Talk the Talk

hola amigo! ¡buonas díaz! cómo está usted hoy

That then, is the extent of my Spanish. Hello and have a good day.
with a lot more thought and referring to some old email forwards I can squeeze out Te amo
love you.

After two years of high school French I can conjugate the hell out of a verb.
I can also say "salle de bains" while simultaneously contorting my face into a picture of bewilderment.

this is far more useful than your everyday "je t'aime" and "merci beacoups".
it's very unlikely that you will meet a French stranger who does not understand English who you will need to profess undying love to.

it's also extremely unlikely that you will need to thank the French for much.
they are a very rude race.
especially to the non-French

it IS however very likely that you will be at a Swiss Sunday market and your tour guide will inexplicably disappear
the signboards will be in French and make no sense whatsoever.
you will need to find a bathroom extremely urgently.

so "salle de bains" is useful French.
while we're at is so is "donde está el baño" if you're stuck in México.

that's all for this edition of the hitchhikers guide to foreign languages :)

on another note. I read this funny take on the japanese pop culture and rock slash drug addict slash music scene. It's called the Hokkaido Popscicle by Isaac Admason.

It's irreverent, tongue in cheek and full of cultural fetishes. I wouldn't say insights because I don't know enough about japanese culture. But a fun read nonetheless.