"Stationing in Japan must have been adventurous, especially if you rode a train in Tokyo during rush hour."

Rode all over Japan - marvelous transit system and this was more than fifty years ago. Climbed Fuji with two Japanese chaps I met on the trail and had a wonderful time. None of us spoke any of the others language, but we were climbers and that worked.

You would not want me to swear in French.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1BHuYOb8fM

You would not want to know what he said.

Jeanette Isabelle

Alas, I speak only English. My two years of German in high school are long since forgotten. Except for one phrase: "Wo ist die toilette, bitte?" Which I guess, if you can only remember one phrase, is a handy one to know!

JI... I was stationed at what was then called the Hakata Administration Annex, and during the Korean War was known as Brady Air Base...on a peninsula between the Genkai Sea and Hakata Harbor (where the invading Mongol Fleet was destroyed by the "Divine Wind")across from the city of Fukuoka, Japan... on the southern island of Kyushu... stationed with 6918th Security Squadron (Dawg flight)

I'm Dutch, with Chinese parents. So I speak Dutch, Cantonese, English and a little German. I have had French leasons at school...

English
Portuguese (Brazil)
a little Spanish
Swahili (kiswahili) ... east Africa

Good enough to handle daily tasks, find places, ask and listen to directions, and buy things at stores and supermarkets.

I agree with suggestions above. It pays to be polite and friendly with people.

Pete

My primary language is German (including some dialects).
I speak some English, a little French and a little Franglaise.
I also know some Q groups for amateur radio. That allows the exchange of basic information internationally.