¿No habla español?
No problem. You don't need to complete a six-month course of elementary Spanish to make your way in, say, Madrid. “Get a little pocket language book, and instead of attempting to learn the language, learn a few key phrases,” says Harold Jenkins, a Chicago-based travel agent and a frequent traveler. Elizabeth Lunney, cofounder of New York City's ABC Language Exchange, recommends Berlitz Phrasebooks because they’re “easy to navigate, come in many languages, and help with pronunciation.” Don George, global-travel editor for Lonely Planet, says the following words and phrases are the most useful:

Hello
Good-bye
Yes
No
Please
Thank you
Excuse me
Sorry
Do you speak English?
I don’t understand.
How much is…?
I would like…
Where is…?
Train station
Bathroom