy necessary? Just use a travel guide or dictionary for some helpful phrases. Or a translation app.

Thank you London Elite and you're right, using a travel guide, dictionary or a translation app is way to accomplish that goal.

I'm interested in helping who don't want to use a travel guide, dictionary, be conversationally fluent, or a translation app to accomplish that goal.

I learned Portuguese this way. I spent an afternoon with a Brazilian. Phrases were written down and I practiced saying them.

My opinion is that you should learn please and thank you, but beyond that even if you manage to say it right (which can be quite a problem--what little Mandarin I know I have only about a 50:50 chance of being understood. My wife will echo what sounds to me exactly the same as what I said, she's understood, I'm not) you aren't likely to understand the answer unless it's a question that can be answered by pointing.

Just what kind of a business opportunity are you asking for help with?

Is this a solution looking for a problem?

Travel course - I took Italian for Travelers.
practice practice

I already knew Spanish and German so I used the Spanish and German equivalents while learning the Italian words.

Years ago I discovered Spanish and smile can take you far most places in Italy.

To the OP: what you are asking strikes me as kind of pointless. Why learn 20 phrases if you're not going to understand the response?

Pimsleur, of course. A short course with the first 8 lessons would do it.

If I'm going somewhere with a new language, I always do as many Pimsleur lessons as I can beforehand, then accompany that with a Lonely Planet phrasebook. I've had formal university training in 3 languages, plus tried a variety of independent lessons. Pimsleur is best by far.

+1.

To answer the OP, I use Google Translate because it's simple and easy. Not to mention you can download languages so you can use it while traveling internationally even if you are offline.

If you are only focused on learning maybe 15-20 phrases, you aren't going to use anything beyond an app or travel guide and if you are going deeper than that, you're probably using Rosetta Stone. I'm not sure there's an untapped middle ground here