Learn 10 Words

Pre-Internet, if I was going to another country, I bought two things: a Let’s Go guide or similar book and a phrase book. I needed the Let’s Go guide to find places to stay and know what to do, and I needed the phrase book because I was going to try as hard as possible to at least start the exchange in the other language.

I stopped getting the Let’s Go guide when we could book everything before we left the country. But I also let the phrase book go at some point. The internet and apps have made it easier than ever to learn another language. Or, at least, the basics provided by those old phrase books. And instead of learning more, I learned less.

I saw a great list of “side quests” you can do if you feel stuck on a project to get yourself out of your head, and one of the options was to learn 10 words in another language just because. I kind of love the idea of returning to this tradition, if not with a whole phrase book than at least with a phrase sheet. 10 words before the next trip.