Point It: Traveller's Language Kit by Dieter Graf

Oh my goodness! What a brilliant idea! Ok, so, perhaps, not as useful as actually LEARNING the language of the country you're going to visit. But let's be honest, if you don't already know the native language, you're not likely to pick it up in the few the few months before your departure date. This book, Point It, seems to be the next best thing to learning the language, and is certainly a better alternative to grunting and miming! We don't have it in our collection, and I see that Columbus doesn't have it in theirs either (hrmmmm). I'll hafta see what I can do about our collection hole! :-D

http://www.amazon.com/Point-Travellers-Language-Original-Dictionary/dp/3980880273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280262958&sr=8-1

PS Here's a great interview with David Del Vecchio, owner of Idlewild Books, in which he discusses the trickiness of travelling to countries without knowing the language, and also in which he points out that some of his customers have used Point It on their travels and have been quite happy with the results. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111704575354670834375834.html?mod=googlenews_wsj