One word is all you need

I heard it said that "the" is the most common word in the world. Yeah that may be true, but let's be honest it's really not all that helpful. Having lived in two foreign countries and still only able to speak English, I can say confidently that the most helpful word in the WORLD (translated that is)... the first word you should learn when you move to a country with a foreign tongue, no matter how weird and no matter how long or short is may be translated, is the word "this." Think about what you can do with the word "this"... you can point!! Point at food, point a direction, point at a map, the list is endless. Just the other day, I pointed at a bug bite in the grocery store (the mosquitoes out here are NASTY) and the lady showed me where the bug repellent is shelved. I know I know, you're thinking "Anne why didn't you just go look for it?" People, nothing is written in English, were I to trust my own intuition to buy a bottle of bug spray, I'd end up with hair removal or some weird perfume. Can you stand it? Do you love it! Once you master "this" only then are you ready to move on to such advanced words as "Thank you", "correct", "good", "hello" and "goodbye".

ZHEIGE is my saving grace. That is pronounced jayga. Simply amazing!

And just for kicks, here are some examples of Chinese translations gone awry :)

Really?

Astounding!

Actually Chinese Hamburgers do exist. It's called "hanbaobao" and it's DELICIOUS!