Many people opine that the five most useful languages for a world traveller to learn are English, Spanish, French, Mandarin and Arabic – ranked in decreasing order of usefulness.
These languages are spoken as either first or second languages in multiple countries, by hundreds of millions of people across diverse regions of the world.
While learning the basics is always best for making local connections, many travellers today also rely on instant translation apps to bridge the gap in regions with complex dialects.