Book Review: Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book

Language guide for foreign travelers
Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book; by Eric Dondero Rittberg; Portside Language Service; Price: $12.50; 248 pp

The Indian economy recently attained a historic landmark when its foreign exchange surplus crossed the $100 billion mark. This is largely the result of the massive growth of industry and business especially in the IT and other technology areas in the post-liberalisation era. Globalisation has also opened up a host of new opportunities for the hitherto shackled Indian industry. The bad old days of foreign exchange licenses are just a bad memory and a large – and growing number of businessmen, tourists and students are travelling abroad to discover new and lucrative trade opportunities and open up new markets. Conversely, the number of foreign investors visiting India’s tech-savvy cities and business centres is multiplying by the day.

A pre-requisite of transacting business is adequate language and communication skills – not only in English but also in the other languages spoken around the world. Without basic language and communication skills it is difficult to converse, argue, discuss, convince or close big or small business deals. But how does one learn a new language and converse with ease in a short span of time? Traditional learning systems require months – even years – to learn and master a language. But with new and innovative techniques and publications like Eric Dondero Rittberg’s Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book learning the basic phrases of 40 languages has become easy.

The best thing about the Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book (WMPB) is its compact size. Printed in a easy-to-carry pocket-book format, this 248-page volume is packed with commonly used phrases in over 40 different languages with verbatim translations into English, presented in an easy-to-read and easy-to-grasp fashion. The languages covered in the book vary from Spanish to Greek; Swahili to Cantonese and Vietnamese to Yoruba (West Africa) and Bulgarian to Gaelic (Ireland) among others, and offers an excellent introduction to over 40 languages from across the world. Indeed WMPB is an essential companion for globetrotting businessmen as also for the growing number of outbound leisure travelers from the subcontinent.

A widely-travelled US-based linguist-cum-interpreter and certified language instructor, Rittberg who has also authored Vacation Spanish; Fast Spanish and Fast Chinese is well-qualified to write this useful companion guide. It offers valuable tips on how to master the basics and converse in a foreign language. Hardly surprising that he is a language-learning aficionado speaks in many tongues including: Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Greek, Swahili and Dutch. A political science alumnus of the Florida State University, Rittberg has travelled to more than 25 countries including India, China, Japan, Korea among others.

The book comprises 16 sections: Preface; The Latin languages; The Germanic Languages; The Slavic Languages; Finno-Ugric; Greek; Turkic; Semitic; African; Indo-Persian; Chinese; East Asian; Southeast Asian; Austornesian; Other Really Exotic Languages and Further Language ending with a brief autobiography of the author. Plus a bonus chapter on great web sites and tips for further language learning.

Indeed the striking characteristic or unique selling proposition of this useful companion handbook is its easy-to-use structure. Each section is further divided into numerous one to many page sub-sections, explaining different techniques and tips on building language-learning skills. Historically or culturally connected language are grouped together and common phrases provided are adequate to help in nearly every situation a visitor to foreign shores is likely to be confronted with. A note on grammar, followed by a set of basic phrases, key propositions, numbers, general, extra and special vocabulary, makes the process of learning a language simple and easy. But inevitably while most European and American languages are dealt with in detail the African and Asian languages are not. These sections however are packed with information on the country, regional and cultural aspects of the language followed by a list of commonly used phrases.

Though the book addresses the needs and situations in which globe-trotting American businessmen are likely to encounter, it is likely to prove very useful to the local Indian and other businessmen as well. “We want it quick, easy and most importantly, we want it all now,” says Rittberg delineating about the expectations of the new genre of peripatetic businessmen. “For those who want to learn a language fluently, there is more than a sufficient amount of material available at the bookstores, libraries and on-line. However, for those Americans who have no time to obtain fluency and who just want to learn some basics for a variety of languages, there are little if any materials available all in one source,” says Rittberg “The purpose of this phase book is to teach individuals the basics of essential words and phrases for a variety of different languages from around the world.”

The objective is sufficiently realized by WMPB. It’s an excellent resource for every traveler going abroad. With this handbook ready, the traveler need not worry about being able to communicate in another language.

Boa viagem!