Eastern European Language Fun

A travel language drama ... if you didn't learn Estonian, Russian or Czech at school, can you survive a trip through Eastern Europe?

Learning a foreign language is never easy. I spent a year living in Bratislava, Slovakia, and a couple of years on all I can do is order a beer and impress with the phrase "strč prst skrz krk". It's a famous Slovak (and Czech) tongue twister - note the total absence of vowels! - and translates approximately to mean "stick your finger through your neck". Useful!

No local expects every tourist to grasp the language fluently on a two or three week trip. But it's always good to have a go. I always try to master greetings, "I'd like ..." and the basics of numbers. But if you're travelling around Eastern Europe, what language should you try? Find out more about the mysteries of Lithuanian and Hungarian - plus the results of our recent language poll - in this week's article.