Conversation starters
Pick one, copy it, and paste it into YaP.
Write in plain English and YaP takes it from there, in whichever of the nine languages you are learning. Change the city, the dish or the occasion to fit your own life.
Go further than the phrasebook.
Get me past 'una pizza, per favore': help me chat with the owner of a small hotel in Sicily about where locals actually eat.
My train has been cancelled. Role-play the ticket desk with me and make me explain, ask for options and push back without switching to English.
Prepare me to ask for directions in Lisbon and understand the whole answer, not just the first three words.
Order, ask, and say what you think.
Help me order at a taquería in Mexico City and ask what the waiter would pick for me.
Practise sending a dish back politely.
Explain café manners in Paris - where to sit, how to order, how to ask for the bill - then let me try it with you.
Ask questions, compare, decide.
Role-play a stallholder at a traditional market in Seoul so I can ask what is in season and how to cook it.
Teach me to ask for something when I do not know its name: describe it, ask for another size, and check whether I can return it.
Practise haggling at a Berlin flea market with me, and tell me when haggling is normal and when it would be rude.
Hairdresser, nails, clothes.
Prepare me for a haircut abroad: how to explain exactly what I want, and what to say if it starts going wrong.
Role-play a nail appointment in Taipei so I can describe the colour, shape and length I want.
Practise talking to a shop assistant in Madrid about fit and fabric, and turning down what does not suit me without awkwardness.
Sound capable, not just correct.
Prepare me for a first video call with a supplier in Japan.
Role-play small talk with a German client at a trade fair, and explain when to use Sie and when du is fine.
Help me introduce myself to a new client in Seoul, and correct anything that sounds too blunt or too casual.
The moments where words matter most.
Explain what people say at hanami and let me practise it.
Walk me through Chinese New Year greetings for older relatives, then let me rehearse the visit with you.
Help me say something heartfelt at a friend's wedding in Brazil, and tell me which phrases sound natural rather than textbook.
Talk about a place like you know it.
Explain the regional dishes of Emilia-Romagna, then quiz me so I can talk about them like someone who has eaten them.
Teach me the words for a Québec sugar shack and let me chat with you about what is on the table.
Help me talk to a London pub regular about local beer and food, and explain the slang I am likely to hear.
