Yes, I also try having a go with the language of the country I visit though I must say apart from Hello and Thankyou I didn't do very well in China.
Last year in Cuba I tried very hard with using some simple Spanish and got on reasonably well despite the mistakes. I was surprised though with my travelling companion who had been taking Spanish lessons at night school for a couple of years, she never attempted to speak the language once but corrected me when I made a mistake.
It can be a matter of confidence though, people often feel they are making a fool of themselves when they make mistakes, I remember when I first came to Germany to live,and was learning the language I was terrified that someone would speak to me and I wouldn't be able to answer them correctly.

judith, I think your right, it is definately down to having the confidence to do it , but, I think that if your in their country, then have a go ! Surely, most travellers now, will research the place they are going to, and will have at least 1 or 2 phrases to say, even if its ' please, thankyou, , where are the toilets , and cheers, goodnight !
so,I will be adding more to my limited spanish in the next 7 weeks ! wooooohoo !
can't wait to try out my cumbrian spanish !
cheers,
juby

This is the reason I love going to France so that I can give my, ever weakening French language skills an airing. Unfortuantely my hubbie isn't a great fan and although we have managed a couple of fortnights in the Vendee a few years back, my most recent trip there was when I went on my own with the kids to Disney Paris which didn't give me much of an opportunity to practice. (apart from when I mislaid the money, tickets, and passports on a bus when I started jabbering away in a panic to the various people trying to help me).

where ever we have gone, i make myself and the kids learn the basic numbers up to 10, hello, goodbye, thankyou etc....

we also take a phrase book and have a go...

in the canaries a few years ago, we were ordering drinks in spanish, 2 rum and cokes......then when the youngest started school, they asked if anyone knew any spanish.....forget the hello/goodbye/thanks etc......

2 rum and cokes she said!

Totally agree with you all - I think its good manners to learn a few words - when we went to Paris last year I was surprised at how much French came back to me from school! I got really chuffed when I was able to ask something and understand the reply - and I agree that its a matter of having the confidence to go for it and not worry about being embarrassed!

Ive also learned quite a bit of Spanish in the last few years and really enjoy having a go!

Going to Crete this year so will have to go back to the drawing board again!

I definitely agree! Although, it's not something I've always done in the past... When I first went to Portugal and Rome, I relied upon the locals speaking English (and very good at it they generally were too!). Since then, I've made a real effort to try and learn a bit of the lingo before hand. I can get by in basic Portuguese and Spanish, and French which I remember from school! I'm currently trying to find good audiobooks to improve upon though. Does anyone know of any? Have just downloaded the Earworms one for Portuguese, as it sounded really interesting when I listened to a sample (basically they repeat words and phrases to music as this improves your ability to remember it) - has anyone else tried these in any of the other languages? I'll let you know how I get on!

L

Judith's hit the nail on the head - it's all about confidence and not being afraid to make mistakes. I did my degree in languages (French and Russian) and so had to live in both countries - I lost count of the number of times I embarrassed myself with bad pronunciation, grammar, word mix ups etc. The worst mix-up can think of was when a friend of mine asked a French waiter 'Avez vous de la sida' (do you have AIDS) rather than 'Avez vous du cidre' (Do you have any cider)!

I always try and learn a few words of the local lingo on most holidays - am currently learning a bit of Slovene for our trip next month.

Yes deffinitely agree with you all, most certainly good manners not to mention an interesting experience learning a foreign language, our main holiday destination is Malta and in ten years my Maltese has developed very well to the point that I can write in it, speak a lot of it, and understand a lot of a conversation or a radio programme.

It is common courtesy to at least attempt the lingo. Rob and I had spanish lessons a couple of years ago and actually got quite confident. We decided, in a holiday to Tenerife that we would take it turns to converse in spanish..so Rob ordered the taxi in Spanish and spoke to the taxi driver in spanish. We all understood each other even though we had to ask him to speak more slowly so we could understand. He was happy to oblige and the journey was full of laughter at our english pronunciation of Spanish words. I did the check in the hotel with minimal problems..and so it went on. It got back to my turn to go to the bar to order drinks..which I duly did and the girl behind the bar gave me the blankest look so I had to repeat in English. Mortally embarrassed and upset as I thought I had dropped an almighty clanger, I scuttled back to our table and told Rob all about it. He duly took the pee out of until it was his turn to go..so he went straight to the same girl and had a bash himself...he came back laughing and told me not to feel so bad..turned out she was Russian!!

