It’s great to learn foreign language phrases when you travel abroad, but it doesn’t really help you if you learn the wrong dialect.

Although Mandarin is the standard spoken language in China, Cantonese is the second most useful dialect, used in southern China and Hong Kong.

A language company called Pimsleur offers audio CDs in Cantonese, and Chinese-Lessons.com offers free online lessons where you can learn key phrases.

And while most Middle Eastern countries speak Arabic, Egypt has a dialect so distinct that it’s practically a different language.

Shop around for a phrase book that is specifically geared toward Egyptian Arabic.

And when visiting the Catalonia or Valencia regions in Spain, you may need to learn a little more than just Spanish. Many locals speak Catalan, which similar to Spanish, but is actually a different language.

Check out MyLanguageExchange.com where you can learn useful phrases from a native speaker.

For more helpful ideas on what you need to know before you go, visit our Travel Planning section.

Looking for more advice? Click here for more Free Daily Travel Tips.