Thank you and hello, in every languageWith pronunciation, and the replies you'll hear back
The first thing you actually say abroad is a greeting. Here are 12 languages, each ordered by what is worth learning first. Pick one.
Spanish
Thank you: Gracias (GRAH-syahss)
Spain, Mexico and most of Central and South America
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Japanese
Thank you: ありがとうございます (ah-ree-GAH-toh goh-zah-ee-MAHSS)
Japan
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French
Thank you: Merci (mehr-SEE)
France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec
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Italian
Thank you: Grazie (GRAHT-tsyeh)
Italy, plus southern Switzerland and San Marino
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Korean
Thank you: 감사합니다 (kahm-sah-HAHM-nee-dah)
South Korea
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German
Thank you: Danke (DAHN-kuh)
Germany, Austria and Switzerland
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Chinese
Thank you: 谢谢 (SHYEH-shyeh)
mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore
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Russian
Thank you: Спасибо (spah-SEE-bah)
Russia and much of Central Asia
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Arabic
Thank you: شكراً (SHOOK-ran)
the Middle East and North Africa
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Portuguese
Thank you: Obrigado / Obrigada (oh-bree-GAH-doo / oh-bree-GAH-dah)
Brazil and Portugal
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Vietnamese
Thank you: Cảm ơn (kam UHN)
Vietnam
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Thai
Thank you: ขอบคุณครับ / ขอบคุณค่ะ (kop-KOON krap (men) / kop-KOON kah (women))
Thailand
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Five phrases is genuinely enough, in any language
You do not need to work through a phrasebook before you go. Almost everything a traveller says falls into five shapes: thank you, hello, excuse me, how much is it, I don't understand. Every page below is ordered that way.
Getting those five automatic beats memorising twenty. Twenty phrases you have to search your memory for are worth nothing at the moment you need them.
The hard part is not speaking, it is understanding the reply
Almost every phrasebook only covers what you say. What actually stops people is the second after they finish talking, when the other person answers. How many of you. For here or to go. Card or cash. Each page lets you filter to "You hear" so you can read the replies before you go.
Reading a phrase is not the same as saying it
You can recognise every phrase on these pages and still freeze at the counter, because there is no time to think. Inko lets you speak out loud to an AI for 60 seconds a day, and afterwards shows you what you could have said instead.