We spent the rest of the holiday learning a few phrases in Russian too..and she introduced us to more staff who were only to happy to help us practice our Spanish. They said it was a change that people made the effort..and after that, we got superb service for the rest of the holiday and our drinks bill was always a couple of Euro's less than anyone elses!

I know a bit of basic Spanish, although I do find it much easier to read Spanish than to try to understand it spoken! I try to be polite and say "hello", "please", "thank you" etc in shops and hotels.
Son has done GCSE Spanish and he finds it difficult to understand spoken Spanish, especially as we've never actually been on holiday to anywhere where "proper" Spanish is spoken - we've had lots of holidays to the Canary Islands, where they have a "lazy" accent - similar to Latin American countries; and we've been to the Costa Brava and the Balearics where the locals all speak Catalan! Yes, if you attempt to speak "proper" Castillian Spanish in these places then they will appreciate you making the effort and speak a bit slower for you, but it's really difficult to "eavesdrop" local people's conversations!

I do try, although we mostly go to Greece and the Greek language is very difficult to learn. When we went to Mexico last year Shirley H and I went a couple of Spanish lessons, and also learnt quite a lot on the BYKI site. We found that we were far more ready to try out phrases after having a couple of drinks, and far from being laughed at, the people really appreciated us trying.

I try to speak a little - even if it is only the common courtesies (thank you, etc.). 'Sir' has more problems as he is slightly deaf and struggles to understand especially if the person speaking does so softly but he is trying (very!!! ). My Turkish is getting better, but is still at the very basic stage.

I agree, the BYKI site is excellent and has improved my Greek a lot over the years. Perhaps it is just because it has helped my confidence. I must switch on my speakers and have another go now.

Greece and the Greek language is very difficult

your not wrong there.. i have been trying to learn for the last few years, i know all the pleasantries and can be polite in either official or of the cuff situations, i can also ask directions,order most drinks and count to ekaton [100]

on our trip a couple of weeks back I had one hotel staff member tel me that i look Greek the restaurant owner down the road asked issestay Athena [ are you from Athens]

strange as I'm usually seen as a Cretan

the prices can show a marked reduction and the service a marked improvement with just a few little words

yasus

wizard

I always try to learn the very basic please, thanks, hello etc.............as does my son and its always very well received but I still have no idea why the Turkish staff always fell about at our attempts at teshekur ederim (spelling) for thank you

Prawn - we usually go abroad as a group of 6 and the three men are more than slightly deaf- there is no way on earth any of them could attempt to speak the lingo. Believe it or not when we go away for New Year in this country, there are 12 of us and everyone of the men is at least 20% deaf,the majority from working in the coal mines. Our conversations are scattered with eh! Uh! what! etc. On one occasion we tried playing "chinese whispers". When the end of the round, came even the language had changed from English to Welsh - it was hilarious

I used to learn the basics as I agree its only courtesy. However, last year I met my boyfriend on holiday and as he's spanish I'm trying to learn properly and its not easy! Like some of the earlier posts I find it much easier to read spanish than speak it and it doesn't help that I learnt french at school. My boyfriend speaks really fast, and with an accent, so it sounds nothing like what I'm learning!There is no doubt though that if you're in a situation where you can't use English, you learn faster - as I discovered when I met his family. My biggest problem though, is that most of the spanish people I meet just want to practice their english with me, rather than let me practise my spanish with them.
Louise

My Greek is reasonable but getting very rusty. I did some exams in the 80s -Institute of linguists at a basic level and lived on Lesbos for 6 months. My most memorable blunder was instead of ordering a kilo of bread I asked for the same weight in a very private part of the male anatomy Very willing to assist they were too!
Lally

Oh Lally I can well imagine.