I’ve had a theory for a long time that, for the most part, has served me well. It’s a theory of how many words I think you should know in the language of a country you are traveling to. To the best of my calculation, it is nine words. Absolutely unscientific in this proclamation, but it is the rule that I have successfully used in multiple languages. If a smile was a word, it would make an even ten, but more on that in a moment.

Hello, please and thank you easily make the list (I’m counting thank you as one word for the sake of this blog post for those of you that will keep track). I am always amazed at how much traction you can get in travel with these simple words. My native language is English, and these are considered the “manner words,” correct? So why wouldn’t we want them to be the words we use when we step out into the native language of a country we might be visiting?

Yes, no and bathroom move into what I like to call the “survival words.” Yes, I would like more of that delicious meat. No, I would not like to drink that unfiltered water you are offering me (this is an entire blog unto itself). And if you simply say the word bathroom with just the right quizzical look of panic and pain, it can literally be the difference maker in the quality of you life in a foreign language.

So with the manner words and survival words accounted for, the “utility words” will seem somewhat silly at first: The numbers one, two and three. I paused as I finished that last sentence to let the anticlimactic dust settle. These words tend to come in handy in the realm of shopping. The ability to be able to point at something you would like to buy and ask for the desired number can be super helpful. Two caveats to this that may require a little research. First, as silly as it sounds, it is super important in counting in another country to know which finger is associated as number one. Not in the, “I’m flipping you off” number one, but the point where you use when you start counting. In the United States, we tend to start counting with the index finger as “one.” There are countries where that will get you two of an item because they begin with the thumb being number “one.” I have had the unfortunate experience of wondering over and over again why I kept getting two of something when I had clearly asked only for one.

The second caveat is about the issue of pointing. I have learned the hard way that our tendency of pointing at things and people with one finger is rarely seen as anything but rude in way too many cultures. I have adopted the full hand gesture as standard practice at pointing at something I would like.

I want to come back to the smile issue really quick before I sign off for this weeks installment. I am always amazed at how often a smile has helped me more often than not when I can’t speak a language. I know that there are so many places and cultures that are not as warm relationally, but I still choose to interact in any country and language with a smile as my goto facial expression. If a smile can be seen as a limitless resource, I choose to spend them liberally because I will never be fluent in all the languages I wanted to learn, and I can’t even claim to be completely fluent in a second language (I do think I’m a solid five year old in my Spanish though). So smiles are the only way to hedge my bet that people not fluent in English will see that I’m super grateful to meet them and that I am generally speaking a nice person.

I hope to challenge you today to take a risk at picking up a few words in preparation for your travel. The effort to attempt speaking some words horribly may open up a doorway to new relationships and great adventures. Even the effort you show at making an attempt to speak the native language of a country you visit can be a form of honoring them, and could quite possibly get you just a little bit larger scoop of ice cream…

I would like it to be known that I am a super big fan of things that are free! Some people love saying how much they spent on things, I prefer to celebrate the things in life that I didn’t have to pay anything for legally. Duolingo is one of those little free gifts in life that is a great tool to go along with this post. Their motto is that you can use them to, “Learn a language for free. Forever.” To make it even more fun, the interface feels more like a game and can be a great tool to learn these essential nine words, and also put a smile on your face. Available for both iOS and Android, and easy to spend just a couple of minutes each day to set you up well for your travels!