I have been doing continental work for about 3 years now but am still struggling with the lingo of various countries, although I do understand a few phrases in french. How many of you can speak another language passably?
I am looking at learning with a linguaphone type CD but what language, french or german?
Was in Poland last week and couldn’t find anyone who spoke English, made things interesting.
the best thing to do is learn a language you are comfortable with, if you say you can grasp a few french sayings then perhaps that is the best language to begin with.
the more you try to speak it the better you will get, try reading the road side adverts and translate them back when you park up, pop to wh smith and get a cheap language cd, they cost about £7 and will help you with the very basic stuff.
don’t worry about not getting it perfect - i have found that most people appreciate the effort you have made in learning to speak their language and will forgive the broken grammar you use.
i have always wanted to speak another language fluently but i’m quite happy to be able to speak a few languages slightly.
i did italy for 5 years and learnt a little italian and some french too - as i had to drive through france to get there, i also did french at school and was pressured to take it further because my teacher said i was quite good but i didn’t because i was lazy at school and wanted an easy life, i also speak a little german too after doing germany for 4 years.
i recently went to italy on a 1 off trip and couldn’t believe how quickly i picked the language back up again, the biggest problem i found was that the italians thought i was a german because i kept slipping out german words for things that i couldn’t remember the italian for.
i know a few dutch words - mostly food related or driving related, a couple of spanish words and a few thai words even though i have never been to thailand and probably never will, strangely enough a german guy was teaching me thai and thats how he was learning english, he had a translation book which had german - thai and english language.
I can speak a lot of bits of a language, I always try to be polite and some of the best conversations are held in a bar late at night when everyone is able to mix up various words and languages to make a sentence 
Just had a holiday in France and surprised myself how much I do know though.
penfold:
Was in Poland last week and couldn’t find anyone who spoke English, made things interesting.
Piwo proszę (pronounced “peeva, prosche”) is all you need to know 
Seriously, after English, German is probably the best language to know. Most Poles can speak Russian but for obvious reasons refuse to do so.
Wheel Nut:
I can speak a lot of bits of a language, I always try to be polite and some of the best conversations are held in a bar late at night when everyone is able to mix up various words and languages to make a sentenceJust had a holiday in France and surprised myself how much I do know though.
We go to France twice a year WN and even my dearly beloved is amazed at how much I can speak simply through those great chats we have in the bars late at night lolol
It would amaze some of the UK based drivers how a chat about footie can evolve with a Pole, a Froggie, a Pedro, a Hungarian and maybe a Porgy standing with a Englishman. I love those type of chats and also finding out the different ways of saying Richard Cranium in different languages lol
ITS WORTH WRITEING DOWN a few sentences
and getting these into say 3-4 languages, when doing
poland i got the neighbour to put a few sentences from german
in to polish, they helped no end,as the others before have posted
when the people see you trying to speak their language,they are
even more helpfull,try also listening to the radio and you begin to
pick up a few of the words quite quickly,
I agree with Wheelnut and The bear about mixing with people in a Routier or a bar to learn the language. When I first lived here I only spoke schoolboy French and not much else . Through mixing with the natives I now speak good French , but if I say somthing which is not understood I rephrase it and then normaly it is then understood. I did once try to learn Spanish from tapes but could not get on with it ,all I remember is Jose is standing in the Plaza Miore.
love those type of chats and also finding out the different ways of saying Richard Cranium in different languages lol.
testa di catso. italian 
penfold Good advice here.If you want to speak German;Get yourself a German girl friend. If you want to speak French ;Get yourself a French girl. So its got to be the same with Polish. I had a Swiss girl fiend & for the first three months we never had a row. She couldn’t speak English & I couldn’t speak Swiss…After that it was all down hill.( Especially when her husband found out! ):lol:
I had a Swiss girl fiend (quote)
well, you said it! 
Well as I said, it was a steep learning curve & then all downhill.
hi i moved to germany about 15 months ago and still am haveing truble learning german . i was lazy as well at school . and we only did french . but as brit p said just wright things down . i think us english have a chip on are sholder . for this . try and people will help you . at the moment with me people wont to try there english out , so i find it very hard but i will do it in the end . good luck .
boost:
hi i moved to germany about 15 months ago and still am haveing truble learning german . i was lazy as well at school . and we only did french . but as brit p said just wright things down . i think us english have a chip on are sholder . for this . try and people will help you . at the moment with me people wont to try there english out , so i find it very hard but i will do it in the end . good luck .
And your spelling aint that good neither Steve
boost Cross out lazy & insert thick.Good luck!..
See if you can find an electronic European Language translation machine on e-bay (I haven’t looked for you). I got one years ago. Its about the size of a pocket diary and has about 10,000 words in each of the 6 languages it covers, plus about 100 useful phrases in each language. They’re about a tenner.
I speak a fair amount of German, some French and Italian and a few phrases in Dutch, Spanish and Greek.
If you start with the obvious things like Good Morning/Afternoon; Hello, how are you; please and thank you; can you tell me where ■■? is and understand directions, left, right, straight on, turn around, roundabout, traffic lights, junction etc; oh, and learn to count up to ten. Then learn the things you like and dislike on a menu.
I have found that ‘making the effort’ to speak in a language (and murdering it ) pays dividends.
Doesn’t speaking loudly and slowly work then, I though that all foreigners understand that version of English.
8wheels:
Doesn’t speaking loudly and slowly work then, I though that all foreigners understand that version of English.
Makes me laugh when people do that, just makes them look an even bigger ■■■■ for not even trying 
Languages a necessary evil and mastering them can sometimes be useful but on other occasions it is better to play ignorant and not understand a word 
.
Learning them is not as easy as it used to be now that the interminable hours spent clearing customs are no more 
Try parking up where there are no UK registered trucks and you will soon start to learn a few phrases, the degree of learning ability tends to increase as the stomach empties and sustenance is required
well i did say i never had much time for school . learn by doing just got back from osterreich. that is a drive from here 9 hours in a car . you have a nice day