Ways to travel better, smarter, cheaper, easier in 2009

Learn (any) language

There’s no longer any excuse to travel the world insisting hopefully that English is the ‘‘universal’’ language. In the last few years there has been a proliferation of free language courses on the Web, complete with audio files to practice your pronunciation. Some even have chat rooms. So it’s easier than ever to get a grasp on French or Spanish (or Czech or Mandarin) before you hit the road. Some sites are run by native speakers as labors of love and a way to meet foreigners (and sometimes to practice their own English). Some commercial sites offer introductory study at no cost and charge for more advanced instruction. Check Word2Word’s website (www.word2word.com/coursead.html) for links to free language study. You can keep your resolution by carving out just 15 minutes a day for practice.

(Text: Patricia Harris; Photo: Globe File)
Learn (any) language There’s no longer any excuse to travel the world insisting hopefully that English is the ‘‘universal’’ language. In the last few years there has been a proliferation of free language courses on the Web, complete with audio files to practice your pronunciation. Some even have chat rooms. So it’s easier than ever to get a grasp on French or Spanish (or Czech or Mandarin) before you hit the road. Some sites are run by native speakers as labors of love and a way to meet foreigners (and sometimes to practice their own English). Some commercial sites offer introductory study at no cost and charge for more advanced instruction. Check Word2Word’s website (www.word2word.com/coursead.html) for links to free language study. You can keep your resolution by carving out just 15 minutes a day for practice.