October 28, 2004

5:35 AM

Holiday phrase book: As a leaving present for a girl travelling to Fiji, Singapore, Japan, and the Philipines, I want to make a book containing some useful phrases. Anyone help me translate them into the languages, or suggest more phases? (MI)
posted by Pericles to (4 comments total)

As she's a woman on her own, the "useful" phrases I have are 1) Please feed me beer. (2) You're very handsome, but actually I'm a lesbian. (3) Do you know where there's a toilet? (Urgently) (4) My husband will be here in 10 minutes. He's a champion boxer. (5) I am not American.
posted by Pericles at 5:38 AM on October 28, 2004

the words (with pronunciation guides) for:

yes
no
please
thank you
where
toilet
beer
behind
in front of
above
below
left
right
how much?
as many numbers as possible
what time?
posted by Vidiot at 8:26 AM on October 28, 2004

Point it! is a language-free guidebook based on pictures/diagrams and it's nice and small. Lots of thoughts been put into it. I have to admit that I've never field tested it, but it's a cool little book anyway.
posted by Flat Feet Pete at 9:51 AM on October 28, 2004

If you can find a copy, Languages of Asia and the Pacific : a travellers' phrasebook, by C.L. Hamblin, includes the languages of all those places, with both brief phonetic/grammatical sketches and long lists of words and phrases; I highly recommend it.
posted by languagehat at 6:38 PM on October 28, 2004