Handy Lingo

Book excerpt: Everyday words for everyday use! Making yourself understood is a constant problem for the linguistically-challenged traveller abroad. Phrase books appear to offer a solution, but finding the precise phrase to fit the need is not always easy. If you do, and manage to pronounce it intelligibly, unless the other party sticks to the script the chances are you won’t understand the reply. In everyday life a normal ‘language to language’ dictionary is no more help, being unwieldy and offering far more verbal complexities than the situation demands. Handy Lingo: Spanish is the first in a series of simple travellers’ dictionaries. It translates word to word without confusing and unnecessary tenses, grammar, alternative meanings or nuances. It also includes significant Latin American differences. This pocket-sized booklet is not designed to teach you a language in detail, but to enable you to communicate basic information quickly and without complication. Designed in a practical, simple-to-use format, it can easily be shared with the non-English speaker for a reply. It is, in effect, a linguistic emergency first aid kit. Handy Lingo: Spanish is ideal for travellers with little or no facility in the host language and contains over 3000 words selected to cover every conceivable situation. Quick, easy to use and not reliant on batteries or wi-fi, it provides the verbal basics for communication with Spanish speakers worldwide.